Medieval Cheese Making 

Medieval Cheese Making Class Handout

Period Cheese Recipes: 

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella

On Agriculture, Vol. II, Book VII, Section VIII

The Loeb Classical Library translation

It will be necessary too not to neglect the task of cheese-making, especially in distant parts of the country, where it is not convenient to take milk to the market in pails. Further, if the cheese is made of a thin consistency, it must be sold as quickly as possible while it is still fresh and retains its moisture; if, however, it is of a rich and thick consistency, it bears being kept for a longer period. Cheese should be made of pure milk which is as fresh as possible, for if it is left to stand or mixed with water, it quickly turns sour. It should usually be curdled with rennet obtained from a lamb or a kid, thought it can also be coagulated with the flower of the wild thistle or the seeds of the safflower, and equally well with the liquid which flows from a fig-tree if you make an incision in the bark while it is still green. The best cheese, however, is that which contains only a very small quantity of any drug. The least amount of rennet that a pail of milk requires weight a silver denarius; and there is no doubt that cheese which has been solidified by means of small shoots from a fig-tree has a very pleasant flavor. A pail when it has been filled with milk should always be kept at some degree of heat; it should not, however, be brought into contact with the flames, as some people think it proper to do, but should be put to stand not far from the fire, and, when the liquid has thickened, it should immediately be transferred to wicker vessels or baskets or molds; for it is of the utmost importance that the whey should percolate as quickly as possible and become separated from the solid matter. For this reason the country folk do not even allow the whey to drain away slowly of its own accord, but, as soon as the cheese has become somewhat more solid, they place weights o the top of it, so that the whey may be pressed out; then, when the cheese has been taken out of the molds or baskets, it is placed in a cool, shady place, that it may not go bad, and , although it is placed on very clean boards, it is sprinkled with pounded salt, so that it may exude the acid liquid; and , when it has hardened, it is still more violently compressed, so that it may become more compact, and then it is again treated with parched salt and again compressed by means of weight. When this has been done for nine days it is washed with fresh water. Then the cheeses are set in rows on wickerwork trays made for the purpose under the shade in such a manner that one does not touch another, and that they become moderately dry; then, that the cheese may remain the more tender, it is closely packed on several shelves in an enclosed place which is not exposed to the winds. Under these conditions it does not become full of holes or salty or dry, the first of these bad conditions being generally due to too little pressure, the second to its being over-salted, and the third to its being scorched by the sun. This kind of cheese can even be exported beyond the sea. Cheese which is to be eaten within a few days while still fresh, is prepared with less trouble; for it is taken out of the wicker baskets and dipped into salt and brine and then dried a little in the sun. Some people, before they put the shackles (to restrain them during milking) on the she-goats, drop green pine nuts into the pail and then milk the she-goats over them and only remove them when they have transferred the curdled milk into the molds. Some crush the green pine kernels by themselves and mix them with the milk and curdle it in this way. Others allow thyme which has been crushed and pounded through a sieve to coagulate with the milk; similarly, you can give the cheese any flavor you like by adding any seasoning which you choose. The method of making what we call “hand pressed” cheese is the best known of all; when the milk is slightly congealed in the pail and still warm, it is broken up and hot water is poured over it, and then it is either shaped by hand or else pressed into box-wood molds. Cheese also which is hardened in brine and then colored with the smoke of apple tree wood or stubble has a not unpleasant flavor. But let us now return to the point from which we digressed.

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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY, m TRANSLATED,

WITH COPIOUS NOTES AND ILLUSTKATIONS BY THE LATE JOHN BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S., AND H. T. EILEY, Esq., B.A., LATE SCHOLAR OF CLARE HALL, CAMBRIDGE

http://archive.org/stream/naturalhistoryof03plin/naturalhistoryof03plin_djvu.txt 

84 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XI.

