Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman
I was busily making Romano on Friday night with the milk that Kate sold me, and was left with this wonderful creamy whey. Now, I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I looked up the recipe for Whey Ricotta, as I knew that it would go down a treat in Sunday nights lasagna!
Anyway, the process for this cheese is very simple, and I caught it all on video for all to see. I hope you enjoy one of my cheese making video tutorials.
Yesterday, I sold a Wensleydale with sage for half price, however the discount was for a great reason. It was for 7 litres of raw milk, all the way from Sophie the Jersey Cow who lives in Cygnet, Tasmania! How many people in the suburbs actually know the name of the cow that their milk comes from? Not many I bet.
My good friend Kate from Vegetable Vagabond dropped by on her way to Adelaide, and we haggled the deal in advance. The milk tastes absolutely delicious and definitely worth the discount that I gave her. Just a note, I pasteurized the milk before I made the cheese, as it still keeps the cream and milk separate, and I have never sold any raw milk cheese to friends and family!
Just look at all that wonderful cream floating on the top. Kate froze the milk before transportation, as it is no problem when defrosted. I am making Romano out of all this milk, which I am filming for another cheese making tutorial that will be ready over the weekend some time.
Anyway, even if raw milk has to come from Tassie, then so be it. It is difficult to come by at the best of times. What a treat!
Here are my thoughts on the raw milk issue that I wrote on The Greening of Gavin back in February this year.
Raw Milk Madness
So what is wrong with raw milk if the entire process is treated with respect? Probably nothing in my experience, however I don’t have a science degree in biology to be 100% authoritative on the subject so take my opinion with a grain of salt if that kind of attestation is required by you.
Raw milk is used in many countries throughout the world for cheese making including the large cheese producing countries of France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, and is considered safe to use in the USA if the cheese is matured for greater than 60 days. However this is not so in Australia. Talk about a nanny state or what!
I for one would use raw milk in cheese making at the drop of a had, only if I could get my hands on a fresh supply in my immediate area. Let the people choose for themselves. If they want to buy it, then let them. It certainly cannot be any worse than alcohol or tobacco which are legally sold.
Health authorities should get a little perspective. More people probably die from road accidents in a single hour in this country than get sick from drinking raw milk, yet they still let people drive. Grow up governments, and let people choose!
After all, it is very difficult to taint fresh raw milk with melamine now isn’t it? Just ask the Chinese.
Komijnekaas or translated Cumin Cheese, is very popular in the Netherlands where this type of cheese was first made.
Normally it is made with semi-skimmed milk with 5% buttermilk added to it, as well as the obvious cumin seeds. So without being too fancy, I decided to make my own variety of komijnekaas using my basic farmhouse cheddar recipe as the base.
Usually the Dutch use Gouda as the base for this cheese, but from experience, my Gouda does not taste very nice, so I went with a cheese that I knew was very easy to make and tasty.
I made the cheese as normal in my 14 litre pot with 13.7 litres of milk. As I was heating up the milk to 33°C, I added 5 ml of calcium chloride mixed with half a cup of water. This was because I was using homogenised milk.
In a smaller saucepan I bought 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds to the boil in ¾ cup of water. Once boiling, I simmered for 15 minutes, then strained the seeds and kept the water. When the milk reached the target temp of 33°C, I added the cumin water which was a nice yellow/brown colour.
I then proceed to make the cheese as normal until milling. After the 2 tablespoons salt was added to the milled cheese, I added the cumin/caraway seeds and mixed well, then pressed as per my normal recipe into two 1 kg moulds.
This is what it looks like now that it is out of the mould and air drying for the next week.
As I have mentioned before, herbs and spices can add such a different perspective to an ordinary cheese and turn it into something extraordinary!
I am so looking forward to tasting my creation in two months time.
