formaggio (ancora) / cheese (again)

making caciocavallo: stretching the curd

To learn a lot and get answers to many questions, I traveled again to lovely Shelburne Falls to take a cheesemaking 201 workshop with Jim Wallace. The photos are from the first of two days making Italian cheeses. Above, an image of caciocavallo curd being stretched: caciocavallo is in fact a  pasta filata cheese. Caciocavallo being one of my favorite Italian cheeses, I can't wait to make this at home. (This page shows some Caciocavallo Silano.)

Taleggio in the mold: early phase of draining

After filling the mold and letting the curds drain for a short while, Jim flipped the Taleggio so the upper side shows the markings of the bottom of the mold. This plastic mold is in my wish list: the marking resemble well those made by wicker baskets.

More stories and images from the workshop will appear in a future post.

This is my contribution to edition #31 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Siri of Cooking with Siri.

The photos were shot in color and then converted to sepia.

This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Comments

[Paz]

Your cheese-making class sounds like a lot of fun. Lovely photos of the cheese, especially in sepia.

[Alicia (Foodycat)]

I love caciocavallo! This looks lovely.

[bellini]

If only there were cheese making classes close to home...sigh.

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Paz. It was a lot of fun: a great learning experience.

Ciao Alicia. I am glad to read you are also a caciocavallo aficionado. In a few months, you'll know how my experiment with it went.

Ciao Val. I also wish the class were closer. Having to travel a long distance makes the time I spend in it even more precious.

[Molly Hashimoto]

That wicker-basket cheese mold is so beautiful--it makes me want to taste that cheese!!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Molly. If you have never tasted Taleggio, I suggest you do. It's a cheese that is available in this country, so you may look for it in a well-stocked cheese store in your area. The traditional shape is actually square and the rind is pinkish, as you can see on this page.