Artisan Cheese Making At Home

Mary Karlin
ISBN:   978-1607740087
Rating: Buy, Hardcover, New

Mrs Bugbear, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are all big fans of cheese.  When we were looking at buying a new house I said we couldn't live next to my wife's favorite cheese factory or we'd be unable to meet the mortgage payments.  I have occasionally made my own paneer cheese at home for fun and I've been interested in making some of the more technically challenging cheeses.  If like me you're interested in making cheese then this book is definitely a good buy.

The author lays out the typical techniques and tools and walks you through the various categories of cheese starting with nice simple recipes like the paneer I've already made a few times right through to blue cheeses like Stilton.  The author also includes a reference section with websites for suppliers, festivals, publications and blogs.

One of the features I like best is that the opening line of every recipe is very close to one I've put on almost every drawing that I've authored:

Read through the recipe and review any terms and techniques you aren't familiar with.

The book has an interesting variant of the paneer so I think that I'm going to begin working through the recipes with that one.  One warning though, the introduction to the book by Peter Reinhart is well worth reading, but don't drink anything while you're reading it, I wouldn't want you to snort the drink out through your nose.