I recently experimented a little with milk, buttermilk and whey so this post is dedicated to curdling. Inspiration came from Germania by Tacitus as well as Natural History by Pliny the Elder and their description of something which might have been Quark. Unsalted white cheese, however, became very popular among worldwide gourmets. Eaten alone for dessert or added to other ingredients for cakes, puddings and tarts, it surely deserves to be featured in a milk-lover's blog.
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| German prince Arminius with spouse Thusnelda (Johannes Gehrts, 1884) |
The beginnings of cheese
Early varieties of cheese would have been saltless, like the German 'no-cheese' that was nearly mocked by Roman historians: acid-set cheeses obtained by natural souring that manufacturers nowadays facilitate with the addition of lactic bacteria. Milk that was carried in bags made from the stomach of animals curdled more quickly, as people discovered by accident, so the further addition of rennet helped produce more cheese varieties. Cheesemaking is notoriously referenced in a scene from Homer's Odyssey, where the giant Polyphemus co-agulates part of his sheep's and goats' fresh milk -naturally with the addition of rennet:
ἑζόμενος δ᾽ ἤμελγεν ὄις καὶ μηκάδας αἶγας, πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, καὶ ὑπ᾽ ἔμβρυον ἧκεν ἑκάστῃ. αὐτίκα δ᾽ ἥμισυ μὲν θρέψας λευκοῖο γάλακτος πλεκτοῖς ἐν ταλάροισιν ἀμησάμενος κατέθηκεν, ἥμισυ δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἔστησεν ἐν ἄγγεσιν, ὄφρα οἱ εἴη πίνειν αἰνυμένῳ καί οἱ ποτιδόρπιον εἴη [Hom. Od. 9.244-249]. Salting also enabled storage for longer periods of time, making hard cheese very popular.
A versatile food
When Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella and Pliny the Elder numbered the different types of cheese just before 100 AD, they excluded unsalted varieties. Fresh cheese like ricotta was barely marketable and likely consumed only by shepherds or those who could afford gourmet dishes. Meanwhile, cheese was the basic ingredient for nearly every Greek and Roman dessert, including cakes like savillum that were featured by Cato the Elder; it was paired with honey and folded in dough. Whether intentionally or accidentaly, cheesemaking evolved. Oddities never failed to impress. Brie, a soft cheese with edible rind, and the blue cheese Roquefort were highly praised by Charlemagne. Hard cheese was often used in medieval, Renaissance and Early modern recipes while 'co-agulated' milk was indispensable for beloved desserts such as posset (a beverage) or junket (a pudding). The 18th century marked the peak of such trends, with fromage glacé being another name for icecream that was labelled as such only because of its texture while the custard was actually based on milk.
Although it's unclear whether the co-agulated milk referenced by Tacitus was Quark, the importance of animal husbandry is obvious not just in Germania but also in Julius Caesar's Notes on the Gallic War. Stretching from Belgium and France to Hungary and ex-Yugoslavia, the 'barbarian' countries were often abundant in both sheep and cattle even though Germanic breeds were (said to be) of lesser quality, which might have resulted in smaller quantities of milk and its by-products: satis
ferax, frugiferarum arborum impatiens, pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque
improcera ne armentis quidem suus honor aut gloria frontis: numero
gaudent, eaeque solae et gratissimae opes sunt [Tac. Ger. 5]. However, the buttermilk produced from these animals tasted delicious, as Pliny the Elder admits.
How to make Quark
Ancient Germanic, Slavic and Baltic people made Quark by leaving the milk to sour and curdle, with or without the addition of rennet. Today, curdling is aided by mesophilic cultures partly because pasteurized milk lacks the healthy bacteria that ensure fermentation. Homemade recipes also include or depend entirely on cultured buttermilk. Since 'cultured' means pasteurized buttermilk with added lactic bacteria, which is not as flavorsome as the natural product, knowledgeable amateurs go for unpasteurized milk + rennet + mesophilic culture. The milk to use is generally skimmed cow's milk but the 'barbarians' referenced by Pliny the Elder would have co-agulated sheep's milk as well. Quark is relatively easy to make at home, even a yoghurt-maker will do for small quantities, and -with a bit of luck- the finished cheese will taste at least as good as the store-bought varieties.
Other fresh cheeses
Ricotta has been produced in Italy since pre-historic times. It's possible to make entirely of whey, the by-product of cheesemaking. To increase the yield, a producer often adds milk from cow, sheep, goat or buffalo. The mixture is heated, rested, injected with citric acid, and left to curdle. Britain and France boast their own varieties of delicious fresh cheeses: cottage cheese and fromage blanc are similar to Quark. They are normally made with skimmed milk but there are richer versions with added cream that go into pastrymaking. Some of the loveliest desserts of German, Slavic, Baltic and Italian cuisines are prepared with fresh cheese. Although not referenced in century-old sources, Greek mizithra is yet another whey cheese produced by natural souring. It's made from ewe's or goat's milk and comes in two varieties: fresh and sweet, which is eaten with honey or used for cheesecakes, or aged (& salty), which is exclusively used for grating over cooked pasta. Goat's milk normally yields less cheese than milk from other animals. The consistency of goat's cheese also varies. Fresh chèvre is mild in taste and spreadable.
LAC CONCRETUM
The
organic milk and buttermilk used in these recipes were lightly
pasteurized and the mixtures incubated (when necessary) in my yoghurt maker. No rennet or special culture was added. Non-homogenized sheep's milk with 7% fat curdled better than cow's milk whereas goat's milk yielded less cheese. Ricotta was made with leftover whey from the other two cheeses.
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| Quark from sheep's milk with 7% fat. Incubation: 24 hours. Draining: 8 hours |
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| Quark from cow's milk with 3.5% fat. Incubation: 36 hours. Draining: 12 hours |
FRESH CHEESE BASED ON MILK
I n g r e d i e n t s
1lt fresh milk
200ml buttermilk
M e t h o d
Whisk the cold ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into glass bottles and shake well. Divide among the pots of the yoghurt maker and incubate for as long as it takes for the mixture to curdle, about 18-36 hours. Empty into a linen bag that you place in a colander over a large bowl. Leave to drain in the kitchen for 6 hours. From time to time, pipe the resulting whey into a glass bottle for storage. Place the bowl, colander and linen bag in the refrigerator for another 6-12 hours. Spoon the cheese into a glass bowl and keep refrigerated. Consume within 5 days.
N o t e
Adjust the yield by changing time schedules. Drained for 12 hours, sheep's milk results in 500g of cheese. The same quantity of cow's and goat's milk yields 330g of Quark and chèvre respectively. The rest is whey.
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| Citric acid helps thicken and sweeten the mixture |
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| Whey alone yields small quantities of light ricotta |
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| Firmer ricotta can be easily shaped after draining |
FRESH CHEESE BASED ON WHEY
I n g r e d i e n t s
3.5lt whey
280ml fresh milk
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp citric acid
M e t h o d
Heat the whey to 90C, gradually adding the milk and salt. Remove the cooking pot from the stove, add the citric acid dissolved in 120ml water and stir. (You must not break down the flakes.) Let rest for 15 minutes. Empty the curdled mixture into a linen bag that you will place in a colander over a large bowl or ladle the white flakes directly into the colander. Drain for 1-6 hours. Unmold, refrigerate and consume within 5 days.
N o t e
4lt of whey alone should yield no more than 180-240g of ricotta. The addition of milk (or cream) results in bulkier and denser cheese.
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