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Cheese from Indonesia, South Sulawesi

Dangkedangke

Fresh buffalo or cow milk is heated and set with papain-rich latex from young papaya, and the curd is shaped in a coconut shell and wrapped in banana leaf. It is a boundary entry, not a microbial ferment; a study of dangke samples calls it an unfermented dairy product.

Fully documentedCheese20 minnone (traditional)Family: Acid-heat set cheese family (FERMENTATION BOUNDARY)

Recipe

Dangke, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: RianHS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceOne litre of milk, the lab method of one study, which yielded 680 g of dangke.
Fresh cow milk1 LLab method; buffalo milk is also used[albaarri2018][mukhlisah2017]
Latex from young papaya0.3% w/vIts papain enzyme sets the casein; unripe papaya latex leaves a slightly bitter taste[albaarri2018]
SaltDangke is usually preserved using salt[albaarri2018]
Coconut shell and banana leafTo shape and wrap the curd[albaarri2018]
Starternone; papain from papaya latex sets the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 min

Start
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What changes: Starting material: fresh buffalo or cow milk

Step 1 of 6
Take fresh milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Fresh buffalo or cow milk is heated and set with papain-rich latex from young papaya, and the curd is shaped in a coconut shell and wrapped in banana leaf. It is a boundary entry, not a microbial ferment; a study of dangke samples calls it an unfermented dairy product. Made in 6 steps over 20 min. The longest step, heat the milk, takes 20 min (Al-Baarri A.N 2018) and runs at 75 °C (Al-Baarri A.N 2018).

Key numbers
Main step20 minReported[albaarri2018]Heat the milk
Temperature75 °CReported[albaarri2018]Heat the milk
AciditypH 6.2–6.8Measured[albaarri2018]Keep briefly

What makes this one different

Dangke is set by a plant enzyme, papain from papaya latex, in heated milk, with no souring culture at all. Its curd is shaped in a coconut shell and wrapped in a banana leaf.

Milk
Fresh buffalo or cow milk
Coagulant
Papain in the latex of young papaya, with heat
Keeping
About 2 days at room temperature

Related ferments

Variants

  • Buffalo-milk dangkeMade from buffalo milk.
  • Cow-milk dangkeMade from cow milk.

Safety

Dangke is not fermented and has a near-neutral pH (about 6.2–6.8), so there is no acid to slow spoilage. Al-Baarri and colleagues quote a shelf life of about 2 days at room temperature for salted dangke, but in their own 30 °C test total bacteria in the control dangke reached 7.8 log cfu/ml at 8 hours, and all samples passed 8 log by 18 hours. They give 6 log as the Indonesian limit for cheese. In a South Sulawesi survey, Staphylococcus aureus-type colonies grew from 5 of 14 dangke samples, and the nuc gene was confirmed in 4. Colonies also grew from skin swabs of 4 of 10 dangke makers, so clean handling matters.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus (colonies from 5 of 14 dangke samples, nuc gene confirmed in 4; colonies also from the skin of 4 of 10 dangke makers, nuc gene in 1).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Dangke comes from Enrekang Regency in South Sulawesi. Al-Baarri and colleagues report that production has risen with consumer demand and that dangke is now distributed to Java and Sumatra, in line with more tourism.

  1. [albaarri2018] Al-Baarri A.N., Legowo A.M., Arum S.K., Hayakawa S. 2018, Extending shelf life of Indonesian soft milk cheese (dangke) by lactoperoxidase system and lysozyme, International Journal of Food Science 2018:4305395paper
  2. [juwita2022] Juwita S., Indrawati A., Damajanti R., Safika S., Mayasari N.L.P.I. 2022, Genetic relationship of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from humans, animals, environment, and Dangke products in dairy farms of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, Veterinary World 15:558–564paper
  3. [mukhlisah2017] Mukhlisah A.N., Arief I.I., Taufik E. 2017, Physical, microbial, and chemical qualities of dangke produced by different temperatures and papain concentrations, Media Peternakan 40(1):63–70paper