Cheesemongers!

[tree_and_leaf]

I went round to my friend H's for dinner last night; H has just sent off the first draft of her thesis to her supervisor, and is thus taking advantage of the wait for comments to make bread, cook, etc. That morning, she had decided to try yoghurt, except it curdled. Nothing daunted - or rather, somewhat averse to pour several litres of spoiled milk down the sink without a fight - she resorted to Google, and found an exciting page on making your own cheese. So after a trip to the local fabric shop to get something approximating to a cheese cloth, and a bit of further cooking, she was able to present me with a nameless curd cheese (in German terms, very close to Quark), and a ricotta which she'd made with the whey. Needless to say, I was very impressed, and while part of me wonders about the sanity of home cheesemaking and had to be refrained from cracking Archers jokes, I am tempted to give the marscapone a go.

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I remember making cheese in home economics, many years ago - it ended up wet and crumbly and flavourless, which may seem an odd observation from a Cheddar-addict.

[tree_and_leaf]

Good lord - that's far more exciting than anything we ever did, pale and uninteresting or not.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I could at this point dig up all sorts of home economics traumas, including a series of eggs ending up on the floor and not in the mixing bowl, but I do seem to remember my Quiche Lorraine being a success. The subject was mainly taught by Art and English teachers improvising, despite the English teacher involved, a very conservative lady who seemed very old but was probably younger than I am now, thinking that boys shouldn't be expected to study cooking or needlework. (She was heavily involved in Brownies and Guides and, ISTR, the C of E...)

[anna-in-the-sky.livejournal.com]

LOL. I'm still far from handing in the first draft of my thesis, but I have started baking bread when I need a break... Maybe I should try cheesemaking some day, too.

[tree_and_leaf]

... it's apparently very relaxing, right up to the point it goes horribly wrong.