(Cheeses aging in a cave at Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, VT.).
“Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses also contain molds, either on the outer rind or throughout.”
If you’re getting the idea from Wiki’s description that cheese doesn’t have many ingredients, you’re right! Iin its simplest form, it’s milk, culture, coagulant, and salt. Simple cheese may even omit the culture or the coagulant.
Yet there are thousands of distinct cheese varieties in the world, many made with just these three or four ingredients. (Jean-Claude La Jouen, in his book Fabrication of Farmstead Goat Cheese lists 91 varieties of just French goat cheese.)
What makes all these cheeses different from each other? It’s in the recipe. Making a cheese at a different temperature, moisture content, or length of time will change its texture and flavor. A professor at USU’s Dairy Center told me they tried a drier, longer-aging recipe for their cheddar– and came out with a passable Parmesan-style cheese instead. Same ingredients, different temperature, very different cheese.
One of the goals of this site is to encourage people to try making their own simple cheeses. Some can be made with ingredients you already have in your kitchen. Check out this easy recipe for a queso fresco type cheese. And there will more coming, as well as a links page for other resources.
Cheesemaking can be as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it. So start with the simple ones, and see where it takes you!
