1.2: Introduction to Wine and Cheese Making and Aging

History and Development

It has been postulated that Nomads in the desert carried excess milk with them in skins made from the goats stomach and that the resulting curds came about during the exposure to the rennet inside the skins. Plausible perhaps, but only a myth. Cheese making can be traced, however to the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia around the same time as the first known fermentation of beer between 7000- 6000 B.C.E. How is that for coincidence? Two fermented foods still popular today, rising to the anthropological forefront of man’s culture around 8000 years ago; fascinating.

Milk itself is a highly nutritive food which nature developed for the sustenance of new bourns. Man is the only mammal know to continue consuming milk after weening. Around 2000 B.C.E. man drank most of his milk after fermentation in a beverage similar to thin yogurt. We see such products today emerging as new in our grocer’s dairy isle. Climate and terroir influenced the cheese making as land suitable for goats and sheep proved less hospitable for cows. Thus, regional differences in both type production and styles began. As their popularity grew via trade routes, so the need for developing means of safe transport and the development of bandaging, pressing and aging of cheeses ensued.

Moving forward to the middle ages of Christendom, religious orders made good use of cheese as both a substitute for meat and a revenue stream to sustain the abbey’s, monasteries, and convents throughout Europe. Scientific discoveries of the 19th century offer the cheese industry and the home cheese maker the opportunity to create wholesome consumable cheeses that can be enjoyed around the world.

Shown: Figure 2a.
Two hoops of Camembert-photo Marshall Welsh CEC

How Cheese Relates to the Garde Manger

Remembering that food preservation is a key part of the Garde Manger, we can naturally see that cheese making fits comfortably within the scope of the cold kitchen. Cheese is, after all a means of preserving excess milk. In fact daily milking of cows is required for the cows to continue to produce milk. This never ending cycle of milk production feeds the wide variety of products we enjoy today from the dairy business including milk, cream, ice cream, yogurt, cheese and a host of products that rely on dairy in their ingredients.

Now more than ever Chefs are tuned in to the cottage industry of micro dairies and the farm to table movement is fueling consumer demand. By gaining knowledge of cheese production, chefs can draw upon a wealth of information for purchasing decisions and even in house cheese production to meet the needs of the customer and satisfy the quest for niches of expertise that is driving the modern chef to push the boundaries higher. In a day where margins are squeezed and prices are increasing, the opportunity for you to affect your costs while adding the value and uniqueness of house aged cheeses can be the difference in profitability, guest satisfaction, and notoriety.

For a nominal investment of around five hundred dollars, a chef can start making at least six different cheeses. Here is a list of the basics:

1. A double boiler - You likely have this already or can use a saucepan and a stockpot. (See figure 2b).
2. An accurate thermometer - You should have this already.
3. A Curd cutting knife - A flat cake-icing spatula works well.
4. Cheese cloth - Needed to strain the curds and whey.
5. Plastic draining mats - Sushi mats work well.
6. Stainless steel mixing bowls and ladles - You should have these already in the kitchen.
7. Plastic totes with lids - To ripen cheese in the cold room.
8. Cheese cultures and molds - based upon the type of cheese and recipe. (Example: mesophilic culture, Penicillium candidum, and Roqueforti.)
9. Calcium Chloride - for a stronger setting of curds due to losses in pasteurization.
10. Rennet - to aid in the separation of the curds and whey.
11. Kosher salt or cheese salt - without the addition of anti-caking agents and iodine.
12. Various cheese molds, baskets, and presses or weights - necessary for further draining of whey and shaping of the cheese.

Figure 2b:
Double boilers in the preparation of four cheese varieties

Figure 2c: Assorted baskets, molds, and cheese presses

Figure 2d:
Camembert cheese draining in baskets on sushi mats

Figure 2e:
Camembert on mats inside a plastic “cheese cave” ready for covering and aging at 60ºF for white mold growth.

Figure 2f:
Derby cheese and Cheddar cheese ready to age on mats in the “cheese cave”.

Figure 2g: Cheese waxed for storage and aging.

