Cheese-lnks

cheese-lnks - 10/1/04

A set of web links to information on medieval and modern cheese by Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon.

NOTE: See also the files: cheese-msg, cheesemaking-msg, fresh-cheeses-msg, Cheese-Making-art, cheesecake-msg, Charles-Chees-art, dairy-prod-msg, butter-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: mtnlion at ptd.net

Subject: Links: The Power of Cheese

Date: October 1, 2004 12:17:08 PM CDT

To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com

Greetings my faithful readers.

I have a terrible confession to make. I'm a Cheesehead. Not a "cheesehead"

of the sports-fanatic type (for those who follow American Sports), but of

the I LOVE CHEESE variety. Alas, I am the unfortunate product of a childhood

spent under the influence of the cheese-of-the-month club, where I was

addicted early to the cherry-like flavor of baby camembert and the lushness

of smoked havarti. It gets worse, I'm afraid. I actually enjoy making cheese

now, and have become quite proficient. I'm reasonably sure that this fact

alone seals me irrevocably in my doom of absolute nerd-dom.

The plain truth is, however, that cheese-making of at least an elemental

(i.e.: fresh curds, and green cheese which is not the color green, BTW)

variety would have been in the purview of every good medieval cook and

housewife, despite the fact that we see almost NONE of it in our modern

medieval feasts. Making curds, and using them for other products, would have

been child's play to most ladies and cooks in our period of study,

particularly in the high dairying areas. So what is it about cheese that has

so many excellent modern cooks running scared? Although it's not a secret,

I'd like to share a fact with you: Making cheese is easy. Anyone can do it,

without any fancy equipment. With three ingredients already in your home

(milk, salt, and an acidic product like lemon juice, wine, etc.), and a pot

to warm them in, anyone can have success at making cheese. And the cheese

you make at home will be miles better than store-bought cottage cheese,

ricotta or farmer's cheese. Your personae, as you portray them, would

undoubtedly have had a daily contact with green cheese, curds, enriched

cheese products such as tarts, and would have had frequent contact with hard

or aged cheese, slip-coat cheese, etc. So read on, and find out how to

enrich your own SCAdian life with the addition of a simple, ancient food:

Cheese.

A recent family issue prevented me from teaching a cheese-making class here

in Aethelmearc at the event Weekend of Wisdom, and so I hope those that

wished to attend my class will find this Links List useful. In addition, I

understand the new Links List e-list will be operational soon, and it will

be possible to subscribe to that Links List via www.scatoday.net, so stay

tuned! Special Thanks to everyone at SCAtoday for working your considerable

magic on my behalf.

Cheers,

Aoife

Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon, OL, OP

Canton of Riverouge

Barony of Endless Hills

Kingdom of Aethelmearc

Gode Cookery--Medieval Cheeses

http://www.godecookery.com/how2cook/howto02.htm

(Site Excerpt) This list includes cheeses that were known during the Middle

Ages & Renaissance, along with some 17th century varieties and a few modern

cheeses that are acceptable period substitutes. Beaufort, Brie, Camembert ,

Cheddar - first recorded use is in 1500, Comté .... SEE ALSO A Brief History

of Cheese at http://www.godecookery.com/how2cook/cheesnet.htm

Stefan's Florilegium--Cheese-msg

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/cheese-msg.html

(Site Excerpt from ONE message of Many) Good sources for information on

ancient-vs.-modern cheese are C. Anne Wilson's "Food and Drink in Britain",

and, Heaven help me for saying so, the Larousse Gastronomique, which, as I

have frequently said, is pretty much reliable only where French foods are

concerned. G. Tacitus Adamantius

SEE ALSO the food Index at

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/idxfood.html and click on

baked-cheese, cheese (recipes), fresh-cheeses, cheese-goo, cheesemaking,

Cheese-Making-art, and cheesecake, for much of the currently SCA-held

medieval knowledge about cheese.

