Cheese is preserved milk. I like to think of cheese as a time capsule, reflecting the time of year, the geography, the pasture grazed, the animal and its well-being. The less interference with the milk, the more the terroir (unique taste of place) will shine through in the cheese.
Milk, starter cultures, rennet & salt are all that is required to make cheese. Acidification, formation of a curd, removal of water and addition of salt are the basic steps.
But cheese is not that simple, it’s science, it’s art, it’s alchemy. It has the ability to transport the consumer to lush pastures near or far, linking you back to the land and the web of life. It’s history and tradition. It permeates folklore and myth. The Greeks tell of the art of cheese making as a gift from the Olympian Gods. In Britain it was an offering to the gods. For the French it is a way of life.
Cheese is alive and has emotion provoking personality. Savouring Epoisses that’s 2 weeks on from the conservative “best before” date, is a far different endeavour than nibbling on a morsel of 24month aged Bay of Fire, Tasmanian cheddar. Both adventures are highly recommended.
Add in the variables of cheese making, such as surface mould as opposed to internal mould. Or length of aging and where. Or post-make surface covering; ash, cloth, wax, vine leaf etc, you quickly see how the topic of cheese beckons to be deep dived.
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