Use wild seasonal herbs or garden sage.
INGREDIENTS
10 litres whole cows' milk
2.5 ml CaCl2 (omit if using raw milk).
1 sachet mesophilic starter - or 10 tablespoons of buttermilk
2.5 ml Rennet
Herbs - e.g. sage - infuse in 500 ml boiling water and allow to cool
40 grams (2 tablespoon) iodine free salt.
CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Omit if using raw milk.
Add 2.5 ml diluted in 50 ml cooled boiled water. Stir well.
CULTURE
Warm milk to 29 to 31 °C
Add the mesophilic starter or buttermilk. Wait 5 minutes and stir well.
Ripen the milk for 45 minutes.
RENNET
Add 2.5 ml rennet diluted in 50 ml boiled cooled water.
Stir very briefly - one minute maximum
Wait 60 minutes for a clean break.
CURD CUTTING
Cut curds into roughly 10 mm cubes.
Slowly heat the curds and whey to 36 °C over a 60 minute period.
A small temperature overshoot does not matter much but be careful.
Stir gently but often to prevent matting of the curds.
After 60 minutes, rest the curds for 5 minutes - no stirring.
STRAIN
Hang the curds in a cheesecloth bag for one hour to drain most of the whey.
Keep the whey for use in other recipes.
HERBS
About a cup full of loose leaves or much less if using dried powdered herbs.
Infuse the herbs in 500 ml of boiling water. Allow to cool.
This extracts flavour and kills unwanted yeasts and bacteria.
Add the herbs to the drained curds and mix in.
Wait an hour and drain any whey.
SALT
Add the salt and mix well. The curds will break up. Chunks up to 2cm are fine though.
This is quite a lot but much will be lost during pressing as herb infused whey is expelled.
APPEARANCE
To get a marbled effect, the herb and salt mixing should not be too thorough.
PRESS WARM CURDS
Try to keep the curds close to 36°C
Wrap in cheesecloth and press gently in a mould for 10 minutes.
Re-wrap the inverted block and press harder for 10 minutes.
Invert the block and press without a cheese cloth for up to 24 hours.
Increase the pressure during this period. Clear whey should drip out.
Increase the pressure up to the press maximum but not so much that cheese starts extruding.
During the final press, the curds can cool to room temperature.
DRY
Unwrap and dry the wheel at room temperature for up to a week to make a surface rind.
Use sheets of kitchen paper to wick away moisture.
Invert the wheel and replace the kitchen paper frequently, several times a day.
Stop using paper towel sheets when they stay fairly dry.
AGE
Wax or vacuum wrap and age for a month or three at 12 Celsius.
Try wrapping in blanched wild garlic or other leaves depending on the season.