Cheese Connoisseurs--Buy Cheese Online

http://www.cheese-connaisseurs.com/show/subcategorylist/subcategoryid/64.html

Cheesemaking (and eating) by Cathy Harding (SCAdianly known as Maeve)

http://www.nwlink.com/~charding/cheese.html

(Note to see Campi's painting The Ricotta Eaters of 1585. Site Excerpt:)

Digby has a recipe for making cheese (as part of the recipe To Make

Cheesecakes)Take 12 quarts of milk warm from the cow, turn it with a good

spoonful of rennet. Break it well, and put it in a large strainer, in which

rowl it up and down, that all the whey may run out into a little tub; when

all that will is run out, wring out more. Then break the curds well; then

wring it again, and more whey will come. Thus break and wring till no more

come. Then work the curds exceedingly with your hand in a tray, till they

become a short uniform paste. (Digby p. 214/174 To Make Cheesecakes)

New England Cheesemaking Supply (Note: I've dealt with this company and am

pleased with their products--Aoife) http://www.cheesemaking.com/

A good source of Rennet, in both animal and vegetable form. Good directions,

as well as basic supplies.

The Grape and Granery--Cheesemaking supplies

http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/2,1373.html

Cheese.com Cheese Making and Supplies

http://www.cheese.com/

Virtual store includes 65 cheese-making items to choose from

The Basics of Making Cheese

http://www.efr.hw.ac.uk/SDA/cheese2.html

(Site Excerpt) The process of cheesemaking is an ancient craft that dates

back thousands of years. By today's standards of industrial technology, the

process of cheesemaking is still a complicated one which combines both "Art"

and "Science" together. The subject of cheese has been extensively

investigated by many research groups in many countries, and in-depth

information has been reported, for example, by Kosikowski (1982), Scott

(1986), Robinson (1993) and Fox (1993). Nevertheless, the primary stages of

cheesemaking are shown in Figure 2.1, and in brief the constituents of milk

can be described as follows....

Guide to Cheeses from Around the World.

http://www.therepertoire.com/cheese/guide.htm

French Cheese

http://www.franceway.com/cheese/intro.htm

This site goes into detail about French Cheeses and the

pasteurized/nonpasterized debate. It also gives tips for deciding the

difference between the two and recognizing what you're buying.

Cheesemaking in Scotland, a History

http://www.efr.hw.ac.uk/SDA/book1.html

(Site Excerpt) Cheesemaking as we know it in Scotland today is basically a

European development of skills acquired from the 'Fertile Crescent', the

area of land between the Euphrates and Tigris in Iraq.Archaeologists have

discovered that as far back as 6000 BC cheese had been made from cow's and

goat's milk and stored in tall jars. Egyptian tomb murals of 2000 BC show

butter and cheese being made, and other murals which show milk being stored

in skin bags suspended from poles demonstrate a knowledge of dairy husbandry

at that time.

Food Reference.com's Blue or Bleu Cheese History

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbluecheese.html

(Site Excerpt) Roquefort cheese is a particular blue cheese that is made in

the south of France. Some other blue cheeses are Stilton (England),

Gorgonzola (Italy), Danablu (Denmark), and Americas' entry, Maytag Blue

Cheese. These are just a few, there are many more blue cheeses. SEE ALSO

Feta Facts and History http://www.foodreference.com/html/artfetacheese.html

History of Goat Cheese

http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/AgrEnv/ndd/goat/GOAT_CHEESE.html

(Site Excerpt) Milk from all species has been used for cheesemaking.

Because more attention has been given to increasing the productivity of the

bovine species, a large proportion of commercial cheese is now made from

cow milk; the milk from the buffalo, zebu, sheep and goat is also used

extensively.

Making Cheese: The History (centers on Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, etc.)

http://park.org/Netherlands/pavilions/food_and_markets/cheese/history.html

(Site Excerpt) In Friesland in the north of The Netherlands, pots and

vessels were discovered which indicate that as early as two centuries B.C.,

cheese was being made there. An extensive trade has existed since the Middle

Ages. Around the year 1100 Dutch bargemen paid their tolls in cheese at

Koblenz in Germany. In bills of the city of Rotterdam dating back to 1426,

mention is made of the profession of `caescoper' (cheesemonger). In 1266 the

City of Haarlem obtained the right to hold a dairy market. In 1303, Leyden

was next, Oudewater in 1326 and Alkmaar in 1365.

