The Modern Cheesemaker by Morgan Mcglynn

Everyone loves a cheeseboard, so why not serve one with your own cheese? It’s been a dream of mine for years – I’m a cheese obsessive. Milk runs through my veins, curds are in my soul and my jokes are whey too cheesy. I have the privilege of being a judge for the British Cheese Awards and I eat the stuff every day. It’s the passion that defines my food life, but I’ve never made my own. There are many reasons for this: lack of space, equipment and know-how, plus, there is no shortage of cheesemakers who do it so well that I’ve never felt the need to toil over a homemade one that won’t compare. But it’s high time I changed that, because, far from being something only experts can hope to achieve, Morgan Mcglynn says anyone can be a cheesemaker. Her edam good book (sorry!) takes you through the kit, methods and techniques needed to make any cheese, from simple paneer and ricotta to advanced hard cheeses such as cheddars and blues.

For my first challenge, I attempted to make cheddar. Morgan provides a list of equipment and 16 laborious steps that take place over at least five weeks. I failed at the second hurdle: after heating four litres of whole organic milk in the biggest pan I could find and adding calcium chloride, mesophilic culture and rennet, I waited hours for curds and whey to form, but nothing happened. This, I deduced, was because I’d used pasteurised rather than raw milk, but I couldn’t conveniently get my hands on any in central London. Next, I turned to the ricotta recipe. I simply heated milk and added vinegar, and curds eventually formed. After straining, the cheese was wet but very fresh. Emboldened, I also successfully made Indian paneer using a similar method to the ricotta.

So is it worth making your own cheese? It depends on how often you’re going to do it. You can get a starter kit for around £25, which will make about a dozen cheeses. After that, it’s just milk and salt. I bought four 2.25-litre bottles for £8 – enough to make 500g cheddar, a small ricotta and paneer – which would cost roughly the same as the milk.

So, cost-wise, it doesn’t work out. It’s a hobby for someone with a massive kitchen, huge pans and loads of time, none of which I have. I’d rather spend the money in a deli and buy what I want, made by people who know what they’re doing.

Want to try it yourself? Learn to make goat’s O cheese on a course in Norfolk. See p143 for more info.

Ricotta

MAKES 250g PREP 10 mins plus a few hrs resting and draining COOK 20 mins MORE EFFORT V

2.25 litres milk

21/2 tbsp white wine vinegar You will need a cheesecloth or muslin sheet and an instant-read thermometer

1 Pour the milk into a large saucepan, add a couple of pinches of salt, then set the pan over a medium heat. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally to prevent the milk sticking or burning. When it is almost coming to the boil, you will see small bubbles begin to appear. Remove from the heat when the temperature reaches 85C.

2 Add the vinegar and stir gently. You should start to see the curds form. Continue to stir for a few minutes, then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for a few hours. 3 Once the ricotta has had time to rest, line a colander with a large sheet of cheesecloth or muslin and place over a mixing bowl. Slowly spoon the curds into the cloth and leave to drain for about 1 hr.

4 Check if the cheese is ready by gently lifting the cloth and squeezing tightly, making sure all the whey has drained out.

5 The ricotta is now ready to eat. Will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.

GOOD TO KNOW gluten free

PER 30g 36 kcals • fat 2g • saturates 1g • carbs 1g • sugars 1g • fibre none • protein 2g • salt 0.1g