The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life RationallyLoudon, Mrs. (Jane)
General
The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Cooking; Country life; Home economics
As soon as the curd is formed, it is very carefully removed from the
pan, without breaking it, if possible, and laid on a deep circular
sieve, where it is slightly pressed, in order that the whey may drain
from it. It is then put into the cheese-vat, which should be ten inches
and a half deep, and eight inches and a quarter over, with a moveable
hoop of wood on the top, over which a piece of flat board is generally
laid. As soon as the cheese has acquired a sufficient consistency, it
is removed from the vat and firmly bound round with a clean cloth,
which is changed every day, and the cheese bound tighter and tighter,
till at last it becomes sufficiently firm to stand alone. Every time
the cloth is changed, the cheese is wiped at the top and bottom and
turned, so that each end may be equally level. When it has become
sufficiently firm to support itself without the cloth, the cheese is
removed to the cheese-room; but it still requires to be turned twice a
day, and brushed, for about three months.
_Single and double Gloucester cheeses_ are made very differently from
Stilton, though the rennet is prepared for both in nearly the same
manner, except that some allspice and a little saltpetre are generally
added to the brine. In some places the brine is made of whey, in which
enough salt is put to make it float an egg; but it is said that cheeses
made in this manner are very apt to heave.
The best _single Gloucester_ cheese for toasting is what is called a
one-meal cheese; that is to say, it is made entirely of new milk taken
fresh from the cow. An inferior kind is called a two-meal cheese, and
it is made with the evening's milk after it has been skimmed in the
morning, mixed with the morning's new milk. The milk is then warmed,
and coloured with a little arnatto, care being taken, however, that
none of the solid part of the drug goes into the milk; the usual
practice, indeed, is to dip the arnatto in a little milk, and then to
rub it on a flat stone or plate. The colouring matter thus produced
is washed off into a basinful of milk, which is then allowed to stand
and settle, so as to deposit its sediment before it is poured into the
cheese-tub. The rennet is then added, and the whole is kept moderately
warm (the milk should never sink below 80°) till the curd is come,
which is generally in about an hour. The curd is then broken up with
a flat piece of wood called a cheese-knife, and the whey is strained
from it; the fragments of curd being frequently moved about, to allow
the whey to escape from them. Some boiling water is then mixed with a
little of the cold whey, and poured quite hot upon the curd, so as to
cover it, the curd being stirred briskly about, and afterwards left
for half an hour to sink. The liquor is then drained off, and the curd
taken up by the hands and carefully squeezed as it is put into the
cheese-vat, which is not only filled, but has as much piled on the
top as it will hold. When this is done, the curd in and on the vat
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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