All things Cheese Artisan Ingredients Discuss All things Cheese in the Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart forums; All things Cheese billrd sorta got me thinking on this one and maybe to its best to I start it ...

[Bacterium]

All things Cheese

billrd sorta got me thinking on this one and maybe to its best to I start it out as a "Chit Chat".

Let’s talk about cheese....maybe something along these lines:
-Whats your favourite & Why?
-Whats your favourite local "hard to get" variety and what food do you best enjoy it with?
-Done any cheese making and what have you made?
OR
maybe its just some tip you've picked up about cheese.....or some sort of “cheese experience”


Ok, I'll get started...
AL (a work mate) one day rings me up and says, how about doing a "Cheese making" course. He is good at "bush cooking" in what us Aussies call a "Camp fire" or Bedourie oven….so his suggestions are usually “on the money”. He had already got permission from his “Hand brake” (his slang for “wife”)

So off we went and did a course with this spot down south (Blessed Cheese):
Contents
and we thoroughly enjoyed it
I then got one of his kits and started playing around. Mainly made Fetta and Haloumi (lovely Greek style Cheese) but also Camembert, Ricotta and Mozzarella.
I got some books and did some more. I haven't even ventured into the “matured” sort of cheeses yet, as I got distracted with my oven idea.
But
I did get to have a go at a 30minute mozzarella recipe – which I hope to try on my pizza soon.
Ricki's Magic Mozzarella .. no smoke and mirrors
It not top shelf but if you use it same day its quite good.

Just Learning

[james]

Ciao Damon,

I moved this to "Ingredients". Seems like a good fit. Nice topic.
James

[maver]

I make ricotta for cannolli, sfogliatelle, and pastiera. I've tried mozzarella but it soured - I'll try again, but I don't have a good source of unhomogenized milk. Found out a few weeks ago that there is a herd of water buffalo for buffalo mozz just 40 minutes from my house.

[Xabia Jim]

Cheese making....I'm impressed!

I love almost any cheeses....goat, sheep, buffalo....soft, hard....mild, aged, smoked....bring them on!

Anyone know Esrom?

[james]

They were making fresh Mozzarella at the Slow Food fair yesterday. I should have taken a photo. They make it look so easy.

I am pretty sure we have some forum members who make their own. Jay?
James

[billrd]

Great stuff Damon,

This is something I've got to have a go at. Tell me what is it that differentiates the different types of soft cheeses, is it the type of milk, method of making or other ingredients?

Bill

[Bacterium]

james, thanks for putting this in the right spot


billrd
Its mainly around how much whey you extract from the curd and what starter cultures are used (generally a Mesophilic culture). Soft cheese are pressed very little as a general rule.

From there soft cheeses may undergo storage in a brine solution or sprayed with some sort of surface mould to further enhance/develop (eg. Camemberet)


Hard Cheeses
oohhh ahhh... you've got me there. I do over indulge in them with a glass of red or two....ahhh....
Actually Blessed Cheese do these "Wine and Cheese trails" - you go to the shop and pickup a specially prepared pack of cheeses (complete with cooler). It has a map inside showing the local wineries. This map tells you what cheese to match with what wines at a particular winery.... its all organised for you and the cheese place and certain wineries are all clued up for it.

[james]

Here are a couple of photos of the company that makes fresh mozzarella in the Slow Food market. They bring the fermented cheese "pasta", then heat it, draw the strings, shape the ball and finish it in salt water on the spot. The cheese is excellent, so it might inspire more of us to give it a shot. They were hopping when we were watching, basically making and selling mozzarella as fast as they could go.

Is there a new business here? Joseph?

Don't forget to check out our Mozzarella di Bufala production photos from Naples.

http://www.fornobravo.com/brick_oven...zzarella1.html

James