[Sca-cooks] Re: Cheese

[wildecelery at aol.com]

As far as I know, and beyond a certain point that ain't much, mind
you, the original is in Cato's De Agricultura, and not in Apicius.

Admantius,

It's possible that my brain is off.  Most likely, I meant to refer to 
Cato and my brian superimposed Apicius.  Thank you for the correction!

Chevre works well, if you don't mind the tanginess.

-I will keep this in mind the next time I don't want to be bothered to  
make the fresh cheese myself.

Greetings,

I just so happen to have one of the volumes (I am working on getting
them all) and it is the one with the cheese section. Keep in mind that
his discourse on cheese occurs during his discussion on keeping and
managing Goats - so he is not talking about cow cheese:

excerpt from De Re Rustica by Columella:
        VIII. It will be necessary too not to neglect the task of
cheese-making, especially in distant parts of the country, where it is
not convenient to take milk to the market in pails. Further, if the
cheese is made of a think consistency, it must be sold as quickly as
possible while it is still fresh and retains its moisture if, however,
it is of a rich and thick consistency, it bears being kept for a
longer period. Cheese should be made of pure milk which is as fresh as
possible, for if it is left to stand or mixed with water, it quickly
turns sour, It should usually be curdled with rennet obtained from a
lamb or a           kid, though it can also be coagulated with the 
flower of
the wild thistle or the seeds of the safflower, and equally well with
the liquid which flows from a fig-tree if you make an incision in the
bark while it is still green (Forster 285).

-Thank you!

I'd say something like a young sheep's milk manchego or one of the
pecorinos would come pretty close (but not aged romano), and for the
fresher cheeses, chevre or Bulgarian feta, soaked free of some of its
salt, would make good libum cheeses.

-more good ideas


-Ardenia