FACTS: A Cow's Milk + Its Fourth Stomach = Cheese

By Erica

Both Kara and I (and probably the majority of you out there), thought that all you needed to make cheese was milk. There is, however, a second ingredient that is necessary: rennet. Rennet is collection of enzymes that mammals (that means you!) have in their stomachs to digest milk. In the cheese making process, it is what causes milk to split into curds and whey (Little Miss Muffet, &c &c). Today, about 60% of cheese produced in the US is made with genetically engineered rennet, but this was not always the case. Cheese, The Making of Wisconsin Tradition by Jerry Apps (a lovely little piece of propaganda "Courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board," and my reading material on the bus to work), tells me that in the 1800s, when cheese making was still a domestic chore, rennet was made by combining six gallons of water, loads of salt, 12 calf's stomachs "half emptied, rinsed, and salted", six lemons, and an ounce of cinnamon cloves. It was stored for around a year before it was used.

Most people would probably prefer that their cow stomach's were not involved in the making of their cheese, or at least that they didn't know about it. The Vegetarian Society writes that "The usual source of rennet is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves," and advocates for the use of other sources of rennet, like fungus, bacteria, or a petri dish. But there's something intriguing to me about getting the milk and rennet from the same source. It seems more natural. When you eat cheese made with cow rennet, it's like you're eating something that, more or less, exists already in a cow's fourth stomach somewhere.
























Moo.

THOUGHTS: My current cheese-knowledge

By Kara

Cheese is made from milk, and perhaps some other things. It's somehow related to mold, maybe, and can be "aged" to different degrees of desirability. It goes well with fruit, wine, nuts, crackers, bread, and, according to my grandfather, apple pie.

Adjectives that can be used to describe cheese include, but must certainly not be limited to, the following: sharp, mild, soft, hard, stinky, salty, and nutty. These qualities most likely arise from some part of the process that occurs between "made from milk" and "aged to different degrees."

I love cheese, I really do. I ate grated parmesan by the spoonful as a kid, and before writing this post I polished off the first of two huge hunks of cheddar (Wisconsin-made!) I bought at the grocery store last week. My love of cheeses, however, far eclipses my actual understanding. I guess I used to have some latent theory that various kinds of cheese got their distinctive tastes from the types of milk that were used in their production. Upon recent reflection, I've come to realize that there aren't possibly enough milkable mammals to produce all the varieties of cheese out there in the world... or, at least, it seems very unlikely that the difference between swiss and gouda and taleggio is that one of them is made from cow's milk, while the others originated in the teats of lions or alpacas.

So what goes on between your Bovine Bessie, Shirley Sheep, Goatrude, or whomever, and that cheddar I just ate? I can't explain, or even accurately describe, the distinctive brie flavor I've grown to love so much, or what it is about string cheese that makes it stringy. Of course, let's not forget the ultimate Wisconsin mystery: why do cheese curds squeak? (And what exactly are "curds," anyway?)

It should be fairly obvious that at this point my cheese-knowledge is really just cheese-appreciation. With any luck, we'll soon observe it developing into a true cheese-passion.

THOUGHTS: How little I know about cheese

By Erica

When I was a 15, my sister told me I should be a cheese connoisseur. I don’t think she meant it seriously. I think we were sitting in the kitchen and, as usual, I was in the middle of eating an entire wedge of whatever cheese was in the refrigerator. It was probably her way of saying, “Erica, you eat too much cheese.”

In fact, I do eat a lot of cheese. Now that I have my own apartment, I make sure to always have cheese and crackers handy. My unofficial cheese mantra is “the stinkier, the better.” Consequently, my favorite kind of cheese is Époisses, a French cows milk cheese that comes in a circular wooden box. Its stench can clear a room. My mother used to buy this cheese for me whenever I visited home.

Despite my extreme love of eating cheese, I have very little knowledge about cheese. In fact, I had no idea that Époisses was called Époisses until last year. And I didn’t know it was a French cows milk cheese until I looked it up on Wikipedia a minute ago. It is high time that I learn about the food that I love so much. Perhaps I will even become a (amateur) cheese connoisseur after all.

Before Kara and I embark on our cheese journey, I will document the current state of my knowledge for posterity:

These are the names of cheese that I know*:
Cheddar
Goat Cheese
Gruyere
Monterey Jack
Gouda
Époisses (of course)
Mozzarella
Brie
Roquefort
Asiago
Parmesan
Feta

*A pathetic list.

How cheese is made according to Erica**:
1) Take the milk of some animal: cow, sheep, or goat
2) Do something to it (remove the fat? Pasteurize it? What does Pasteurize mean?)
3) Use a cheese cloth to squeeze the liquid out and create a solid
4) Let it sit for some about of time
5) Eat it

**Laughable.