Saturday, April 19, 2003


what took me so long?

few things in life are as simple and full of joy as making your own mozzarella. i mean really -- why has it been all these years before i made my own mozzarella?

it does only take 30 minutes: 1 gallon of milk, food-grade citric acid, rennet, a microwave, an instant-read thermometer, a nice big pot, and your favorite wooden spoon. amazing: and it tastes better than you can imagine.

it's delicious. you can't mess it up. it's so much fun it's probably a sin. it's easier than boiling water, since you don't have to boil anything at all.

what's great is that you are left with a huge amount of whey. and whey, we all know, is perfect for bread. yeast loves whey. thus i immediately made some pizza crust with whey. and i still have lots of whey, which i could theoretically re-cook into my own fresh ricotta.

maybe i'll do that tomorrow. . . but mozzarella. it's a must. you are depriving yourself of possibly the most amusing event ever in your kitchen if you don't immediately begin making your own mozzarella. 1 gallon of milk yields about 15-1/4 oz. mozzarella (or since i'm using plain old US$2.50 a gallon supermarket cow's milk, fiori di latte.)

what's great is that i can't think of a single other bit of cooking that creates as much reward for so little work. make some; impress your friends, delight your family, and revel -- absolutely revel -- in the lazy ease of cheesemaking. . .

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