coagulate, and assume the hardness of pumice. She-asses, as soon as they are pregnant, have milk in their udders ; when the pasturage is rich, it is fatal to their young to taste the mother's milk the first two days after birth ; the kind of malady by which they are attacked is known by the name of " colostration." Cheese cannot be made from the milk of animals which have teeth on either jaw, from the circumstance that their milk does not coagulate. The thinnest milk of all is that of the camel, and next to it that of the mare. The milk of the she- ass is the richest of all, so much so, indeed, that it is often used instead of rennet. Asses' milk is also thought to be very efficacious in whitening the skin of females : at all events, Popptea,  the wife of Domitius Nero, used always to have with her five hundred asses with foal, and used to bathe the whole of her body in their milk, thinking that it also conferred additional suppleness on the skin. All milk thickens by the action of fire, and becomes serous when exposed to cold. The milk of the cow produces more cheese than that of the goat: when equal in quantity, it will produce nearly twice the weight. The milk of animals which have more than four mammas does not produce cheese; and that is the best which is made of the milk of those that have but two. The rennet of the fawn, the hare, and the kid is the most esteemed, but the best of all is that of the dasypus: this last acts as a specific for diarrhoea, that animal being the only one with teeth in both jaws, the rennet of which has that property. It is a remarkable circumstance, that the barbarous nations which subsist on milk have been for so many ages either ignorant of the merits of cheese, or else have totally disregarded it ; and yet they understand how to thicken milk and form therefrom an acrid kind of liquid with a pleasant flavor, as well as a rich butter : this last is the foam  of milk, and is of a thicker consistency than the part which is known as the " serum."  After ought not to omit that butter has certain of the properties of oil, and that it is used for an ointment among all barbarous nations, and among ourselves as well, for infants.

CHAP. 97. (42.) VARIOUS KINDS OF CHEESE.

The kinds of cheese that are most esteemed at Eome, where the various good things of all nations are to be judged of by comparison, are those which come from the provinces of Nemausus, 26 and more especially the villages there of Lesura and Gabalis; but its excellence is only very short-lived, and it must be eaten while it is fresh. The pastures of the Alps recommend themselves by two sorts of cheese; the Dalmatic Alps send us the Docleatian cheese, and the Centronian Alps the Vatusican. The kinds produced in the Apennines are more numerous; from Liguria we have the cheese of Ceba, which is mostly made from the milk of sheep ; from TJmbria we have that of iEsina, and from the frontiers of Etruna and Liguria those of Luna, remarkable for their vast size, d single cheese weighing as much as a thousand pounds. Nearer the City, again, we have the cheese of Yestinum, the best of this kind being that which comes from the territory of Ceditium. Goats also produce a cheese which has been of late held in the highest esteem, its flavor being heightened by smoking it. The cheese of this kind which is made at Rome is considered preferable to any other ; for that which is made in Gaul has a strong taste, like that of medicine. -Of. the cheeses that are made beyond sea, that of Bithyma is usually considered the first in quality. That salt exists m pasture- lands is pretty evident, from the fact that all cheese as it grows old contracts a saltish flavour, even where it does not appear to any great extent; while at the same time it is equally well known that cheese soaked in a mixture of thyme and vinegar will regain its original fresh flavor. It is said that Zoroaster lived thirty years in the wilderness upon cheese, prepared in such a peculiar manner, that he was insensible to the advances of old age.

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Harleian MS. 279 (1430) – Leche Vyaundez

Take cow Mylke, & set it our þe fyre, & þrow þer-on Suanderys, & make a styf poshotte of Ale; þan hange þe corddys þer-of in a pynne, in a fayre cloþe, and lat it ourer-renne; þan take it and put hony þer-to, & melle it yfere; þen feche þe coddys of þe deye and melle hem to gederys, & lay it on a chesefatte or it be torne, fold, in linen coþe & salt it & leche it; and þanne serue it forth.

Take cow’s milk and set it over the fire and throw there-on sandalwood and make a stiff posset of ale; then hang the curds thereof on a pin, in a fair cloth and let it run over, then take it and & put honey thereto and mix it together; then fetch the curds of the dairy maid and mix them together, and lay in a cheese press before it is turned, three fold or four fold, in linen cloth, salt it and cut it and serve it forth.

Renfrow, Cindy. Take a Thousand Eggs or More Second Edition, Volume 1.

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A Fifteenth Century Cookry Boke(Anderson)

Let Lory

Take Mylke, an sette it ouer þe fyre; take Salt and Safroun, and cast þer-to; take Eyroun, þe Зolke and þe Whyte y-strained a lyte, & caste it þer-to; whan þe Mulke his scalding hote, cast þe stuff þer-to, an þenne stere yt tyll it crodde; and Зif þou wolt haue it a-forsyd with lyЗt coste, Teke Myulke , & make it skaldying hot & cast þer-to Raw Зolkes of Eyrouns, Sugre, pouder Gyngere, Clowes, Maces, an let not fully boyle; & so hote, dress it forth an ley it on þe crodde.

