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The art of making cheese - blessed are the cheesemakers

8/12/2014

20 Comments

 
Susan Meagher from The Cheesemaking Workshop bakes a feta and olive pullapart loaf
Susan Meagher from The Cheesemaking Workshop bakes a feta and olive pullapart loaf
'Early next morning, a shrill whistle woke Heidi up. She opened her eyes. A ray of sunlight came through the window, falling on her bed and making the hay shine like gold. Very surprised, she looked round her, trying to think where she was. Then, hearing her grandfather's voice, she remembered what had happened the day before, and her spirits rose. She was longing to see the goats again. Jumping out of bed, she climbed down the ladder and ran out to the front of the hut. Peter was there with his goats and her grandfather was on his way to open the door of the goat-shed. Heidi dashed over to see the goats and say good morning to them. "Come here, you mustn't go without some food," called her grandfather, putting a huge piece of bread and a huge piece of cheese into the haversack.'
                                      -  Excerpt from Heidi (Happy Days chapter) by Johanna Spyri, 1964

Johanna Spyri's Heidi was one of my favourite childhood books. The story of the little orphan girl who is taken to live atop a mountain with her grandfather and a herd of goats intrigued me. Perhaps it was the images painted so skilfully by the author that captivated me so. Or perhaps how the sharing of food helped break down the barriers that the sad old man had previously built around himself in his grief. Fresh goat's milk, bread and hand made cheese featured throughout the tale. And whenever reading the book, I found myself wondering what it might be like to have a grandfather who made cheese for a living, and indeed how on earth did he make cheese in a little hut in such a remote location.

Almost a lifetime on and I'm in a cheese making workshop listening to an artisan explaining to the class that 'if milkmaids can make cheese on a mountain plateau with very little equipment as a way of preserving milk for the winter months, then we can make it in our own kitchens!' I am really keen to learn, as I make ricotta quite regularly, but somehow I imagined that 'real' cheese had to be made in a sterile, stainless steel kitchen by specialists wearing crisp white uniforms, gloves and hair nets. Wrong. 

'You don't need to be an expert cook to create cheese,' according to the folks who behind The Cheesemaking Workshop. 'All you need is some common sense, some basic equipment, a few ingredients (including starter cultures), and a little bit of passion,' they explain. Traditionally it was monks or milkmaids who perfected the art of cheese making, but in our consumer-driven world, we rely on the supermarket shelves to provide us with things like ricotta, mascarpone, quark, brie, camembert and feta. Susan and David Meagher, artisan cheese makers from The Cheesemaking Workshop, are on a mission to spread the word that we can all reclaim the simple art of making cheese in our own homes, at a fraction of the cost of buying supermarket cheese, safe in the knowledge that only good, natural, local ingredients have gone in and nasty additives have stayed out. 

Sue and David train hundreds of people each year from their home base and when they hit the road to hold regional workshops. Cheese making is in the blood for Sue, as her sister, Lyndall Dykes, founded the original Cheesemaking Workshop on the NSW mid north coast and has also written an informative and totally unique book on the topic.  ‘I’m proud to come from a family of cheese makers,' says Sue, a former property developer who loves taking the mystery out of making cheese; and empowering people with the skills to make wholesome products using sustainable methods and local ingredients. 'People come to our workshops expecting cheese making to be complicated and technical. By the end of the day they're amazed that they've made a variety of cheeses with minimum fuss, effort, ingredients or equipment'.

Peter and I are delighted to learn that no cheese making experience is needed for the 100% hands-on workshop. After putting on aprons and washing our hands, we're introduced to our fellow cheese making participants and then Sue explains that the day will be full-on because we'll be making camembert, feta, yoghurt, labne, mascarpone, ricotta and quark, with a lunch break in between. We're also going to be taught how to make butter and crème fraîche, as well as baking a pullapart bread with fresh feta and olives (pictured top). Wow!

As the result of this fabulous workshop, and having purchased Lyndall's book as well as a yoghurt maker and some starter cultures, we now have two rounds of home made camembert and feta in our refrigerator (one of the camembert will be baked for a pre-Christmas gathering). I've been dabbling with making yoghurt and mascarpone, as well as my own butter churned with smoked salt. For breakfast at the weekend, Peter made my hotcakes with home made buttermilk and served them with home made mascarpone. I will share my successes with you in a later post. Let me just say that my dairy-loving Peter is in a particularly happy place right now. 

