No Whey!

by Mark R. Vogel

OK, picture this: The year is 6000 BC and you're a member of a nomadic tribe, probably in what is now modern day Iraq. For sustenance along the journey, your caravan carries milk in pouches made of sheep's stomachs.

You stop for lunch, nestle up against a walnut tree, and break open a pouch in eager anticipation of a refreshing drink of goat's milk. But wait. Something's wrong.

What once was a creamy and uniform fluid is now a mixture of coagulated masses surrounded by this thin, almost watery liquid. Congratulations Omar, you just invented cheese! Now how did you do it?

Our early Mesopotamian wanderer inadvertently followed the same basic cheese making steps that we employ today. Milk is combined with rennet, a protein found in the stomachs of sheep and cattle.

It contains enzymes that separate the milk into the liquid whey and the solid curds. The whey is drained off and the curds are then processed in multifarious ways depending on the type of cheese being produced.

Curds that are not aged or "ripened" produce what is known as a fresh cheese. Classic examples include cottage, feta, and mozzarella. If the cheese is aged, it is then classified based on its texture.

There are soft cheeses such as Brie, semi-soft, e.g., Muenster and fontina, hard, e.g., cheddar and provolone, and very hard cheese known as grating, such as Parmigiano and Romano.

Finally, there are blue cheeses, such as Gorgonzola and Stilton, so named because of the color of the mold that is injected into them. Oh and by the way, some cheeses are made just from the whey, such as ricotta, so yes, whey!

If you've ever treated yourself to a fine French restaurant, you're well aware that it is customary to serve a cheese course at the end of a tasting menu. What decadence! Can you imagine an array of rich and exquisite cheeses, (with the accompanying wines of course), to top off your gourmet meal?