Take milk and set it over the fire. Take salt and saffron and cast thereto. Take eggs, the yolk and the white, strained a little and caste it thereto. When the milk is scalding hot, cast the stuff (eggs) thereto. And then stir it until it coddle and if you will have it a ?????. Take milk and make it scalding hot and cast thereto raw yolks of eggs, sugar, powdered ginger, cloves, mace and let it not fully boil and so hot. Serve it forth as a coddle.

Anderson, John L. A Fifteenth Century Cookry Boke. Scribner’s Sons, New York 1962.

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Whey Ricotta from Platina (1465):

De Recocta. We heat the whey which was left from the cheese in a cauldron over a slow fire until all the fat rises to the top; this is what the country-folk call recocta, because it is made from leftover milk which is heated up. It is very white and mild. It is less healthful than new or medium-aged cheese, but it is considered better than that which is aged or too salty. Whether one is pleased to call it cocta or recocta, cooks use it in many pottages, especially in those made of herbs.

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Letter to Conrad Gessner from Jacob Bifrons

Translator: Aelianora de Wintringham, (mka Rikke D. Giles)

Epistola de caseis et operibus lactariis et modo quo in Rhiticis regionibus et alpibus parantur, 1556

(Letter on cheese and dairy products and how they are made in Switzerland)

My son, returning to Curia in Pontissella, told me you suggested that I should write to you about the ways of cheesemaking and the types of cheese of our region. This I now do most willingly, and I hope that this will be pleasing to you.

There are two types of cheese which concern us; one lean and called 'domestic' since it is made both in the house and in the Alps and its use goes back before the memory of man. The other type is called 'fat' cheese and it was brought from Italy into our region in the last 30 years.

Let's start with the lean:

When the milk has been milked it is poured by sprinkling into a low wooden vessel. The vessels are called 'mottas' in our country. For reference, in Italy they use a bronze vessel which they call 'concha'. One of these vessels can contain 60 pounds of milk; and out of which, each day, the 'foam' of the milk, which is the condensing of the fat of the milk, is separated. This foam can be called by two names, 'Grama' or cream.

They put the foam into a round and oblong vessel which they call the 'Pneulia'. It is covered with a cover which has small holes in it, into which a long stick is inserted. The stick has a board on its end around which a ball or sphere is fastened, and this stick is alternately lifted out and put back <into the Pneulia> so that the foam is agitated without interruption until butter is created.

They call the butter 'Paing' in this country <the marginal note in the original says Pingue, or fat>. When it has been separated and removed, the liquid that remains is called 'Pen'.

The milk which remains in the mottas, the foam having been taken away, is put into a cooking-pot and a small fire is lit underneath it. The milk is left there until it is tepid. It is then removed from the fire and a small portion of the rennet of a calf (the size of a chestnut) is mixed into the tepid milk. And thus, within half an hour, and oftentimes less, the milk is curdled and made firm.

Then this material, which they call Ponna, is stirred with a long rod, until it settles. Then it is removed and transferred into a mould while the whey is pressed out. Then the curds are taken out and put on a little board and sprinkled with salt and surrounded by a 'skin' <likely the salt is making a skin on the cheese> so that it doesn't expand <ie fall apart>. Every day for 8 days it is turned over and rubbed with salt until the cheese is made solid and dry.

The milk which remains in the cooking dish after the Ponna has been removed is whey, and to this is added the Pen <buttermilk>. Then a hot fire is placed under the cooking-pot, and the whey is warmed until it boils. The matter which is floating on the top after boiling is made into Serotium. To us it is zicronum, in Italy they call it Puina or Mascarpa, and you call it Ziger <Ziger is whey cheese, often called Ricotta in the USA.  Some places in Switzerland still make it, but I am not sure if it is the same cheese as that referred to above. Mascarpa gives rise to Mascarpone, which is also a whey cheese, although enriched with cream.  Puina is now a 'butter-milk' cheese from Lombardy>.