So my friends, I'm not going to elaborate on the point-by-point art of cheese making in this post, as I'd like to encourage you to attend a hands on cheese making workshop in your part of the world if you are interested and are able do so. I believe it is a most worthwhile experience and I'd gladly do it again. To whet your appetite and spark your interest, I will share a handful of postcards from the workshop, together with Sue's recipe for Labne, which appears down below. There are further recipes on the web site and in Lyndall's detailed book. In closing, I agree with Monty Python who said it best: 'Blessed are the cheese makers'.

Postcards and morsels from The Cheesemaking Workshop...

Lyndall Dykes has written a unique book on The Cheesemaking Workshop
The Cheesemaking Workshop book by Lyndall Dykes is a unique and informative guide
Sue Meagher explains her sister's book about cheesemaking
Sue shows the detailed step-by-step instructions in her sister's book on The Cheesemaking Workshop

The hands on workshop begins... 

To make camembert, heat the temperature to 32 deg C
For making camembert, the unhomogenised milk is heated to 32 degrees C
Unhomogenised milk
Unhomogenised milk is used for making camembert cheese
Adding a smidgen of starter
Sue points out that a 'smidgen' or 1/16th of a teaspoon of starter is added to the milk
Smidgen and pinch measures on this set of measuring spoons
Handy teaspoon measures include a pinch and a smidgen
Cutting the curd with a palette knife
After adding rennet, the set curd is cut with a palette knife
Using a cake rack to curd the curd in cheesemaking
Then a cake rack is used to cut the curd horizontally
Jiggling the curd with a slotted spoon
After resting the curd, it is jiggled several times with a slotted spoon skimmer
Spooning curd into a cheese hoop
The curd is spooned into a cheese hoop
Lifting the curd in cheese hoops
Peter masters the art of cheesemaking, thanks to The Cheesemaking Workshop
Curds in a cheese hoop
The curds are in the cheese hoop and then the cheese is allowed to drain
The cheese hoop is inverted
The cheese hoop is inverted onto a clean chux or cheesecloth square
Artisan cheesemaker Sue Meager
Peter looks on as Sue explains the next steps
Home made camembert cheese by Good Things
The camembert after brining, adding white mould spores, then drying at 11-15 deg C for 10 days

A recipe for Labne...

Labne is a strained yoghurt and is also known as yogurt cheese. To make labne, you need a kilogram of Greek-style yoghurt, cooled in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. Spoon the yoghurt into a cheesecloth-lined sieve or colander. Tie the cheesecloth over a wooden spoon and hang it to drain for 48-72 hours in the fridge (see example below). Then roll the labne into balls and store in a light oil, such as sunflower oil, in the fridge. To serve, roll the labne balls in dukkah or chopped fresh herbs.

Tie the cheesecloth over a wooden spoon and hand it to drain
The Good Things team enjoyed this full-day 'soft' cheese making class thanks to the kindness and generosity of Sue and David Meagher of The Cheesemaking Workshop. The opinions expressed in this article are ours. For more information about the cheese making workshops or to order a copy of Lyndall's informative book, telephone +61 2 9958 0909 or visit the web site. 

Tell me dear readers, have you ever made cheese or attended a cheese making workshop? Do please share your experiences with me and my Good Things readers. ツ
20 Comments
Rosemarie link
8/12/2014 06:21:20 pm

I am not sure how I would fair with the smell or cheese making... but I would love eating Mozarella and Camembert cheese. It is so cool that no cheese making experience is needed!

Reply
Lizzy
8/12/2014 06:22:39 pm

Funnily enough, Rose, cheese does not smell when you are making it.

Reply
Gourmet Getaways link
9/12/2014 12:38:44 am

Oh wow, what a very interesting workshop, Liz! So many cheeses to make and no experience needed!

Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx

Reply
Kim link
9/12/2014 08:13:49 am

I bought 2 places in this cheese making workshop for =my husband and I last year for our anniversary. It was absolutely marvelous. No 'cheese' smell... until the Camembert ripens... mine liquified in the middle but had the most amazing skin holding it in.... we ate it with a spoon. The feta is astounding.

Reply
Adri link
9/12/2014 08:39:05 am

What fun, and how rewarding to make you own cheese. I make my own ricotta, but that is far as it goes for me. Although once I tried making mozzarella which turned out to be pretty funny. All I ended up with was lobster hands and a piece of cheese that resembled nothing so much as a neef ball. That cheese was SO rebbery it bounced! After that I just decided that mozzarella is something better left to teh professionals!

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Eva Taylor link
9/12/2014 09:31:49 am

I've made ricotta and paneer before but I'd love a go a mozzarella! I've seen quite a few youtube videos showing how to do it, but haven't actually tried yet. I'd love to take a workshop like the one you took.

Reply
Amanda link
9/12/2014 09:40:56 am

Cheese making is just so satisfying, isn't it Liz?! If you had made it to Adelaide earlier this year you would have done a class with one of our prize-winning cheese makers - Sheree Sullivan from Udder Delights!

Reply
Liz O'Hara link
9/12/2014 10:24:48 am

I'm envious! The class sounds amazing. I'm looking forward to hearing about your camembert.

I've made labne before, and yogurt, but that's all. Do you like your new yogurt maker? Mine bit the dust a few years ago.

Reply
Alice link
9/12/2014 11:21:32 am

Hi Liz, I'm a cheese lover from way back and I absolutely love trying different methods at home. Love the look of your beautifully made specimens. I've no doubt it was a wonderful extension of knowledge, for your already burgeoning passion for cheese!

Reply
John link
9/12/2014 01:03:50 pm

I'm such a novice when it comes to cheese making! Ricotta is about all I'm capable of -- definitely need to buckle down and learn how to do it. Really fun -- and inspirational! -- post. Thanks.

Reply
Eha
9/12/2014 02:58:02 pm

Oh for the miracle of 30-hour days! I would so love to master this art: have only made ricotta and labne and did not even know unhomogenised milk was available at the supermarket!! Last year sour dough bread making was on the agenda . . . [big smile] Perhaps when I'll retire but can't see that ever happening . . .

Reply
Krista link
9/12/2014 03:52:13 pm

Heidi was one of my favorite books too, Liz. :-) I really love making cheese, and am so thankful to my friend, Ann, who has walked me through the initially intimidating, but now easy process. :-)

Reply
Joanne T Ferguson link
9/12/2014 05:39:23 pm

G'day I LOVE making my own cheese and what a sense of accomplishment enjoy the fruits (cheese) of our labor!
The workshop seems great and congrats on being a cheese-maker too!
Cheers! Joanne

Reply
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella link
9/12/2014 06:05:12 pm

What a fun workshop! And I was similarly obsessed with Heidi as a child. She lived such a different life from me!

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Hotly Spiced link
9/12/2014 09:11:15 pm

I grew up on those books and really loved them. Always wanted to be Heidi living up in the Austrian alps. The cheese-making process seems elaborate but I think that once you've done this a couple of times it would seem quite simple and routine. What a great experience; you must have come away with a lot of knowledge xx

Reply
Anna @ shenANNAgans link
10/12/2014 02:42:11 pm

Wawhoooo.... What a fun class Liz. I have never made cheese before, looks like something I need to add to the foodie must do bucket list. :)

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Mary Frances link
11/12/2014 03:20:35 am

So cool! Homemade cheese is the best!

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David link
13/12/2014 02:35:51 am

I have tried several times to make cheese but all have failed. I think that the difficulty we have in the U.S. getting unpasteurized and unhomogonized milk is one of the key issues. Maybe I need to take a class like the one you and Peter did! Hope you are having fun getting ready for the holidays!

Reply
Red Nomad OZ link
13/12/2014 08:31:16 pm

Wow! What a fascinating process! I'm VERY familiar with the end product, but apart from my Mum's homemade cottage cheese, I've never been involved in the making! Maybe next year :)

Reply
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef link
13/12/2014 11:09:49 pm

Why didn't I think of using a cake rack to cut the cheese. That's brilliant!!

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