Say Cheeeessssse

Though I didn't cook anything of note tonight, I thought I should update you all on my cheese-making. Making cheese is quite a process, and I'm not sure it would be worth it (besides just being able to say that you know how to make cheese) in the US. It would cost just as much money if not more to make your own cheddar as to buy it. I make an exception to that with Fresh Mozzarella which is relatively simple, fun, and so freaken good.

Alas, here I have no cheddar... and I love it. It's one of my favorite cheeses. So I made cheddar the other day.

Now I made Mozzarella twice before trying the process for cheddar. Fresh Mozz might be one of my favorite things in all the world. Nothing is ever simple here in Morocco, but it only takes about 45 minutes to make and it's WORTH IT!!! The first time was a real challenge. Our milk here comes in little baggies, so after I figured out how many little baggies are in a gallon, I started the process. To make it you use this stuff called rennet, milk, citric acid and salt. You dissolve the rennet tablets in water (a quarter of a tab in this case), mix the milk and citric acid together, heat the milk to a certain specific temperature (88 degrees) and then mix in the rennet. You let it sit until it curdles (it doesn't take long at all), and then start the process of making it into stretchy Mozzarella.

This is a process that is really easy if you have a microwave to reheat the cheese and not so easy if you don't- like me in morocco. It's messy and hot (since I also have no thick rubber gloves) so I just use a spoon to kneed the cheese like dough until it cools off enough for me to touch. Then I continue dipping the cheese curd in the super hot whey until it melds together and I'm able to stretch it. I then stretch it a few times and mix in the salt (as this process is going on)... And you have fresh Mozz... It's so yummy for pizza and ziti and all the other things that need some good Mozz. My problem is that I just can't stop eating it... I can't save it for pizza because it's so good warm just to eat. :-)

Back to cheddar... that was quite a process. It took several days to finish it. You make it like the Mozz but with cultures, draining the curd and then putting weights on top of it for 24 hours. 12 hours, flip it in the mold, and then 12 more hours. Unwrap it, let it dry until there is a rind on the outside and it isn't moist anymore and then wax it. But now I have a red cake-looking round of cheese in my fridge. It needs to age at least 4 weeks before I can eat it. I'll let you know how it goes.


Here is my lopsided round of cheddar. Hope it tastes good! :-)