The Serotium is taken from the cooking-pot into a wooden vessel so that the whey remaining in it drains away. Then it is taken out and put on a board in a dry place, and exposed to smoke and put into the wind. Salt is sprinkled upon it until it is dry.

From the rest of the liquid remaining in the cooking-pot nothing can be made, and it is given to pigs.

Butter, which we nearly forgot, needs no more care than this: It should be taken from the Pneulia and the remaining Pen should be expressed from it, then salt added. It is put into a circular or oblong form, and it is rendered and pressed.

From 60 pounds of milk, 3 pounds of butter, four of cheese and two of serotium are produced. Three pounds of butter are worth here 7 crucifers of Athesini <some kind of coin?>. Six pounds of cheese and serotij, taken together and sold, would be worth 6 crucifers.

And thus, of lean cheese.

Fat cheese is only made in the 'cottage' of the Alps, where most of the cows are. This is how it is made:

When the first day's milk is taken, that milk is put straight into the cooking-pot from the milk-pail. It is put over a fire, and, as we explained earlier, rennet is introduced into it. After half an hour it is condensed and then it is stirred with a long stick or paddle.

When it has settled it is removed, and put into moulds of wood, which because they are similar to bands are called Fasceras. These are bandaged with a sheet; and then covered with a clean cloth of linen. Right after that they put a weight on top to express the whey. On the next day the cheese is turned upside down and put back under the weight.

On the following day the weight is removed and the mould is very tightly bound, and placed into a closed and warm location, one not very damp. This place should not allow winds from fissures to strike it, or it <the cheese> will swell from excessive dryness or be made full of hollows because of excessive humidity, and if this happens, the cheese will not be fit <to eat> for a long time.

Next it is laid out on a clean board, and salt is sprinkled upon it. For the following 8 days it is turned, removed from its bindings and rubbed with salt. It is returned to its tight bindings and this is done until the cheese becomes solid and dry.

When that happens it is put into a dry place and smeared with oil so that it won't be infested with any rottenness.

Care must be taken in cheesemaking, as those who prepare it will tell you, when the rennet is added to the milk, that the milk be neither too hot nor too cold, and not too great an amount of rennet put into it, and care must be taken to expel the whey and only add a moderate amount of salt. This is so the cheese won't be full of holes but solid, nor bitter, nor bland, nor too salty or insipid or retain the taste of rennet.

Also, a fire left under the whey in the cooking-pot will create serotij <plural of serotium>, in the same manner as that from the lean preparation. The difference between serotij, fat and lean, is the same as that between cheese, fat and lean. And in general, the same amount in pounds of cheese and serotij is produced from milk as that from the lean production I explained above.

And so great is the fame of our cheese and butter that great quantities are sent away to Comum, and the bordering regions of Italy and Germany. And the smallest of our cheeses, if they are aged, are esteemed as much as the cheese of Placentini. These most highly praised cheeses are now in Italy and sell for quite a bit, since a single pound of fresh cheese costs two crucifers, and aged cheese costs twice that. It is amazing to say that so much cheese and butter is made in our jurisdiction (which is the area above the valley Engedina, and which consists of 1000 homes) that in many years more than 15 thousand florens worth are sent downstream. This number would be more, but because of domestic use, some product isn't included.

And this was about the milk of cows. It is natural <to write> about the milk of goats, but I think I should end up writing a huge work. Goodbye.

At Samadenus in the valley of Engedina

the 27th of January, the year of the Lord 1556

http://www.florilegium.org/?http%3A//www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/About-Cheese-art.html

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Mistress Helewyse de Birkestad translated a 1581 source as follows:

The following cheese and dairying instructions were found in an unlikely location, namely Compendio de i secreti rationali di M. Leonardo Fiorvanti Bolognese, Medico & Cirugico. (The Compendium of rational secrets of M. Leonardo Fiorvanti of Bologna, Medic and Surgeon). The full text of this document is available via BNF Gallica (http://gallica2.bnf.fr/  ).

