Learn To Make Cheese

Slashfood puts out their favorite cheese books of 2009. Mastering Cheese: Lessons for the True Connoisseurship from a Maitre Fromager is the textbook on artisanal cheese connoisseurship, written by Max McCalman, New York based expert and advocate for artisanal cheese production around the world.

They also recommend a fascinating guide to world cheese, the World Cheese Book which profiles over 800 cheeses from around the world.

On a slightly less grandiose scale for the aspiring home cheesemakers out there, we suggest the somewhat harder to find Self Sufficiency Cheesemaking by Rita Ash that covers the simple processes for making cheese at home.

Best Cheese Books of 2009 – Cheese Course – Slashfood.

An engaging read for any cheese enthusiast, Isthmus has a review of The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin Press, 2009).  This book by Becca Dilley and James Norton provides a glimpse into the lives of Wisconsin’s famed cheesemakers through engaging storytelling and imagery.  It’s a highly personal look at some of the country’s finest artisanal cheesemakers.  We’re looking forward to checking it out ourselves!

“What Dilley does in her photographs, Norton does in his writing, creating intimate scenes rather than lists of facts. The reader follows Cedar Grove’s Robert Wills into his living wastewater treatment plant (it looks like a lily pond) and learns about his annual curd-fattened bluegill fish fry. Doug Peterson, of Mazomanie, talks about how he left a large dairy cooperative in order to develop a cheese for high-temperature pizza ovens. What this book does, unlike other primers and atlases I’ve picked up, is connect readers to the impassioned few who dream up cheeses like Faarko, maple leaf cheese, and cinnamon-rubbed butter jack.”

Be sure to check out the book’s website.

Madame Fromage: The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin is worth checking out – Isthmus | The Daily Page.

David Bleckmann at the Joy of Cheesemaking wrote a helpful review of Making Artisan Cheese: 50 Fine Cheeses That You Can Make In Your Own Kitchen.  Like David, you may have found an overwhelming amount of information on cheesemaking at home, but not everything is appropriate to your interests or skill level.   Some cheesemaking information gets a little too scientific for us.  Other times, a book about cheesemaking can be too technical in describing processes.  Bleckmann finds a happy medium with Making Artisan Cheese.

Here’s an excerpt:  (Full review after the jump).

“Making Artisan Cheese starts with a history of cheese and then covers some cheesemaking basics. After this it is divided into three major sections: beginning, intermediate and advanced cheesemaking. Each of these sections separates the techniques needed for the cheeses in the section, from the recipes using those techniques. This is nice because once you know the techniques you can flip through to find the recipes without wading through a lot of text. It also does not burden you with too much technique and theory too fast, and the beginner can start of quickly with making some easy, acid coagulated, fresh cheeses.”

The Home Cheesemaking Blog: Book Review: Making Artisan Cheese: 50 Fine Cheeses That You Can Make in Your Own Kitchen.

From eCampus.com: Over the last decade, artisan and farmstead cheesemaking have transformed Vermont into one of the nation’s (and the world’s) most beloved sources of fine cheeses. Ogden describes all the cheeses from all the cheesemakers. Through visits to the farms, talks with the cheesemakers, and descriptions of the cheeses, Ogden illustrates the expert technique and knowledge of craft that have transformed the small state into an influential contributor to the national food scene.

The Vermont Cheese Book

Learning about cheese is a lifelong endeavor, and we love resources that help give you a foundation for successful cheesemaking.

Kindstedt has developed a manual that covers in detail the scientific and technical bases for turning milk into cheese, describing each of the eight steps of the process. Even the nonprofessional can profit from Kindstedt’s discussion of the chemical principles that underlie cheese making, the variations in the final product that are affected by temperature, acidity, salt, and coagulating media.

American Farmstead Cheese: The Complete Guide To Making and selling Artisan Cheeses