Say Cheese!
Home Make It stocks a range of Epicurean Kits for making hard & soft cheeses, including Feta, Camembert & Blue Cheese, Mozzarella & Ricotta, & the Premium Kit for making a wide range of classics including Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan & Gouda. Other essentials include hoops & strainers, starters, cheese cloth, finishing waxes, & additives. Cheese making is a rewarding hobby. Why? Because cheese is delicious & matches beautifully with a range of wine & beer, pickles, & cured meats, as well as sandwiches, grated over pasta, grilled on potato or served up in a tasty school lunch. With beautiful spring afternoons on their way, you can look forward to a cheese platter & a bottle of a fine saison or a refined riesling, or a robust red. Sensational!
Born under the shadow of Vesuvius, provola cheese is still a mainstay of Napolitano pizzeria, but is now made mainly in the Po Valley, in centres such as Cremona & Veneto. It is a stringy, semi-hard cheese made - usually - from cow's milk, & comes in a range of tastes from sharp piccante to mild & sweet dolce, depending on region & length of ageing, or in the smoked version called provola affumicata. It also comes in a range of shapes & sizes. Provolone means simply "large provola" & is presented in a big "sausage" as long as 90 cm with a diameter of 30 cm, but also comes in a truncated bottle shape or a giant bell. Smaller provola often appear in a classic pear shape, with a knob for hanging. A versatile cheese, provola matches well with full-bodied reds, crusty breads & focaccia, pizza & spicy condiments. It is a great sandwich cheese.
Mozzarella is another stretched curd cheese with Napolitano origins. Traditionally made in the Campanian region with buffalo milk, where it enjoys the appellation mozzarella di latte di bufala, it is now most often made with cow's milk & referred to as fior di latte. Mozzarella is eaten fresh, whether sliced on a pizza, or as bocconcini bite-sized cherries, in a salad, or as rich & creamy burrata, where it appears wrapped around fresh cream & stracciatella, to accompany cured meats, crusty bread & fresh tomato. Delicious!
These cheeses are not difficult to make in your own home. A culture of thermophilic bacteria & is added to fresh milk & left to mature for as little as 30 minutes to an hour, before lipase & then rennet are added to coagulate the curds. When set, the curds are cut & left to rest briefly, before being heated for 45 minutes to an hour, to separate curds from whey, & then drained. When the pH drops to below 5.5, the now solid mass is warmed in hot water, then kneaded & stretched in a process called pasta filata. Balls of mozzarella can now be pulled & broken off to form individual cheeses, or the elastic curd can be forced down into a tub & then rolled out into it's final shape for a 12-hour soak in brine, before being hung to mature for 4 to 9 months, to become a tasty provola. Sound fun?
Cheese Class - Mozzarella/Provola
Clayton
Saturday 6th of October from 11 am to 1 pm
Learn how to make Mozzarella at home with this easy workshop!
Work with our cheese-makers to fashion your own curds in this hands-on session focusing on mozzarella & provola cheese. This class give you the basics on creating your own cow's milk cheeses at home, whilst also covering the fundamentals of cheese making overall. Included in the ticket price is a selection of cheese made by our cheese-makers & a cheese kit to make your own Mozzarella at home.
Bookings accepted until Monday 1st of October
Book online or call the Clayton Store on 9574 8222 or email clayton@homemakeit.com.au
** Minimum of 10 people required to run course **
Specials
Click on our sale banner below for this week's Specials:
Vouchers
Gift Vouchers and Course Vouchers make an ideal present for any maker in your life, & are a great last minute gift for Father's Day! Available In-store or ONLINE.
