Mozzarella

For a long time, I've wanted to make cheese. There are two main reasons for this: I like making things, and I like cheese. I'm always fascinated by how things are made, constructed, created, or cooked. One of my birthday presents this year was a kit with recipes and some of the consumables needed to make several sorts of cheese: I just needed milk. We thought we'd start with mozzarella, which seemed straightforward enough, and which we like. The principles are quite straightforward: you warm the milk to 35°C with some calcium chloride and citric acid, then add rennet. After a pause, for the curds to form, you cut them up, warm the mix again (to 42°C), and let them rest briefly. The curds come out, and then you either dip them in hot water, or use the microwave to heat them to about 60°C, when they can be stretched and formed into a ball. I overstretched them, this time, so the mozzarella was a bit harder than 'normal'.

Mozzarella balls (© Ian 2016)

After that excitement, we had a wine tasting at home, with half a dozen whites, half a dozen reds, a rosé, a port, a sherry, and a creamy coconut liqueur. We may order a dozen of one of the reds; it was extremely good.