Viewed by most as an esoteric skill performed best by reclusive cave-dwelling French artisans, making a simple and delicious cheese such as Ricotta or Mascarpone can take little more than a 20 minutes and requires very basic ingredients and equipment.
Believe it or not, this is Camembert. It just needs to sit around for a while to mature
Even making more complicated cheeses such as Camembert or Fetta is very simple once you know how.
Apart from the sheer fun (and taste) of making your own cheese, it's also great to be able to tailor your latest creation to suit your own taste buds. Anyone for blueberry and almond mascarpone?
Susan Demonstrates the fine art of making Mascarpone
My introduction to the wonderful world of cheese making was a course run by the fabulous Susan Meagher of
The Cheese Making Workshop, who runs the courses out of her own home at Northbridge on Sydney's Lower North Shore.
The course lasted from around 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, during which Susan taught us to make Camembert, Fetta, Ricotta, Mascarpone, Quark (cream cheese) and a Greek style yoghurt.
There is also a break for lunch during which you're fed some fantastic food, get a chance to chat to Sue and the other (very interesting) people doing the course, and taste some of your cheesy creations as well.
Heating the milk to make Ricotta
I was quite amazed at how simple it is to make some cheeses. Ricotta for instance simply involves heating up some milk, adding lemon juice or vinegar, draining off the whey (liquid), and putting it in the fridge for a while. That's it, finished. How easy is that?
Other cheeses require a little more work and know-how, but nothing too complicated. The basic recipe is heat up the milk, add in some cheesy bacteria, maybe some rennet as well, let it sit for a while ("cutting" it now and again), and then draining off the curds.
Look Ma, I'm making Camembert
Of course success is in the detail, and that is where Susan comes in. At the end of the workshop you'll definitely think that making cheese is very simple, and will be confident enough to try it at home assisted by the cheese-making recipe book which you used during the course.
Susan can even provide the bacteria and other harder-to-find ingredients, or let you know where you can buy them.
It's been a couple of months now since I did the course and I can definitely say that making mascarpone is my favourite. It's simple and quick, you can flavour it any number of different ways, and there is nothing better on top of a bowl of fruit and Muesli in the morning.
You can find out more about the course, and cheese making in general, on
Susan's website. Mention WeekendNotes for a 10% discount.
