Goat’s Milk and It’s Cheesy Story: Part IV

Here’s some practical, albeit less whimsical, goat cheese info. Just some things you’d like to know about storage, types, etc etc etc. Etc.

And maybe one more etc. For good measure.

Goat cheese does not mean chèvre. Goat’s milk can be made into hard, aged cheeses or semi-soft cheeses. There are a huge variety of cheeses that range from strong and pungent to delicate and mild in odor and flavor. Their textures can be creamy, crumbly, or semi-firm.

I've used this image before, but I think it's beautiful. Also, you can see the variety.

The definition of cheese, according to the Agriculture Handbook, is “a product made from milk in which protein is coagulated and concentrated, accompanied by milk fat trapped in the curd” (http://drinc.ucdavis.edu/goatdairy.htm). Agriculture Handbook, No. 54, lists over 400 varieties and 800 names of goat cheeses.

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Goat’s Milk and It’s Cheesy Story: Part III

Finally we come to the point of this whole series: goat cheese.

It's all goat cheese, all the time.

Cheese making is one of the first processes nomadic cultures discovered for preserving food. Processed milk (a fancy way of saying cheese) was eaten as early as 6500 B.C and evidence of milk byproducts have been discovered in Stone Age Turkish pottery. The first cheeses were made from sheep and goat’s milk. Later, other mammalian milks were used, such as donkey and zebu milks.

Tell me I'm not the only one who thought a zebu resembled a zebra.

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Goat’s Milk and It’s Cheesy Story: Part II

DISCLAIMER: This post is information and science heavy and probably a little overwhelming. However, interspersed are pictures of baby goats being adorable, as well as some great Photoshops (if I do say so myself), a la my wonderful Lebrongoat. So take a minute to scroll through and check out the pictures and, if you are intrigued, take a read too.

Ah, milk. So vital to cheese making.

I found pages and pages of information on milk’s mythological and symbolic significance. First and foremost, it was “the essence of the mother goddess” (Andrews, 147). The mother goddess is depicted in many forms, most commonly a tree, woman, or cow. In each one she nourished kings, gods, and even the land with her milk.

Prehistoric depiction of the Mother Goddess - Venus of Willendorf (24,000-22,000 BC)

The tree form often has female attributes, i.e. numerous breasts. In an African legend, the tree provided milk to a tribal chief’s daughter so that she could feed her brother. A Scottish-Gaelic tale tells of a milk-giving tree that provided the Milk of Wisdom.

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Goat’s Milk and It’s Cheesy Story: Part I

I looooove goat cheese. You may think that when I say goat cheese, I mean chèvre. Well, yea I do. But I also mean all the other cheeses made with goat’s milk.

“Whaaaat!? There are other cheeses made from goat’s milk in the world!?” I totally heard you think that through my computer screen. Don’t deny it.

But yes, there are plenty of other cheeses made with caprine milk. “Caprine” means of or pertaining to a goat. Like Capricorn.

Gotta love the mystical beast image.

Goat’s milk cheeses can be hard, soft, semi-soft, or firm. They have a wonderful array of flavors, not just that deliciously tangy, smooth chèvre. Would you like me to tell you about them?

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We Tried Making Mozzarella…

I thought this would be a good supplement to Cheese: Go Make Some. It’s a few things I noticed when my boyfriend made mozzarella. He did, in fact, go make some while I was writing that last post. It didn’t turn out exactly how we’d have liked, but here are some homemade pictures from me. He’s made it twice before and used a video by Rahm Fama from the Food Network as a guide, which I’ll post after pictures.

This is the beginning of the curdling process before a firm curd has formed.

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Cheese: Go Make Some

Ah!! A whole week has gone by. I’m ashamed. I was trying to flesh this post out with a little history and exciting content, but it’s already 7 pages long as is. That’s without pictures. I’m posting this one today and an accompaniment about goat milk and cheese tomorrow. Just to give your eyes a break.

Not to continue gushing about the Philly Science Festival, but I went to a Philly Science Festival event called “The Artisanal Microbe: Cheese.” It was hosted at DiBruno Brothers in Center City which, by the way, has become quite epic. I was all like “whoa!” (Time for some pics pulled from their website)

Uhhh epic.

So....much....

CHEEEEESSSSEEEE!!!!!1!!11

The event was a quick, simple walk through of how cheese is made. There was less focus on the microbe than I had hoped but, nevertheless, it was fascinating. The presenters were Al and Catherine Renzi, owners of Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs and expert cheese makers. It was emceed by Tenaya Darlington of Madame Fromage fame.

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