Del modo di coagulare il latte, secreto bellisimo. Cap 50

Il modo che usano I pastori moderni di fare coagulare ò quagliare il latte per fare il formaggio over cascio è questo, cioè, pigliano il ventricolo del vitello ò dell'agnello ò del capretto di latte quando si ammazzanno,  lo fanno secccare al fumo, come egli èsecco, cavano fuori il latte che vi è dentro, lo pestano insieme con la terza parte di sale; & con tal compositione fanno quagliare il latte.  Ma il vero secreto da far quagliare il ditto latte, & fare maggior quantità di formaggio è questo, cioè. Si pliglia sei parti del ditto quaglio, et due di aceto fortissimo, & una di latte di fronde di fico, & si incorpora benissimo insieme, et questa tal compositione fa miracoloso effetto, & f ache mai il cascio ò formaggio che con tal cosa si quaglia non si guasta; percioche il late del fico & l'aceto lo conservano da ogni putrefattione; si come anco fa l'acqua vita, che mantiene il vino & non lo lascia ricever corruttione; et questi sono altissimi, & gran secreti di natura; & se bene paiono cose di poca importanza, nondimeno in essi si scuoprono gli alti & gran secreti rationale.

The way to coagulate milk, beautiful secret. Chapter 50, folio 166.

The way that the modern farmer uses to coagulate or set the milk to make cheese or curds is this.  That is take the stomach of veal or of lamb or milk kid when they are killed and put it to dry in smoke, and when these are dry, take out the milk that is inside, and one grinds them together with a third part of salt; and with this mixture you can cause the milk to coagulate.  But the real secret is in order to coagulate the said milk and make a large quantity of cheese is this.  One takes six parts of this rennet and two of strong acid and one of milk from fig leaves and one mixes it well together, and this mixture has a miraculous effect, it makes that the cheese made with this rennet never spoils; because the milk of the fig and the vinegar conserves it from every putrefaction; it is like aqua vita what keeps wine and doesn't let it become corrupt, and these are the ultimate and grand secrets of nature; and if one well attends to matters of little importance nevertheless in these one finds the high and great rational secrets.

Del modo di fare il formaggio ò vero cascio Cap 51

Il cascio ò formaggio che si fa, lo fanno in questo modo, cioè.  Quando il latte è quagliato, lo rompono & lo mettono sopra il fuoco, e lo fanno scaldare fin tanto, che si faccia una massa nel fondo della caldara, e poi lo cavano fuori & formano il formaggio secondo che a lor piace, & poi lo salano, & lo fanno seccare; e con tale ordine tutti i pastor fanno il formaggio, ma molto di questo si guasta; e chi lo volesse fare di estrama bontà & che mai si guastarai, faccia in questo modo cioè.  Piglia aceto fortissimo, & mel commune, tanto di uno quanto di altro, & fallo bollire insieme, & quando si rome il latte, per ogni trenta libre di latte, mettevi una scudella di detta compositione, & non lo scaldare troppo; e poi formale pezze del formaggio di quella forma che si vuolve, & subito che sia fatto salalo cosi caldo; e questo è il vero e gran secreto da fare il formaggio bonissimo, & che non si guasterà mai.  Percioche lo aceto & il mele sono materiale incorruttibili, & per la loro virtù conservano il formaggio.

The way of making cheese or real cheese (it may be the difference between formaggio being a molded cheese and Cascio a pressed cheese).  Chapter 51.

The cheese that one makes, one makes in this way, that is: when the milk is coagulated one breaks it and puts it over a fire and it is heated until it makes a mass at the bottom of the pot.  Then one takes it out and shapes the cheese, dependent on ones wishes, and then salt it and put it to dry.  But many times made this way it will spoil.  If one would wish to make a high quality one that never spoils make it in this way.  That is: take the strongest vinegar and common honey, more of the one than the other, and put them to boil together.  When one breaks the milk for each 30 "libre" of milk put in one "scudella" of this mix and don't heat it too much.  Then make the pieces of cheese in whichever shape you like and immediately a it is done salt it thus warm.  This is truly the great secret to make the very best cheese that never spoils because vinegar and honey are incorruptible materials and their virtues preserve the cheese.

