Esy-Chees-Mkg-Art

Esy-Chees-Mkg-art- 11/30/13

"Easy Cheese Making - Acid-Coagulated Soft Cheeses in Your Own Kitchen" by Lady Wenyeva atte grene.

NOTE: See also the files: Camp-Cheese-art, bag-cheeses-art, Cheese-Making-art, cheesemaking-msg, fresh-cheeses-msg, Aged-Cheese-art, cheese-msg, Cheese-Histry-art, Simple-Wimple-art.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at:

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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Find more work by this author on her website at:

EasyCheeseMaking -

Acid-CoagulatedSoftCheesesinYour Own Kitchen

by Lady Wenyeva atte grene

"Mayhe fillyourlapwithemmerwhile Isweetenminiature cheeses foryou, those cheeses that are the healer of mankind"

— an ancient Sumerian lullaby

Youdon'tneed fancyequipment

Ifyou'vethoughtaboutmakingcheese before,youprobablythoughtthatitwouldrequirefancyequipment,special ingredients,lotsofwork,andlotsoftimetoage thecheese.Allofthosethingscanbeusedtomakecheese, butthe truthis,anyonecanmakeaverysimplecheese withnothingbutmilk,vinegarorlemonjuice,apieceofcloth,anda fewutensilsthateveryonehasaroundthehouse.

A30-secondintroduction

AccordingtoRickiCarrollinHomeCheeseMaking, cheese isoneoftheoldestfoodsmadethatisstilleaten bypeople,anddatesbacktotheearliestdomestication ofanimals,inatleast9000B.C.E.TheSumerians,5,000 yearslater,mentionedcheese incuneiformtablets. (Theyalsohadbeer.Theywereacivilizedpeople.) [1]. [2]

Cheese isbasicallywhathappenswhenacid(either producedbybacteriaorspecificallyaddedtothemix) and/orrennetactonmilktocause themilkfatand proteintoseparatefromtheliquidwhey,leavingasolid substancethatwe callcheese. [3] Itbearssomesimilarities tomakingbutter;whenchurningbutter, youalsostart withsomeamountofmilk,andendupwithathick substanceoffat(thebutter)separatedfromtheremainingliquid(inthiscase,buttermilk). Themethodand result, however,aredifferentfromthoseusedinmakingcheese.

Cheese isonewaytokeepmilkanditsnutritionalvaluearoundforarelativelylongtime.Milkitselfwouldsour quicklywithoutrefrigeration,so makingcheese (orbutter)fromthemilkmadeitpossibletomakeuseofthemilk's nutritionalvalueoveralongerperiod.

Softcheese,hardcheese,freshcheese,agedcheese

Cheesecomesinmanytypes,withmanypreparations.Mostmoderncheesesaremadebyusingastartercultureto beginacidification,followedbyrennettocurdlethemilk.Rennetisasubstancethatcontainsenzymeswhichseparatethemilkintocurdsandwhey.Animalrennetismadefrompartofacalf'sstomach,butvegetarians,havenofear - vegetablerennetisalsoavailable,asiskosherrennet. [4] Somecheeses,however,aredonotuserennet,andaresimplycurdledbyacombinationofheatandaddedacid,suchasvinegarorlemonjuice. [5]

Oncethecheesehascurdled,thefollowingstepsvarydependingonthetypeofcheese thatisbeingmade.Asoft, freshcheese mightbedrainedatthispoint,andeatenimmediately.Ahardcheese mightbeheatedfurthertoremove moisture,pressedintoamold,andthenagedtodevelopacharacteristicintenseflavor.Somecheesesarestretched (suchasmozzarella),washed(inwaterormoreinterestingbeveragessuchasporterorstout),orinoculatedwith moldstogiveadditionalflavor.

Cheesesmayalsovaryinthetypeofmilkused;cows'milkiscommon,butthemilkofsheepandgoatsisalsofound.

Thecheese we'llbemakinginthisworkshopisasoft,freshcheese, madefromcows'milk,andusesno rennet.Itis essentiallythesameaspaneerinIndiancuisine,ortheMexicanquesofresco.