SEE ALSO Netherlands's Making Cheese website:

http://park.org/Netherlands/pavilions/food_and_markets/cheese/making.html

Mozzarella History and Method

http://www.mozzco.com/mozzhisty.html

(Site Excerpt) Legend has it that mozzarella was first made when cheese

curds accidentally fell into a pail of hot water in a cheese factory near

Naples...and soon thereafter the first pizza was made! Actually, new cheeses

are often formulated when mistakes happen, so there well may be truth in the

tale!

Gorgonzola and her Cheese

http://www.deliciousitaly.com/Lombardiadishes13.htm

(Site Excerpt) The cheese's origins are arguably Piemontese. Even today the

zone of production includes Novara, Vercelli and Cuneo in that province. All

are entitled to label their produce with the official mark of quality.

Legend states that in the 12th century a herdsman was travelling to summer

pastures in Valsassina when he left a version of Gorgonzola in the town.

sympatico.ca History of Parmesan Cheese

http://gourmet.sympatico.ca/cheeses/italian/parmigia.htm

(Site Excerpt) Unchanged for the last seven centuries, Parmigiano Reggiano

was praised as early as 1348 in the writings of Boccaccio. In the Decameron,

he speaks of Cockaigne where there was a mountain made completely of

Parmesan, on which lived people who made nothing but macaroni and ravioli,

seeming to prove that Parmesan has long reigned on the Italian table as the

accompaniment of choice for pasta.

US Dept of Agriculture: How to Buy Cheese (Acrobat Reader Required)

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web/How%2Bto%2BCheese

Feta, The Flavoring Cheese (From the Jerusalem Post Online)

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1090380214999

(Site Excerpt) First they discovered how to make cheese by separating the

whey from the curds; but the fresh curds still didn't keep long. So they put

the cheese in a brine of water and salt. Thus, feta was born.

Making Cheese at Home

http://schmidling.netfirms.com/making.htm

(Site Excerpt) The following recipe represents the ultimate in simplicity in

cheese making. It will produce a delicious cottage cheese that resembles

ricotta and is excellent fresh or used in cooking Italian dishes such as

lasagna. We recommend that beginners start with a cottage cheese to get the

feel for the basics and for the instant gratification of being able to enjoy

the product immediately.

Cheesemaking Suggestions and recipes

http://www.geocities.com/foodhowto/recipes/cheese/cheese1.htm

(Site Excerpt) There are two main ways to "coagulate" milk: You can add

acidic substance to the milk as the acids cause the milk proteins to clump

together. Natural bacteria cultures are the main way to do this for most

cheeses, especially the harder cheeses such as Cheddar

Here's How to Make Cheese

http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/howto3.htm

(Site Excerpt) The soft cheeses that most people are familiar with include

cottage cheese, "goat" cheese, cream cheese, etc. Roughly speaking, any

cheese that can be spread with a knife will have been produced by a "soft"

process. There are 3 basic steps in making a soft cheese.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html

25 articles, ( 2-3 are NOT about cheese, but he's also into ginger ale and

root beer :). Excellent, Concise, and illustrated!

Artisan Cheesemakers List (a yahoo group)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Artisan_Cheesemakers/

(Site Excerpt) How do you know if ARTISAN CHEESEMAKERS-L is for you? Does

the idea of taking the mundanity of fresh milk and seeing it touched by the

divine via the cheesemaking process thrill you to your very core? Do your

eyes light up when the fateful words "Crottin de Chavignol" enter a

conversation?

Republic of Kenya: Basic Facts for Farmers: Making Cheese (online

instructional phamphlet)

http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/aga/publication/mpguide/mpguide5.htm

The cheesemaking process--Stilton

http://www.stiltoncheese.com/UK/makingstilton/index.cfm

The Online Guide to the Art of Cheesemaking

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/1288/index.htm