Libra – about 12 oz, libre - plural of libra

Scudella – small bowl between 430 -600ml

Del modo di fare la ricotta o vera puina Cap 52

Quando i pastori hanno fatto il formaggio mettono quell siero, che li resta, dentro una caldara, & lo fanno bollire; & cosi bollendo separa una certa grassezza, che si chiama ricotta; e questo vocabolo di ricotta è cosi ditto, percioche tal material no si può  fare senza ricuocere il latte; & la detta ricotta viene di sopra tutto d'un pezzo, & si cava via; e poi pigliano di quell siero, che resta, & lo serbano fin che diventa acetoso, & quando fanno un'altra volta la ricotta, come incomincia  a levare il bollo vi buttano dentro una certa quantità di quell siero acetoso ò agro, & questo fa subito schiarire il latte o siero, e si cava maggior quantità di ricotta, ma è dura & fastidiosa.  Ma chi la volesse fare tenera dolce & piacevole, in luoco di quell serio agro mattavi forttisimo aceto, ma poca quantità , & questo fa venire la ricotta dolce, & tener; percioche essendo di sua natura contrario al latte, ha virtù di separare le parti grosse dale sottili, & untuose; e questo è il vero secreto da fare la ricotta.

The way to make ricotta or fresh cheese Chapter 52

When the heardsman has made the milk put that whey that remains into a cauldron and but it to boil, and thus boiled it will separate a certain fatness that one calls ricotta; and this way of naming it re-cooked is thus called, because this material one cannot make without recooking the milk, the said ricotta comes to the top in one piece and one takes it out; and then one takes the whey that remains and keeps it until it becomes vinegary (acid) then make another time the ricotta, and one the boil starts to raise put into it a certain quantity of that sour whey or sour and this immediately clears the milk or whey, and one pulls out a lot of ricotta, but it is hard and loathsome (or tedious), but if you want to make it soft and sweet and pleasant in place of soured whey put in the strongest vinegar, but a very little, this helps make the sweet and tender ricotta; because of it's nature contrary to milk, it has the ability (virtue) to separate the large parts from the subtle and unctuous, and this is the true secret to making ricotta.

Del modo di fare il butiro che si chiama fior di latte Cap 53

Il modo da fare il butiro è questo cioè, si molge il latte delle poppe de gli animali, & si cola col colatoio, & si lascia cosi per dodici ò quatordici hore, & in questo temp manda soptra una certa schiuma grassa, laquale si cava via separandola dal latte, et si serba in un vaso d aper se; & dipoi si sbatto tanto che per il continuo mod oil butiro si coagula insieme, & la humidità acquosa si separa; & questo è il modo, colquale si f ail ditto butiro.  Ma il secreto di farlo meglio e maggior quantità & piu soave al gusto è questo, cioè.  Piglia sal commune libre Quattro, acqua pluviale libre diece, & fallo liquefare al fuoco, che diventi tutto acqua; & quando vorrai fare il butiro, mettivi per ogni libra di butiro disfatto oncia una della detta acqua di sale, & sbattilo come si fa, che verrà assai piu presto; & come ho ditto se ne farà maggior quantità, & sarà meglio; & si conserverà molto meglio di l'altro: percioche il sale ha virtù di conservare tutte le cose da putrefattione, & fa coagolare similmente le materie liquide, come si vede, chef a nell'olio commune, grassi, & alter cose simile, dove si opera molte volte.

The way of making butter than one calls the flower of milk Chapter 53.

The way to make butter is this, that is, one squeezes the milk from the teats of the animal, and one strains it with the strainer and leaves it thus for twelve or fourteen hours, and in this time comes to the top a certain fat layer, the which one can lift and separate from the milk and one reserves it in a vessel for this.  After one beats it much and continuously such that the butter coagulates together and the watery liquid separates, and this is the normal way one makes butter.  But the secret to make it better and in a larger quantity and more pleasant to the taste is this.  That is take four libre of common salt, twelve libre of rain water and put them to dissolve over the fire until it is all water, then when you want to make the butter put for every libra of unmade butter (i.e. cream) an ounce of this salty water, and beat it as you do, and it will come much sooner, and like I have said in a larger quantity and it is better and it keeps much better than the other, because the salt has the virtue of conserving all things from putrefaction, and makes coagulation similarly in liquid materials like one sees, that makes in common oil, fat and other similar things where one works many times.

Reference

Title : Compendio de i secreti rationali / di M. Leonardo Fioravanti Bolognese,...

Author : Fioravanti, Leonardo

Publisher : Omnisys (Cambridge (Mass.))

