The Amazing Art of Cheese Making
This ancient science is relived today in almost every culture around the world. It is thought that early nomadic people carried milk in the stomach cases of slaughtered animals only to find that the milk had curdled. It was the renin enzyme found in the stomachs of all infant mammals that curdled the milk, just like human babies the renin turns the liquid into a digestable solid. Alternatively milk was left to warm by the fire and coagulated on it's own, due to temperature, bacteria and/or enzymes.
Today the cheese maker can choose between vegetarian rennet, produced from a variety of plant or bacterial agents or animal based rennet, usually calf but lamb and kid rennet is also available. The addition of bacterial cultures to the warmed milk prior to the addition of rennet matures the cheese and gives it, it's unique characteristics. For example a Swiss culture will give your cheese the flavour and distictive priopionic eye, or hole formation. or the Penicillicium Roqueforti is ideal for producing delightful Blue Cheesed and has its origins in the historical Roquefort Caves where legend has it that a love struck shephard left his cheese sandwich for a number of days, later returning to find the cheese had blue moulded veins running though it. He braved tasting the cheese and the rest is history. These caves are actually still used today to harvest the natural bacteria. Most fresh cheeses and many hard cheeses use what is called a mesophilic culture, as cultures are heat sensitive this culture is used for cheeses where the milk is heated to only lower temperatures.
Once the milk has been heated and the culture and rennet has been added the milk is left to set or curd. Depending on the recipe the curd is then cut into specific sized cubes and either molded, drained, or heated again before molding.
Some cheeses such as Feta and Halloumi are ready to eat in a short space of time, others such as Camembert, Blue Cheese and Hard Cheeses require maturing at set temperatures until they are ready to be consumed.
Visit the Events and Courses page and you too can learn how to make cheese.
Today the cheese maker can choose between vegetarian rennet, produced from a variety of plant or bacterial agents or animal based rennet, usually calf but lamb and kid rennet is also available. The addition of bacterial cultures to the warmed milk prior to the addition of rennet matures the cheese and gives it, it's unique characteristics. For example a Swiss culture will give your cheese the flavour and distictive priopionic eye, or hole formation. or the Penicillicium Roqueforti is ideal for producing delightful Blue Cheesed and has its origins in the historical Roquefort Caves where legend has it that a love struck shephard left his cheese sandwich for a number of days, later returning to find the cheese had blue moulded veins running though it. He braved tasting the cheese and the rest is history. These caves are actually still used today to harvest the natural bacteria. Most fresh cheeses and many hard cheeses use what is called a mesophilic culture, as cultures are heat sensitive this culture is used for cheeses where the milk is heated to only lower temperatures.
Once the milk has been heated and the culture and rennet has been added the milk is left to set or curd. Depending on the recipe the curd is then cut into specific sized cubes and either molded, drained, or heated again before molding.
Some cheeses such as Feta and Halloumi are ready to eat in a short space of time, others such as Camembert, Blue Cheese and Hard Cheeses require maturing at set temperatures until they are ready to be consumed.
Visit the Events and Courses page and you too can learn how to make cheese.