Discovering My Inner Cheesemaker

Homemade yogurt draining

A while back it struck me that I didn’t know what cheese was.  I mean, I knew what it looked like and how it tasted — after all, I’ve had my share of grilled cheese sandwiches and molten mountains of gooey nachos — but I didn’t know cheese, how it was made, why a cheddar differs from a swiss or a brie, why the farmstead variety tastes like it came from a different, much tastier cheese planet than those glowing orange bricks stacked on the supermarket shelves.

So, I decided to make some.

My first ricotta

Cheese cave at Estrella Family Creamery, Montesano, Washington

My first cheddar

What I’ve learned over the last few months is that cheesemaking isn’t easy.  (I met with one successful commercial cheesemaker who didn’t start selling her cheeses until she’d practiced at home for 17 years.)  It takes time, some special equipment and a whole lot of patience.  But it’s also kind of magical.

What I’ve learned on the bumpy road to cheesemaking is that a good cheese sitting quietly on its shelf is a little biological miracle, a teaming universe of microscopic processes, a dance between time and temperature, art and science.  I’m not really good at it yet, but I’ve made some fresh cheeses that easily out compete the average supermarket varieties and I’m waiting for the weather to cool down so I can start aging some specimens in my newly christened cheese closet.  I’ll keep you posted . . .

If you’re interested in cheesemaking, here are some sources I’ve found helpful:

The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, From Field to Farm to Table by Liz Thorpe

Home Cheesemaking by Ricki Carroll

The Cheesemaker’s Manual by Margaret Peters-Morris

American Farmstead Cheese by Paul Kindstedt

Milk by Anne Mendelson

Tags: cheese, cheesemaking, dairy, food, Idaho, local food movement