If you’re rather partial to ending your meal with a taste of something savoury you’re no doubt a fan of the cheese courses in restaurants. We think you will love these cheese making sessions where you learn how to produce your own cheeses! It’s time to crack open the walnuts unwrap the water biscuits and get ready to make and taste cheese.
You don’t need a dairy or a herd of cows to be able to produce your own hand-made cheeses. You don’t even need a huge amount of specialist equipment and these cheeses can all be made in small quantities too so it’s a great skill to have in the kitchen and we have to say cheese makes a pleasant change from baking.
You and your fellow apprentice cheese makers will gather round in the professional kitchen to be shown the key stages of cheese production. Then it’s over to you. You’ll be making a marvellous Mozzarella that much-loved semi-soft textured cheese from Southern Italy that goes so well on a pizza and is delicious with basil and tomatoes in a Caprese salad.
There’s also Ricotta a whey cheese (that’s the milk whey that’s left over after traditional cheese making) that is often served with spinach. This is a very versatile cheese that can be used in cooking or eaten cold.
Moving away from Italy we head to India for Paneer cheese. Always known in our household as ‘squeaky cheese’ Paneer has a lovely consistency that means it doesn’t melt when put in a warm curry sauce and has quite a unique taste that is superb when combined with spicy sauces and heaps of green veg.
And to round off the cheese-fest you’ll be concocting some flavoured soft cheeses. We’re thinking creamy cheeses with herbs salt chilli and a whole lot more. Once the manufacturing process is complete you’ve have an impressive range of fresh dairy produce to try. This is the moment that the home-baked breads chutneys and cold-pressed house oils are brought out of the larder and you can savour all those wonderful flavours combined.
Our cheese courses last around three hours and in that time you will have plenty of hands-on time to sort your curds from your whey and lift the lid on the magical process of turning milk into creamy gorgeous cheeses. It’s time to make cheese!