Date of publication : 1581

Subject : Médecine -- Ouvrages avant 1800

Type : monographie imprimée

Language : Italian

Format : application/pdf

Copyright : domaine public

Identifier : ark:/12148/bpt6k60605k  http://gallica2.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k60605k

Source : Bibliothèque nationale de France

Relation : http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37259215g/description

Provenance :

Description : Collection : Italian books before 1601 ; 490.1

This work copyrighted by the translator, Mistress Helewyse de Birkestad (Louise Smithson). Permission is given to use this work for educational and non-profit research provided that credit is given to the author. I also love to know what people are doing with my translations so please drop me an email and let me know. May 2008.

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Good Housewife’s Jewell - To Mark Fresh Cheese and Cream (Dawson) (1596)

Take a gallon of milk from the cow, and seethe it, and when it doth seethe put thereunto a quart or two of morning milk in fair cleansing pans, in such a place as no dust may fall therein. This is for your clotted cream. The next morning take a quart of morning milk, and seethe it, and put in a quart of cream thereunto, and when it doth seethe, take it off the fire. Put it in a fair earthen pan, and let it stand until it be somewhat blood warm. But first over night put a good quantity of ginger, with rose water, and stir it together. Let it settle all night. The next day put it into your said blood warm milk to make your cheese come. Then put the curds in a fair cloth, with a little good rose water, fine powder of ginger and a little sugar. So lash great soft rolls together with a thread and crush out the whey with your clotted cream. Mix it with fine powder of ginger, and sugar, and so sprinkle it with rose water, and put your cheese in a fair dish. And put these clots round about it. Then take a pint of raw milk or cream and put it in a pot, and all to shake it until it be gathered into a froth like snow. And ever as it cometh, take it off with a spoon and put it into a colander. The put it upon your fresh cheese and prick it with wafers and so serve it.

Dawson, Thomas. The Good Housewife’s Jewel; Southover Press, 1996

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(Making a pressed cheese)

(England, 17th century, “A True Gentlewoman’s Delight”, 1653)

To make a slipcoat Cheese

Take five quarts of new Milk from the Cow, and one quart of Water, and one spoonful of Runnet, and stirre it together, and let it stand till it doth come, then lay your Cheese cloth into the Vate, and let the Whey soak out of it self; when you have taken it all up, lay a cloth on the top of it, and one pound weight for one hour, then lay two pound for one hour more, then turn him when he hath stood two houres, lay three pound on him for an hour more, then take him out of the Vate, and let him lie two or three houres, and then salt him on both sides, when he is salt enough, take a clean cloth and wipe him dry, then let him lie on a day or a night, then put Nettles under and upon him, and change them once a day, if you find any Mouse turd wipe it off, the Cheese will come to his eating in eight or nine dayes.[33]

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Period non-dairy cheeses

Epulario 1598

195) To make Curds of Almonds in Lent.

Take blanched Almonds and stampe them with Rosewater, then with two ounces of Sugar, ten ounces of Rosewater, and halfe a pint of Pike or Tench broth, (for the broth of other sea or fresh water fish is not good, and let not the broth be very salt but somewhat thicke) temper them together, and straine it so hard that there remaine no part of the substance of the Almonds in the Strayner, let this Curd stand for the space of one night, and put it in a dish or other vessell, and in the morning you shall find it curdy like curds of Milke. And if you will you may put them into greene leaves or other hearbes like Cheese curds, or let it stand in the dish, strawing it with Sugar or Annyseed Comfits you may adde thereto a little flower because it bindeth.

196) To counterfet Lenten Cheese Curds

Take a pound of blanched Almonds and stampe them as aforesaid, then take foure ounces of Sugar, an ounce of Rosewater, and a glasse full of fish broth aforesaid, and of the same fishes broth : then temper them together & strain them thicke, then forme them and send them to the Table in a dish or upon a plate, strawing it with Sugar and Annyseed comfets.

197) To counterfeit Butter.

Take a pound of blanched Almonds as aforesaid, & stamp them and straine them with halfe a glasse of Rosewater, and to make them curdy put a little flower or half a glasse of Pike or Tench broth, with four ounces of Sugar and a little Saffron to make it yellow, straining it thick, then make it in fashion of a dish of butter, and set it all night to thicken against morning in a cold place.

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Recommended Sources:

“Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization” by Paul Kindstedt

“The Art of Natural Cheesemaking” by David Asher

Medieval Cheese Forum  http://medievalcheese.blogspot.com/