Cheese n' Bees

Cheese and honey ... and they do go together as you'll see! Remember those long-ago posts about my cheese-making adventures, way back in April/May? Well, that lovely old Gloucester and my Farmhouse Cheddar have been sitting patiently maturing since then. And now ready for the eating. Tim's parents brought us some cheese biscuits when they came in June, which made it even better. Cheese and biscuits!  I am still amazed ... it really was cheese! Even that carrot juice dye had proven itself with the hint of orange in the Gloucester! It looked like cheese, cut like cheese and really tasted like cheese. Amazing! I was prepared to be disappointed, but I really wasn't! Definitely this is something to do again, so I am delighted! My vote was for the Cheddar; the Gloucester, I thought, had perhaps a slightly acidic taste but it was pretty good really and easily delicious for cooking! I really could go on and on here .. I love this cheese adventure! Now I am convinced it is possible, I can't wait to do more! I would love to get some mature in time for Christmas!



Our cheese platter

Our other interesting project was rather unexpected on the night we arrived back from Kimande. Honey harvesting! (Louisa has written more about this on her blog ... it was a very good learning opportunity!) It wasn't great timing, but on Monday night, our night guard took the honeycomb from the hives in our garden, as he was thinking that the bees would have all the honey at this late stage. So we all traipsed to the bottom of the garden in the dark with our torches and watched as Mbwilo (wearing a mosquito net and my rubber gloves) smoked the bees out with a small fire of corn husks. He then collected all the honeycomb, loading it into buckets and brushed the combs clean with a sprig of rosemary.


Brushing the honeycomb

The next morning, there were three buckets of honeycomb to deal with. How?? Lucy and I got busy crushing the honeycomb up in the first bucket and then putting it all in a mosquito net. Yes, these nets really do come in useful ...and we do still have some on our beds! We hung the net up high and let the honey drip out into another large bucket. All day and all night. This morning, we took the net down and removed the crushed comb and bee remains and my next task is to figure out how to separate the beeswax. We've now just hung the second bucket of honeycomb to sieve. It is such a sticky, sticky job! Sticky honey all over me, up my arms, on my clothes, on my shoes and all over the floor! (This has been a really bad time for our washing machine to pack up!) And the bees! We have kept them under control with smoking areas outside. And then there are all the dead bees drowned in honey too. I guess it's not a bad way to die.

"Now, the only reason for making a buzzing noise that I know of is because you're a bee. And the only reason for being a bee is to make honey, and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it."
-Pooh

Filling the net with honey







Watching the honey drip through!



So what do cheese and honey have to do with each other? It's brilliant, really. I can use the beeswax to coat my cheeses. At least I hope I will figure out how to do it! But in the meantime it's time for a cheese sandwich ... or perhaps some honey toast!

Pizza with Cheese and Bellbottoms

The cheese-making was, I think, a pretty good first attempt! We all enjoyed a pizza treat with the homemade mozzarella. And then with the ricotta cheese made from the discarded whey, we had roasted ricotta aubergines! The texture of the ricotta wasn't quite right, but we'll work on it! We are planning to try halloumi this week, so I'll be sure to let you know how that one goes! I just think it is so exciting, being able to make cheese! Lucy too, is enjoying the challenge and I do hope we can pull this off and she can actually start making it to sell! And I should just note, that with the milk demand increasing, I can't deny a strong urge to get myself some cows!

Pizzas!

Roasted Aubergine (eggplant) with Ricotta

Tim and Amisadai went to Magozi this week, while Louisa and I did just Year 2 work together. Tim and Amisadai took with them Jesca, a Tanzanian student, who is working with EI for a month. She has worked with us before, and is a brilliant help! We are hoping get her on staff when she finishes her studies. They also took Lexa, a potter from the UK who is helping at Neema Crafts for two months. She came along to see the project and offer some experienced advice on our clay.

It was great this weekend to Skype with everyone at the EI conference in the UK! The team gathered at Andy and Angela's house for pancakes (making up for the fact that we forgot it was Shrove Tuesday this week!) And then internet and power cooperated and we were able to see and communicate and pray with the group there.

And then we donned our 60's clothes, from rummaging in the second-hand clothes market in town. Friends were turning 40 and organized a huge Iringa-wide birthday party, so we were off to join in the fun! Go flower power bellbottoms!

King David, the Vikings, Miss Muffet and I

What do King David, the Vikings, Little Miss Muffet and I have in common?
Answer: Cheese!


Rennet at the ready

I am loving this cheese adventure! And combining this latest learning craze into the school curriculum is working well. Quite clearly cheese-making is a science... as the natural bacteria in milk (lactobacillus) reacts with the lactose in the milk it releases lactic acid which will coagulate or set some of the protein in the milk. This makes it insoluable in water and causes the water to separate from the solids. Okay this needs a little simplifying for Year 2, but there is still the scientific knowledge gleaned by hands-on practice!

In Bible we learnt that David the shepherd boy took ten cheeses to his brothers when he went to fight Goliath (I Sam 17:18) and Job asks of God if he didn't pour him out like milk and and curdle him like cheese (Job 10:8-12). (Not sure exactly what he means by this yet!) In History, we learn that our cheese-making today is much as it was in the time of the Roman Empire. As Roman legions travelled around, they took with them different recipes and skills of cheese-making and established the cheese trade. Then we find the monks. These scholars, working in the monasteries before the Viking invasions were also skilled cheesemakers (from them, we still have Wensleydale cheese today). Then the Vikings brought with them their own Scandinavian cheese-making recipes and techniques (we are going to try Norwegian brunost next week). And this is only scratching the surface of the amazing history of cheese! In Maths tomorrow we are going to weigh our cheeses and see just how much cheese we got from our litres of milk. And if we are to sell our cheese, how much should we sell it for to make a profit? As well we are fastidiously measuring the temperature at various stages of cheese-making with the great thermometer that Gudrun gave us. And then of course there is Little Miss Muffet and the literary narrative of nursery rhymes!

So after previously trying cottage cheese and cream cheese, today with Mama Lucy, we branched out into the mozzarella world. A bit more of an art, or so it seems on the first attempt! But I have to say it is rather fun trying and very satisfying! And hopefully it will be all the more satisfying tomorrow when we have the treat of cheese on pizza! I've also just now tried my first ricotta cheese using the whey from the mozzarella. However, this seems to have been a long job with a poor, rather minimal result. But we'll try again, anywhey.

So thank you very much to good friends who have helped with the gift of cheese-making books and equipment and of course Gudrun for the lessons and advice!  Next cheese: Halloumi ...


Separating the curds and whey



Ahh! It's hot!

Deep in concentration! What next??

Mozzarella Cheese!