Cheese
(and the importance of controlled rot)
I cleaned my kitchen just for you.
Curds and whey, the real thing.
Low technology food prep.I had the presence of mind, in the middle of feeling droopy and pathetic, to make cheese. What better way to remember why I never killed myself than to awaken my inner food geek? If there's nothing else that can be said of life, I think that there are three things that make it really worth living: bread, cheese, and booze.* It is no coincidence that all three have one very important thing in common: they are made using a process of fermentation.
Fermentation is the process by which we invite certain yeasts and bacterias to set up camp in our food, altering it's structure and taste, so that we can turn it into nutrition that will last long into hungry months. With dough we want yeast to eat the sugars in the grains (or the small amounts of sweeteners used to tantalize them such as honey or malt) and basically wait until they fart up a storm which adds air to the dough so that when it cooks it has a pleasing texture and loft. Some yeasts shack up with bacteria symbiotically to flavor bread distinctively, as they do in sourdough starters.
With beer the entire process is more complicated, but essentially the same. First grains are germinated and then dried in a kiln, sometimes roasted; a process that creates enzymes which will then be able to break down starches into sugar. There are a lot of steps to making beer, and each one is taken to convert grains into a nourishing liquid that will sustain humans and prevent their excess grain crops from going to waste. We don't generally think of beer as a nourishing drink (unless you're Irish and trying to convince Americans to drink Guinness) but people in the medieval times drank beer instead of water when water wasn't potable, and monks drank beer when fasting because it could give them a safe source of sustaining calories along with some vitamins. Some beer history sources claim that monks received daily rations of beer and that beer was used as payment.
Cheese is not very different in principle. Making cheese is a process by which you first separate the solid milk fats from the protein whey, then press as much of the whey out of the solids as possible to help the solids last longer. In addition to curdling agents, enzymes are used to add or alter the flavors of different cheeses. Enzymes break down proteins into smaller molecules which is a lot like digestion. We invite enzymes to predigest our food which is fairly gross if this is the first time you've given this thought.
The cheese I attempted to make is panir, a type of fresh farmer's cheese that doesn't melt but adds a very nice protein punch to Indian food such as Saag Paneer (or "Panir"). My attempts were foiled by three factors: a misunderstanding I had concerning my substitution of a citric acid solution for the more traditionally used lemon juice; my misunderstanding resulted in having to reheat my milk three times so that I could add more coagulants (that word almost gets you in the gut, doesn't it?) because I hadn't added the proper amount. So the curds got stirred much more than is appropriate; the final factor is that I hung my cheese to drain but didn't press it. Pressing helps the curds to adhere to each other in a solid mass and creates a firmer texture.
The result is that I have a nice tasting thick ricotta-like cheese, but not panir. So instead of making saag panir with this batch I will make lasagna. I can't complain about that at all! I am not daunted. I've made panir successfully before, it's one of the easiest cheeses to make. I have three gallons of whole milk in my fridge right now, so guess what I'll be doing today? I'm going to try a quick mozzarella, ricotta salata, and a farmer's cheese using Lipase, an enzyme used in making feta cheese in the hopes that I can create something similar to feta.
If you are interested in making cheese it's best to start with the simple cheeses such as panir, yogurt, ricotta salata, quark, or cream cheese. Feta, as you may have guessed, is an intermediate cheese which requires you to carefully monitor the temperature of the milk at different stages. I'm not ready for that kind of micromanagement in my kitchen. I plan to work my way up. Who else is going to make cheese this week?
Five tips on cheese making for beginners:
*In the very real world of Celiac's disease, lactose intolerance, and our national negative views on alcohol, I realize that there are some people who might deeply contest this opinion. I think it's interesting how many people have developed intolerances for wheat and milk since both have been consumed by humans for several thousand years (some evidence suggests that cheese has been around since sheep were first domesticated 8,000 years ago, but not everyone agrees on this).
**It really freaks me out that there are commercials in which parents are invited to wipe down their children with Clorox Bleach wipes all day long. On their skin. This is wrong, this is evil, this is abuse of the most insidious kind. SOAP AND WATER IS THE ONLY CLEANSER THAT SHOULD TOUCH YOUR CHILDREN'S SKIN, EVER.
In other words: controlled rot.
Fermentation is the process by which we invite certain yeasts and bacterias to set up camp in our food, altering it's structure and taste, so that we can turn it into nutrition that will last long into hungry months. With dough we want yeast to eat the sugars in the grains (or the small amounts of sweeteners used to tantalize them such as honey or malt) and basically wait until they fart up a storm which adds air to the dough so that when it cooks it has a pleasing texture and loft. Some yeasts shack up with bacteria symbiotically to flavor bread distinctively, as they do in sourdough starters.
