A year ago, I attended my first cheese making 201 workshop with Jim Wallace and told the story in this post. It was a great experience, so last month, I traveled again to attend my second workshop with him: it was an excellent choice. During the two-day workshop, we made three Italian cheeses: caciocavallo, Taleggio and Bel Paese. We also tasted cheeses made by Jim (photo above) and by other students. From the top left corner and going around clockwise: robiola, toscano pepato, Bel Paese, caciocavallo, tomme au marc, cabra al vino, Taleggio. My favorite is the tomme au marc, a tomme aged buried in the grape skins and seeds left over from making wine. The cheese acquires subtle wine notes that are surprising and delightful.
Caciocavallo is a pasta filata cheese from Southern Italy: I tasted and fell in love with it the first time when I visited Calabria as a teenager. If you don't know what pasta filata means, the photos will clarify the concept.
When the drained curd mass reached the desired pH, Jim cut it in half and then cut each piece into strips and placed them in a bowl. The photo above shows the first half prepared for the next phase.
Jim then added hot water in stages to the bowl to warm up the strips. Above, he tests a strip by stretching it.
When the desired stretch is reached, the strips are worked together into a mass, then stretched, folded, and shaped. Finally, the cheese is immersed into cold water to firm up.
The first caciocavallo on the left is missing its bottom part: we ate it during the cheese tasting. The one next to it was made the day before the workshop. When I took the photo, the two caciocavallo we made in class were resting in the brine.
Then we made Taleggio, a washed-rind cheese I first tasted when I moved to Milan. At the point shown in the photo above, the curd mass was still draining, and during that time, it was flipped into the mold. After the first turn, the surface showed the pretty mold pattern.
The second day, we made Bel Paese (about which I wrote some notes it in this post).
In the photo above, Jim is adjusting the cloth to smooth it out.
This beautiful cheese cloth is made of linen: it falls down into elegant folds. All the cheeses we made during class require aging, so we did not taste them. However, at the time of writing, I have a report saying that they are all doing well.
Besides talking about and making cheese with Jim and the other students, I did a few other things during the weekend, starting with meeting Jeri, who writes the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company blog. We corresponded a bit during the last year, so meeting her in person was very nice. We spent a late afternoon chatting, and together we visited a dream place for a home cheese-maker: a farm that sells certified raw milk (where I am, the sale of raw milk is illegal).
During the weekend, my husband and I wandered a bit around Shelburne Falls. First of all, we visited the store of the cutlery manufacturer Lamson & Goodnow. Last year, I took a lot of photos of the building, but did not go inside.
My husband got me a gift at the store: a knife to cut hard cheese.
Shelburne Falls is famous for its Bridge of Flowers (ponte dei fiori). The post from last year's visit has some photos of it. Here are two images that are a bit different. As I was walking on the bridge, I noticed the reflection of the building above on the Deerfield River.
And this is an image of the Bridge of Flowers taken from the parallel bridge, called the Iron Bridge, which is used by cars and has also a pedestrian lane.
A view of the Iron Bridge from the Riverwalk (on the Buckland side). In the foreground, you can see some of the damage caused last year by Hurricane Irene. A year later, I still like the red paint on the building in the middle a lot.
Update (August 15, 2012): my report on the weekend workshop is featured in today's post on the on the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company blog. Thanks!
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:
or launch the un weekend di formaggio audio file [mp3].
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
Umm... I'd like to taste all that cheese in that photos above. :-D
Posted by: Paz | June 12, 2012 at 08:27 AM
I love your photos of the cheese--I want to try it all! It seems like the perfect product for the lovely pastoral setting of Shelburne. Thanks for sharing those photos.
Posted by: Molly Hashimoto | June 13, 2012 at 06:07 PM
Hi Paz. I can tell you it was a very nice experience.
Thanks, Molly. And I agree that making cheese in that area feels just right.
Posted by: Simona Carini | June 16, 2012 at 08:16 AM
This is truly an amazing experience. I have been to Bologna and spent a morning at a small artisanal farm that makes 5 rounds of Parmesan Reggiano a day with milk from the bianca... ? the white cow. The cheese is the best in the country... and it was an incredible experience. Not hands on, but thorough and wonderful. We were able to put our arms in the whey - and it was HOT - so incredible. I have been a long time lover of all things cheese. Fresh cheeses, especially... but all. Simona, you must have seen that we are starting a Cheesepalooza project on my site. With your background, it would be so wonderful if you could join us in this year long, once a month, collaborative project!!!
:)
Valerie
Posted by: A Canadian Foodie | July 28, 2012 at 06:17 AM
Valerie, you have seen more than me. When I was living in Italy, I took cheese for granted and never got a close look at how it is made. I grew up in Umbria, where various types of cheeses are made and of course ricotta, with the leftover whey. I got interested in making cheese after I had moved to California, so now of course I wish I had visited places like the one you describe. I have signed up for your event :)
Posted by: Simona | July 31, 2012 at 03:32 AM
Holy cow! What an amazing experience! I sure hope you get time to make chevre with us this month, Simona. I can see myself in that workshop! The hanging cheeses stole my heart! I just made halloumi yesterday to compare with the one we made at Smoky Valley last Sunday and today we are making ricotta for ricotta salata and feta.
XO
Valerie
Posted by: A Canadian Foodie | September 16, 2012 at 06:51 AM
Hi Valerie. I am eager to try to make caciocavallo, but have to wait until I am done with the current travels and with the crunch at work. I also need cooler temperatures, since I won't be able to hang the cheese inside my cheese fridge. I will keep making Halloumi as long as I can get fresh goat milk: it's such a fun cheese. Good luck with your ricotta salata. I made it once, a while ago, and was not impressed with the result. Maybe I should give it another try.
Posted by: Simona Carini | September 27, 2012 at 07:40 AM