[Sca-cooks] When cheese is not cheese

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Jeff Gedney:
>
>When Milk or cream is soured, usually be means of a souring agent 
>such as the enzyme rennet, or some kind of acid, then the milk 
>solids separate out into curds. that is the first step to cheese 
>making.

Just an aside: souring is done by making the milk sour, generally by 
some kind of bacterial action that produces acids in the milk. It can 
cause curdling, but also can aid in the curdling of milk in 
conjunction with rennet or another such enzyme, which, if omitted, 
would require more bacteria and/or more culturing time, resulting in 
an unpalatably sour milk product, or one with off or bitter flavors.

Many modern cheeses are made by lightly souring the milk with a 
bacteria starter such as yogurt or buttermilk, then curdling with 
rennet.

Acid-curdled cheeses like panir or queso blanco don't need a 
bacterial starter, though.

Adamantius