With beer the entire process is more complicated, but essentially the same. First grains are germinated and then dried in a kiln, sometimes roasted; a process that creates enzymes which will then be able to break down starches into sugar. There are a lot of steps to making beer, and each one is taken to convert grains into a nourishing liquid that will sustain humans and prevent their excess grain crops from going to waste. We don't generally think of beer as a nourishing drink (unless you're Irish and trying to convince Americans to drink Guinness) but people in the medieval times drank beer instead of water when water wasn't potable, and monks drank beer when fasting because it could give them a safe source of sustaining calories along with some vitamins. Some beer history sources claim that monks received daily rations of beer and that beer was used as payment.
Cheese is not very different in principle. Making cheese is a process by which you first separate the solid milk fats from the protein whey, then press as much of the whey out of the solids as possible to help the solids last longer. In addition to curdling agents, enzymes are used to add or alter the flavors of different cheeses. Enzymes break down proteins into smaller molecules which is a lot like digestion. We invite enzymes to predigest our food which is fairly gross if this is the first time you've given this thought.
The cheese I attempted to make is panir, a type of fresh farmer's cheese that doesn't melt but adds a very nice protein punch to Indian food such as Saag Paneer (or "Panir"). My attempts were foiled by three factors: a misunderstanding I had concerning my substitution of a citric acid solution for the more traditionally used lemon juice; my misunderstanding resulted in having to reheat my milk three times so that I could add more coagulants (that word almost gets you in the gut, doesn't it?) because I hadn't added the proper amount. So the curds got stirred much more than is appropriate; the final factor is that I hung my cheese to drain but didn't press it. Pressing helps the curds to adhere to each other in a solid mass and creates a firmer texture.
The result is that I have a nice tasting thick ricotta-like cheese, but not panir. So instead of making saag panir with this batch I will make lasagna. I can't complain about that at all! I am not daunted. I've made panir successfully before, it's one of the easiest cheeses to make. I have three gallons of whole milk in my fridge right now, so guess what I'll be doing today? I'm going to try a quick mozzarella, ricotta salata, and a farmer's cheese using Lipase, an enzyme used in making feta cheese in the hopes that I can create something similar to feta.
If you are interested in making cheese it's best to start with the simple cheeses such as panir, yogurt, ricotta salata, quark, or cream cheese. Feta, as you may have guessed, is an intermediate cheese which requires you to carefully monitor the temperature of the milk at different stages. I'm not ready for that kind of micromanagement in my kitchen. I plan to work my way up. Who else is going to make cheese this week?
Five tips on cheese making for beginners:
- Use only fresh milk. As with all preserving, the idea is to preserve your food at its peak of freshness, once food is in a decline it will only get worse.
- Use either unpasteurized milk if you can get it from some under-the-radar raw milk renegades, or use the next best thing which is regular pasteurized. Check carefully to be sure the label doesn't say "Ultra pasteurized" because it won't work.
- Choose an easy recipe to start with such as panir, cream cheese, or chevre.
- Use great instructions. The book I'm using right now that is really great is "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll. I have another book whose instructions are not very clear so I won't recommend it. I can't emphasize enough the importance of starting off with a really clear guide when learning new kitchen skills.
- Sanitation is very important because you want to invite very specific bacterias and enzymes to play around with your milk. But for crying out loud- don't let any chemical substance such as Lysol get near your food. Use soap and water, or if you have it (I guess) you can use a sanitizing solution such as brewers use. Was there Lysol available to people 8,000 years ago? Don't be a paranoid over-sanitizing freak.**
*In the very real world of Celiac's disease, lactose intolerance, and our national negative views on alcohol, I realize that there are some people who might deeply contest this opinion. I think it's interesting how many people have developed intolerances for wheat and milk since both have been consumed by humans for several thousand years (some evidence suggests that cheese has been around since sheep were first domesticated 8,000 years ago, but not everyone agrees on this).
**It really freaks me out that there are commercials in which parents are invited to wipe down their children with Clorox Bleach wipes all day long. On their skin. This is wrong, this is evil, this is abuse of the most insidious kind. SOAP AND WATER IS THE ONLY CLEANSER THAT SHOULD TOUCH YOUR CHILDREN'S SKIN, EVER.
Labels: cheese, food geek, homemade cheese, local eating