Cheese With A Bite
Photo © Rob Jones
Continuing the ‘Cheesy Tuesday’ vibe …
My next voyage of discovery … as recommended by &Caws in Menai bridge was Winchester from Lyburn Cheesemakers.
Lyburn Farm is about mid-way between Salisbury and Southampton. Their website is scatually quite handy as it gives a steer on the process involved with making the cheese.
With Winchester, they veered away from Cheddar, and took this cheese on for 9 months (like I know what I am talking about.) It’s a lot harder, with a deeper tang.
In the shop I asked for a hard-cheese that was crystally - you know, with those salty crystal thing going on. Anyhow he knew what I meant and suggested the Winchester.
It’s picked up a couple of awards.
It’s what I call an ‘Eating Cheese,’ meaning, I don’t use it willy-nilly in cooking, but savour it alone, perhaps with a biscuit. Or just as is, in chunks.
Continuing my cheesy education, there are 6 main processes in cheese making - Acidification, Coagulation, Separating curds and whey, Salting, Shaping, and Ripening.
As is my nature - I like to simplify… there are apparently at least 7 types of cheese:
Fresh - No rind - Think Ricotta, Mozzarella, or Cottage Cheese. Just a few days old. Too youg to develop a rind. Pickled in salt becomes crumbly like Feta.
Aged Fresh - wrinkly rind - older Ricotta, Mozzarella, or Cottage Cheese. Almost always goat’s milk.
Soft White Rind - fuzzy rind - Camembert, Brie, Chevre. Covered with penicilin mould.
Semi-Soft - Thick Rind - Edam, Port Salu, Raclette. Pressed to remove the way. Rubbery.
Hard - Crusty rind - Cheddar, Pecorino, Parmesan. Pressed for weeks to remove the whey and compact the curd.
Blue - sticky rind - Stilton, Gorgonzola, Roquefort. The blue comes from penicillium mould whihc is scattered into the vat before curdling.
Flavoured - with spices, fruit, herbs, Truffles.
Now… information like that, makes me happy. It gets things clear in my mind.
One day I will make Cheese. Not that I haven’t made it before. It was something that happened at home when I was growing up on a regular basis. It seemed so simple then. And perhaps it is.
Further exploration needed.
R
