I got a kit. Thank you papa! It has two cultures for soft + hard cheeses and rennet tablets. Plus the needed cheesecloth. A friend going to France will pick up more Rennet... and we can multiply the Cultures ourselves.
So far I've confined my laboratory to the controlled environment of the Peace Corps Tamale Sub-office where there is a refrigerator, stainless steel and other enthusiasts.
In fact my imagination has created a future cheese cave, herd of goats, cows, and everyone as a cheese maker, including the Ghanaian guards. Endless supply. We'll have people of all sorts from far and wide trying to get there hands on a wedge of our unique recipes that we will create once we master the art. If you're lucky we will export.
So I've started graphing and making signs. I am detailing the subtleties of what makes each cheese it's own. Heating and cooling at different rates to varying degrees, pressing with certain amounts of weights, shaping to tasty sizes...
This week I am experimenting at home. Next Chapter- cheese made in warm temperatures...
"a cheese may disappoint. it may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over-sophisticated. yet it remains cheese, milk's leap toward immortality."-clifton fadiman (motivational excerpt from my cheesemaking textbook)