Making Cheese- raw milk vs. pasteurized milk

Raw milk by definition is newly obtained milk from the source that has not yet undergone pasteurization. Some states allow the consumption of raw milk products while others do not. Be aware of regulatory concerns where you operate. If you can imagine the stark difference in richness between the tastes of skim milk compared to whole milk then you can imagine the a similar difference between raw milk and pasteurized. The raw milk is by far richer in flavor and creaminess. It is also important to know if using raw milk for cheese making to do so right away and if possible while still warm from the cow. Under U.S.D.A. guidelines, raw milk must be processed no more than three days after harvesting. By doing so, the process of raising the temperature during the processing actually pasteurizes the milk and kills any harmful bacteria such as coliform bacteria such as E.coli.

Simply put, cheeses are made by using one of several methods to separate the milk solids from the milk serum. This separation of what is commonly referred to as curds and whey leaves us with a usable by product (whey) and the curds that consist of the milk solids, sugars, fat, and protein. The whey of sweet cheeses (low acid) can be used in a variety of ways such as food for animals and plants, or even to make other cheeses like ricotta.

Simple cheeses like ricotta, mascarpone, and crème fraiche utilize acid to set the curd at high heat and have no need for bacteria cultures. We refer to them as “quick” or “kitchen cheeses”. They hold no less importance to the Garde Mange because, for example, caviar goes magnificently with buckwheat blinis and a dollop of crème fraiche. The patisserie would do well to lighten a cheesecake with the addition of ricotta. There would be no cannoli without it either and how would you ever create a decadent Tiramisu without mascarpone.

We also use enzymes to coagulate cheeses. They come in liquid, powder, or tablet form and from plant, animal, or synthetic origins. Rennet is an enzymatic coagulant found in the stomach of ruminant animals; in the lab, we have a liquid form that comes from calves and must remain refrigerated. Farmer’s cheese and Cheddar cheese are two varieties we create using rennet.

Inoculation

Inoculation of the milk is an important step by which we use a direct set method of introducing various bacterial strains at certain temperatures to ripen the milk in its journey to become cheese. The cultures are sprinkled over the milk and allowed to hydrate for several minutes before stirring gently using up and down strokes. At this point, there is a resting period to allow ripening and the conversion of lactose into acid. After acidification, rennet is added to aid in the coagulation. Your recipe will guide you in the steps and time between them. Be patient. We are waiting on a process called flocculation in which the casein in the milk will bind together and if left undisturbed will form a clean break. The clean break is the point where you can gently press your finger straight down into the coagulation and gently lift it out horizontally as the curd “breaks over each side of your finger. Once this point has been reached, the curds can be cut.

Cutting the Curds

After testing for the “Clean Break”, you are ready to accelerate the acidification by cutting the curds and allowing them to rest for five minutes. This is accomplished by inserting a thin knife or flat cake spatula and cutting first vertically through the entire batch, then horizontally. Refer to the recipe to determine the size of the curd cuts prior to starting.

Now, allow the curds to rest for five minutes. It is important to remember that the size of the curd relates to amount of moisture in the cheese. The larger the curd, the more whey will be in the cheese. Follow the recipe recommendations.

It is also important to note that some lactic-set curds are so delicate that they are not cut but rather ladled in the baskets to drain. You will see this when making camembert cheese.

Once the curds have rested, they often fall and the yellowish whey rises to the surface. For rennet set curds, we often cook the curds and our whey allowing the curds to form a cake in the bottom of the pan as with cheddar. Other cheese simply go into a holding pattern while they sit in the whey at a target temperature.

Depending on the style of cheese, they may at this point be milled (broken or cut into pieces) and salted then hooped or pressed to release more whey. After this, the cheeses are flipped in a timed sequence and sometimes salted later whole.

Refer to course handouts and or recipes provided by your instructor via the LMS (Learning Management System) ex. Moodle®.

Classroom Preparation Assignment \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Introduction to Wine and Cheese Making

1. True or False: Nomads developed cheese by carrying milk around in a goat skin bag made from the stomach of the goat. Circle one.
2. What form was most milk consumed in around 2000 B.C E.?
3. Cheese is a means of preserving what?
4. What does becoming familiar with cheeses and cheese making do for the modern chef?
5. In cheese making we separate the proteins in milk into what two things?
6. What is Rennet?
7. When making cheese, what does flocculation cause and what occurs during the milling process?
8. Name five categories of cheese according to your Cheese Power Point.
9. When discussing cheese, what does ripening refer to?
10. Name four great cheeses from around the world from your Power Point.