{"id":36417,"date":"2019-03-04T07:45:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T12:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=36417"},"modified":"2019-03-06T14:26:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T19:26:29","slug":"cheese-iq-going-native","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-iq-going-native\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese IQ: Going Native"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/span> cheese ingredient label invariably lists four essential components<\/a>: milk, salt, rennet, and cultures. This tried-and-true combination is now standard, but you might be surprised to learn that the idea of cultures as an added ingredient is relatively new.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

As a commercial product, cultures<\/span>\u2014the bacteria, yeasts, and molds used to make cheese\u2014have been available since the late 19th century. But cheese has been made for nearly 9,000 years. Prior to the mid-1850s, milk\u2019s transformation into cheese was poorly understood. Sans modern sanitation standards and refrigeration, milk soured and curdled on its own. While this was attributed to a range of forces, from angels to chemical reactions, <\/span>in reality it<\/span> was due to cultures: particularly lactic acid bacteria. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

These types of bacteria<\/a> are found all around us: in milk, in grass, and on our hands. In <\/span>milk<\/span> they consume sugar and convert it to acid, kick-starting curdling. The dirty milk buckets and ambient temperatures of yore were cheesemakers\u2019 unwitting partners, allowing bacteria to thrive. Each region\u2014each farm, really\u2014unknowingly bred its own unique set of microbes. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Throughout millennia, microbes evolved, adapted, and thrived as the bases of traditional cheeses\u2014until the acceptance of germ theory in the 1850s prompted a deeper investigation into the microbial world. In dairy, the result was twofold: A push was made to pasteurize milk <\/span>in order to<\/span> free it of potentially pathogenic microbes; at the same time, because cheese could not be made without microbes, commercially derived cultures were developed that could be added to milk for cheese manufacturing.<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Today most cheesemakers use commercial cultures. The small number of biotech companies producing these freeze-dried microbes control much of the propagation and distribution of what has become a vital single-use ingredient\u2014and some argue that this tramples diversity. In their 2017 book <\/span>Reinventing the Wheel<\/span><\/i> (University of California Press), authors <\/span>Bronwen<\/span><\/a> and Francis Percival<\/a> call this trend a \u201cholocaust of raw-milk microbes\u2026 [a] catastrophic destruction of microbes on which cheesemakers rely to make their raw-milk cheeses distinctive and unique.\u201d Despite more than a century of homogenization, a small number of cheesemakers are pushing back, taking the time and effort to foster native microbes and increase biodiversity.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"cheesemaking\"<\/p>\n

A slightly more traditional method than commercial starters, bulk <\/span>farmhouse cultures<\/span><\/a> are still going strong among some cheesemakers in Europe. These cultures were isolated from farms back when starters first became an added ingredient<\/span>, and sometimes contain a more diverse mix of microbes than commercial starters. Such <\/span>microbe-filled slurries have been propagated continuously by laboratories like that of Barber\u2019s, a cheddar-maker in Somerset<\/a>, <\/span>England, which supplies the cultures to other traditional producers<\/span> in its region. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Other cheesemakers are using methods that harken further back, harnessing their very own populations of bacteria. This can be achieved in a few different ways. One is t<\/span>hough \u201c<\/span>backslopping<\/span>\u201d: using one day\u2019s whey to culture the next day\u2019<\/span>s batch of milk. This method was traditionally used to make lactic-set cheeses.<\/span> Another is by utilizing <\/span>biofilms, <\/span>communities of microorganisms that form residue<\/span>s<\/span> adhering to a surface or <\/span>are <\/span>absorbed into a porous environment. For most of cheesemaking history, the material of choice was wood\u2014which may seem solid, but it\u2019s quite permeable. Raw milk can be stored in a wood bucket, its pores <\/span>absorbing a rich community of microbes, including lactic acid bacteria. When the next day\u2019s milk interacts with <\/span>the wood surface, <\/span>dormant microbes awaken to set the acidification process in motion. Though this method is uncommon, it\u2019s<\/span> an important component in the case of <\/span>a few cheeses, including <\/span>Salers<\/span><\/a> Tradition from France, and Bethlehem from the Abbey<\/a> of Regina <\/span>Laudis<\/span> in Connecticut.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"cornerstone\"

Cornerstone from Birchrun Hills Farm<\/p><\/div>\n

Another method of harnessing native microbes is through milk cultures, or \u201c<\/span>clabber<\/span>\u201d\u2014that\u2019s the secret behind Cornerstone<\/span>. Each maker of the terroir-driven cheese\u2014Peter Dixon<\/a> and Rachel Fritz <\/span>Schaal<\/span> at Parish Hill Creamery<\/a>, Mark Gillman at Cato Corner Farm, and Sue Miller<\/a> at <\/span>Birchrun<\/span><\/a> Hills Farm\u2014captured their own cultures in a similar way: Cows were hand-milked, then milk was put in sterile jars and left to \u201c<\/span>clabber<\/span>\u201d until natural microbes caused them to curdle. <\/span>The best samples\u2014those with a clean yogurt flavor and no gas bubbles\u2014were added to pasteurized milk and incubated again. These \u201cgrandmother cultures\u201d are the source from which all subsequent Cornerstone cultures are propagated. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Other more experimental methods have also been proposed for culturing milk. Kefir grains are gelatinous clusters of microbes, <\/span>similar to<\/span> the SCOBY you might use to make <\/span>kombucha<\/span>. Author and traditional cheesemaking advocate David Asher<\/a> has argued that the grains can be used to make certain cheeses because of the goldmine of genetic material they harbor from bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. These cultures don\u2019t fall into the FDA category \u201c<\/span>Generally Regarded a<\/span>s Safe\u201d for commercial use, however; for now, they\u2019re limited to home kitchen experiments. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Using native cultures doesn<\/span>\u2019t come without its challenges<\/span>. C<\/span>heesemakers must produce <\/span>them carefully and painstakingly to ensure consistency\u2014a challenge even for the most seasoned. <\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s an investment of time, and it\u2019s another dairy product you have to maintain,\u201d says Parish Hill Creamery\u2019s Fritz <\/span>Schaal<\/span> of the company\u2019s microbe-rich clabber. But to her, the pros outweigh the cons: \u201cIt\u2019s an expression of terroir, an ability to create a taste of place. It\u2019s microbial and biological diversity. It\u2019s about what matters to us,\u201d she says. \u201cPlus, we also happen to think the cheese is pretty damn good.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most cheesemakers today use commercial cultures. However, more makers are beginning to experiment with native cheese cultures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":36419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[10409,4925,10408,10412,10410,6247,10407,10417,4349,10405,10413,10404,10418,1818,10416,10403,10406,1105,3978,10414,10415,10411,9684,6252],"coauthors":[10400],"class_list":["post-36417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cheese-iq","tag-backslopping","tag-bacteria","tag-barbers","tag-bethlehem-from-the-abbey","tag-biofilm","tag-birchrun-hills-farm","tag-bronwen","tag-cato-corner","tag-cheese-iq","tag-commercial","tag-cornerstone","tag-cultures","tag-david-asher","tag-francis-percival","tag-mark-gillman","tag-native","tag-native-cultures","tag-parish-hill-creamery","tag-pasteurization","tag-peter-dixon","tag-rachel-fritz-schaal","tag-salers-tradition","tag-somerset","tag-sue-miller"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNative Cheese Cultures are Now Making a Comeback<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most cheesemakers today use commercial cultures. 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