No crackers, Gromit! We've forgotten the crackers!

Wallace and Gromit cheese: Photo by
Jamison Wieser licensed under
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

These words of blind panic are gasped at a moment in the popular film 'A Grand Day Out', a story about a cheese-enthusiast called Wallace and his dog, Gromit. After discovering they have run out of their beloved Wensleydale cheese, they decide build a rocket to fly to the moon in the mistaken belief that it is made out of cheese. Of course, in the crucial seconds before take-off Wallace realises that he has forgotten the indispensible accompaniment to cheese - crackers! Thankfully, he manages to retrieve the necessary item from the kitchen cupboard before the rocket blasts into space. A good example of the lengths to which a British cheese enthusiast will go in order to enjoy this culinary delight! 


Traditionally for the British and Irish, crackers are to cheese what bread is to butter - having one without the other is unthinkable! Two popular brands of cracker instantly spring to mind - the beloved Irish biscuit manufacturer Jacob's, and British brand Carr's, most famous for their 'Table Water' crackers, a name the meaning of which I have never understood.

Living in Holland, the undisputed home of cheese-lovers, has awakened me to the many pleasures of cheese and given me a new appreciation of native British cheeses. Nowadays the health-conscious may avoid cheese because of it's high-fat content. However, cheese in the right quantity is in fact a very healthy foodstuff. For example, the French habit of cheese after meals has the advantage of neutralising the acid in the mouth, helping to protect your teeth from damage. Not to mention the additional calcium and vitamins.

Recently, I was lucky enough to participate in a cheese-making workshop near the Dutch city of Volendam in the North of Holland. Unfortunately, I will not be able to show you the full process as the first-half had been completed for us before arrival but perhaps my photos will give you a taste of the steps involved. For a more comprehensive overview of the cheese-making process, please see here.

Step 1 

First we were given a bucket containing the curds and whey - what remains of the milk once the cream has been skimmed off. A cutting tool was slowly drawn through the whey to cut it into small pieces, seperating the curds from the whey. Around a litre of the whey was drained away.

Step 2


Next hot water was added to the mixture until a temperature of at least 36 degrees celcius was reached. A thermometer was used to ensure an accurate reading of the temperature. The heating solidifies the cheese, which becomes hard and lumpy. Continuing to use the cutting tool I cut the solid mass into smaller pieces. Spices and herbs are added according to taste; my choice was chilli and dried basil.

Step 4


Next, the liquid was drained away and the curd pressed into a plastic mold.

 

Step 5


Finally, the liquid was drained away and the curd pressed into a plastic mold. As you can see in the image below, all of the molds were carefully collected together in a square formation, with layers stacked on top of each other. They were then put under a weighted press to squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible.

After a two hour wait, enough liquid had been extracted from the cheese for it to retain its form and it can be taken out of the mold. Around a teaspoon of salt into the surface of the cheese to draw out the moisture.

Step 6


The newly-formed cheese is left to air for two days, after which it is given a plastic coating to protect the cheese while it matures. My cheese is now one week old and is currently sat on my desk where I keep a dutiful eye on it.  Unfortunately, I forgot to rotate the cheese often enough so now it has an odd flat shape. Not that this will harm the taste of the cheese and thankfully I have only a few weeks to wait before I can enjoy my creation! As the Dutch would say, eet smakelijk!