Indaysgoneby

Cheese madebycombiningheatedmilkwithacidisaveryoldrecipe.IntheseventhcenturyC.E.,CassianusBassus wrotearecipeforMelca,orcurds:

"Thebestmethodformakingwhatareknown ascurdsistopoursharpvinegarintonewearthenwarepotsandthento putthesepotsonaslowfire. Whenthevinegarbeginstoboil,takeitofftheflamesoitdoesnotbubbleoverandpour milkintothepots.Placethepotsinastoreorsomeotherplacewheretheywillnotbedisturbed. Thenextdayyouwill havecurdsthataremuchbetterthan thosemadewithagreatdealoffuss." [6]

Recipes usingvinegar, alcohol,orcitrustocurdlemilkmaybefoundlaterinmedievalandRenaissancerecipes.Examplesincluderecipesforpossetsofmilkcurdledwithale,thenseasonedwithhoneyandspicesorrosewater.Most ofthemedievalrecipesseasonthecheese withspicesorherbs. [7].Aslightlylaterrecipefrom1653 isofthistype,and, likemanyothermedievalcurddishes,includeseggwhites:

"TomakeafreshCheese

Takeapintoffreshcreamsetitonthefire,thentakethewhiteofsixeggs,beatthemverywell,andwringinthejuyce ofagoodLemonintothewhites,whenthecreamseethsup,putinthewhites,andstiritabouttillitbeturned,and thentakeitoff, andputitintothecheesecloth,andletthewhay bedrawnfromit,thentakethecurdandpounditina StonemorterwithalittleRosewaterandSugar,thenputitintoanearthenCullender,andsoletitstandtillyousendittotable,thenputitintoadish,andputalittlesweetcreamtoit,andsoserveitin."[8]

Therecipe

Ingredients:

•1/2gallonwholemilk—notUltra-Pasteurized!Regularpasteurizedisfine.Checkthelabel!InWesternWashington,SmithBrothersmilkworkswell,asdothemilksfromsmallerdairies suchasTwinBrook.

•1/8cup ofeithervinegarorlemonjuice.

Equipment:

•Largesaucepan

•Pieceofcleanmuslin,atleastacoupleoffeetlong,andsomestringortwinetotieitwith.

•Largebowltodrainwheyinto;optionally,acolanderorstrainer

•Instant-readthermometer(optionalonce you'vegainedsomeexperiencewiththis)

Pouryourmilkintothesaucepan. Heatitto190 degreesFahrenheit,stirringfrequentlytopreventscorching. When themilkreaches190F,removeitfromtheheatandslowlyaddthevinegarorlemonjuiceuntilyouseethecurdsandwheybegintoseparate. Thenletthecurdsandwheysitforabout10 minutes.

Afterthe10 minutesareup,laythemuslinacrossthetopofabowl(sometimesusinganadditionalcolanderatthis pointtositonthebowlandholdyourmuslinmakesiteasiertohandle)andpourthecurdsandwheyintothemuslin.Thewheywillrunthroughthemuslinandthecolander,intothebowl.Thewheyshouldbeyellow(seeFigure1). Ifthewheyiswhite,itmeansyouhavenotextractedenoughofthemilksolidsfromthewhey,andyouwon'tget muchcheese.Reheatthewhey,addmorevinegarorlemon,andtryagain.

Pullthecornersofthemuslintogether,tieitclosedintoabag, andhangthebagofcheese todrain(Figure1).Optionally,youcanpressthecheese instead,byplacingthebagunderweightssuchasaflatplateweightedbysoupcansor bricks.Ifyoudothis, makesurethewheythatispressedouthassomewheretodrainto.

Leavethecheese todrainuntilthetextureisasyoulikeit.Ifyouwantitmorecreamy,youwilldrainitforashorter time;ifamoredryandcrumblycheese ispreferred,foralongertime.Beawarethatthischeesedoesnotkeepfora terriblylongtime;also,unlikemostcheeses,itdoes notmelt.

Figure1: Drainingthecheese

Figure2: Drainedcheese

Figure3: Freshcheese!

Footnotes:

[1]Carroll,p.2.

[2]Dalby,,p.216.

[3]Conrad.

[4]Carroll,p.16-18.

[5]Mendelson,pp.68, 106. Mendelson callsacid+heatcheesessuchaspaneerandquesofresco"non-cheesecheeses," butmostpeopledon'thaveaproblemcallingthem cheese.

[6]Grant,p.76.

[7]"14thto15thCenturySoftCheese",byanunknownauthor,collectsseveraloftheserecipes.

[8]ATrueGentlewomansDelight,collectedinABokeofGodeCookery:17thCentury English Recipes ,

References

Carroll,Ricki.HomeCheeseMaking.3rdEdition.StoreyPublishing,2002.

Conrad, Curtis (as Giles Fitz Alan). "Cheese making 101: Cooking with Bacteria",

Dalby,Andrew.FoodintheAncientWorldfromAtoZ. Routledge,2003.

Grant,Mark.RomanCookery:AncientRecipesforModernKitchens.Revisededition.Serif,2008.

Matterer, James L. A Boke of Gode Cookery.

Mendelson,Anne.Milk:TheSurprisingStoryofMilkThroughtheAges.Knopf,2008.

Unknown."14thto15thCenturySoftCheese." Meidieval.pdf

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If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

Edited by Mark S. HarrisEsy-Chees-Mkg-art1 of 6