Real Food Fermentation by Alex Lewin

Author:Alex Lewin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
Published: 2012-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHEESE

Making milk into cheese is yet another way of preserving it, as well as making it easier to transport. Cheese is made by coagulating some of the milk proteins and removing most of the liquid. This liquid is called whey, or cheese whey. Cheese whey is different from yogurt whey (see page 102) because cheesemaking often involves heating the milk, in which case the whey does not contain live bacteria and is therefore not usable as a starter.

Cheeses go through a curding, or curdling, process. Milk is acidulated either by adding an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, or by fermenting with specific bacteria. Sometimes it is heated. Whey may be drained off. If you are making curd cheeses such as ricotta, farmers’ cheese, Quark, or paneer, you may be done at this point. These cheeses are not much more complicated than curdled milk.

Otherwise, we continue the curdling process with the addition of enzymes, either rennet derived from animal sources or alternative enzymes from plants or fungi. For different results, we use different amounts of enzymes, different ultimate moisture levels, different types of bacteria, more or less salt, more or less aging, sometimes a particular mold, sometimes a coating of wax, and sometimes other sorts of treatments.

This book does not include recipes for cheesemaking, which it is its own entire field of knowledge. It is easy to find articles, books, and even schools dedicated to cheesemaking. See Resources on page 168 for some top recommended reading.

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