Kosher Blog

Cheesmaking Books & Kosher Task List

Thanks to Amazon, I grabbed copies of Home Cheese Making (Carroll/Werlin) and Making Great Cheese At Home (Ciletti) in no time (their 3-7 day USPS shipping got them to me in much less time than 3 days). Both were easy and enjoyable reads. Carroll seems to be the classic cheesemaking primer (now in its third edition), and the author’s expertise is apparent — Ricki Carroll has run the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company in Ashfield, MA for 25 years. Ciletti is also a top-notch book, the strengths of which are its full-color photographs of cheeses and the cheesemaking process, plus its entertaining first chapter on the history of cheese. Ciletti, however, is lighter on the “scientific” details — only 17 pages of background before getting into cheesemaking recipes. Carroll weighs in at around 60 pages of background, detailing every aspect of the craft — milk selection, rennets, bacterial starters, flavoring additives, equipment, and technique — with tasteful line drawings to illustrate key topics. Together, it seems the two books offer a solid foundation for the newbie cheese maker.

Probably after Pesach, I’ll do as both cheese guides instruct and start with simple, soft cheeses (tday and dlevy recommended paneer and ricotta).

Keeping an eye out for the more-involved varieties down the line, I’ll assemble here a list of ingredients that may require some fancy Kosher footwork to acquire.

Milk
Some say the best cheeses are from fresh, raw milk — that’s un-pasteurized and un-homogenized. If I can find minimally pasteurized, un-homogenized, it’ll be a coup. Time to scour the local farmstands for something closer to nature than Hood and Garelick Farms.

Starters
There are two predominant types of “starters” which convert the lactose in milk into lactic acid, starting the cheese development process: mesophilic and thermophilic. I currently have no idea what the kashrut status is of these bacterial additives.

Rennet
Rennet coagulates the milk and initiates the separation of curds from whey (the curds eventually become cheese). Traditionally, rennet comes from a calf’s stomach lining, but “vegetable” and “microbial” alternatives exist. I’ve already found websites of microbial rennet producers (DSM, for example, produces Kosher Maxiren, a genetically-modified yeast). Now to find people who sell it retail.

Lipase
It’s added to many Italian cheeses to develop a stronger flavor. Again, no idea about kashrut status.

Molds
Once I’m a seasoned cheese artisan, I’d love to try a homemade camembert (the commercial alternatives stink). Mold-ripened cheeses of this nature require special bacteria like Penicillium camemberti or Penicillium roqueforti. Not sure why a simple bacterium might not be Kosher, we’ll see.

Any leads? Post a comment!