From - Mon Oct 14 18:05:57 2002 Received: by gasherbrumII.peakpeak.com (mbox snowbear) (with Cubic Circle's cucipop (v1.31 1998/05/13) Mon Oct 14 17:49:58 2002) X-From_: snowbear@peakpeak.com Mon Oct 14 17:48:25 2002 Return-Path: Received: from peakpeak.com (tq0183.peakpeak.com [207.174.177.183]) by gash2.peakpeak.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA21287; Mon, 14 Oct 2002 17:47:37 -0600 Sender: snowbear@gash2.peakpeak.com Message-ID: <3DAB5B35.F1199FD8@peakpeak.com> Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 18:03:01 -0600 From: Pam North X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.2.12-20 i586) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Douglas, Laura" , "Green, Guerin" , "North, Pam" Subject: Article Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 X-UIDL: a25fb17df4140000 THE CHEESE-MAKING CHORE 1860s STYLE by Pam North There's no question that a chunk of cheese quickly and conveniently purchased from the local grocery store becomes far more appreciated after reading an account of cheese-making, circa the 1860s. The process, delineated in an account from that era, reads something like this: "The articles used in making cheese should be kept sweet and clean as in making butter, scalded daily, and never set away until perfectly dry. The conveniences wanted are a large pine tub, painted white inside, and any preferred color outside; a cheese basket, and a small ladder on which to set the basket over the tub; two cheese-hoops, large or small according to the size of the dairy; two large square strainers of thin coarse linen; two circular boards called followers; and a brass kettle large enough to hold several pails of milk. Presses used are of various constructions, the most convenient of which has a lever and weight; for making very large cheeses a windlass should be attached to the end of the lever. Strain the night's milk into the tub; in the morning stir in the cream (if rich cheese is wanted, do not let even a teaspoonful of the cream be taken off), and put a part of the milk over a clear fire, in the brass kettle. Heat it enough to make the milk still in the tub quite warm, but not hot; pour it back into the tub, and strain in the morning's milk. Stir in a spoonful or two of rennet, and let mixture stand half an hour undisturbed. If the curd does not form well by then, put in more rennet. Rennet is the stomach of a calf, and it often happens that a piece of curd (the last milk eaten by the calf) is found in it. See if anything else is inside which should be removed, then return the curd (the best part of the rennet) to its place. Soak the rennet in a quart of water, and then hang it up to dry in a place inaccessible to flies; keep the water in a jar or bottle. There is a great difference in the strength of rennets; some will make a thousand weight of cheese, while others will scarcely make fifty. Experience alone will teach exactly how much to use. When the curd alone is well-formed, cut it into squares, making the knife go to the bottom of the tub at every stroke; let it stand fifteen minutes for the whey to separate. Then break it up very gently, putting the hand down through all parts. It must be done gently, or some milk will be lost in the whey. This causes white whey; the greener the whey, the richer the cheese. Lay the strainer on top of the curd, and dip off the whey pressing up through, until about a third of it has been dipped; put this immediately over the fire to heat. When hot, but not boiling, pour it back upon the curd, then break up the curd as small and quickly as possible with the hand; then lay the strainer into the cheese basket, and pour the curd into it to drain. When this is done, return it to the tub, salt it, put it again into the strainer, and then into the cheese-hoop. Do not twist up the strainer, but lay it over smooth; lay a follower upon it, put it into the press, and press it tight. Let it remain two days, and increase the pressure four or five times, meanwhile turning the cheese over each time. If cheese is made every day, two presses will be needed. After this, turn the cheese out upon a shelf in a dark closet or room secure from flies. Rub every day the side that has lain upon the shelf, and turn it over. Rub it all over with butter often. These things must be done for six months. Butter made of whey-cream is generally used for this purpose. If cheese is rich, a strip of new American cotton, as wide as the thickness of the cheese, should be sewed tight around it when first taken from the press. Without this, it would soon melt out of shape." These complicated instructions for just one chore performed routinely by women of the 1860s provide an insight into the intensity of labor that was necessary in an era without the modern technology and convenience often taken for granted in the 20th and 21st centuries. While women today often bemoan their busy days, countless duties and lack of free time, at least they don't have to make their own cheese. And wait until you hear (in a forthcoming issue) about what went into making milk and butter - for that there are even instructions on caring for the cow.