The Secret Life of Cheese: Making Your Own Mozzarella and More

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MIKE KOCH HAS ALWAYS had a thing for cheese. (His motto: "The stinkier and moldier, the better.") So, when his neighbors in Garrett County, Md., had some goats left over from a 4-H project (don't ask), he and his partner, Pablo Solanet, begged for a few gallons of milk. With a kit from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company (see info below), they thought they'd try a tasty experiment.

It turned out to be a pretty good one. Less than a decade later, the result is Firefly Farms, an award-winning line of chevres and other cheeses now sold at Whole Foods and farmers markets across the region.

While the duo had some uncommon advantages — such as a farmhouse built in 1856 with a cellar designed for cheese aging — home cheese making doesn't require all that much, explains Ed Hamann, who runs seminars on the topic as the culinary director for Sur La Table in Arlington (next class is Mon. at 6:30 p.m., $69, 1101 S. Joyce St.; 703-414-3580).

All you really need is patience, milk and some enzymes naturally found in animal stomachs. "It's gross-sounding," admits Isabel Clark, cooking instructor and founder of Forkbytes.com. "But it's how cheese was first discovered." The theory is that back in the day, tummies were used as storage vessels. People noticed the milk solidifying, and, voila, cheese. (Science has subsequently discovered how to create vegetable-based rennet, and that's what both Sur La Table and the pros at Firefly use.)

Observing the ricotta-making process at one of Hamann's recent classes, you might think you were witnessing a chemistry project. Students clustered around stockpots on burners, stirring and staring at thermometers as the milk gradually warmed up to the desired temperature. "Think we could do this at home?" Becky Dansky, 31, asked her boyfriend, Jason Sclauch, 33. He joked back, "What? Heat milk?"

It's a bit more complicated than that — certain cheeses require other odd ingredients (such as citric and tartaric acid, and for more advanced varieties, molds and starters), and there's technique involved in the preparation, separating the curds and whey, and draining — but it's not nearly as mysterious as it seems to the uninitiated.

Frank Morales, chef at Rustico (827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, 703-224-5051), says students in his pizza-making classes are impressed by learning the basics of dough, sausage and sauce. But when he gets to the mozzarella part of the lesson, they flip. "They think I'm the Wizard of Oz," he says. "They think I've done the impossible."

There is a magic to cheese making, Clark agrees, but the reason it's so astounding is that most people have no clue where solid dairy comes from — other than the grocery store. "They're missing that connection to food, and now they want to get into cooking from scratch and returning to our roots as human beings," she says.

When they do get back there, they'll have a treat waiting for them. Just ask Hamann's student Denise Malueg, 44. But wait for her to finish that bite of her mascarpone. "Mmmm," she sighed. "Now that is fresh."

Got Milk? You're Off to a Solid Start
For beginners looking for a quick start, you can't beat the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, founded by Ricki Carroll, "the cheese queen." The 30-minute mozzarella and ricotta kit ($24.95, above, along with an instructional DVD, $24.95) comes with basic ingredients and equipment — everything but the milk. But here's how to stock your kitchen on your own.

» Don't have a cow:
The most critical ingredient, obviously, is milk. But you don't need to track down some fresh source of raw dairy — in fact, unpasteurized milk is illegal in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Whole milk from your local supermarket usually works just fine — just be sure to avoid "ultra-pasteurized" if you're making mozzarella.

» Weird science:
Tracking down the stuff that sounds straight out of 10th-grade chem class is trickier. Junket brand rennet tablets are at many grocery stores, but Hamann prefers the liquid form, which you can snag at Wegman's. My Local Home Brew Shop (6201 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church; 703-241-3874) hawks citric and tartaric acid, which you'll need for mascarpone.

» Kitched aides:
You probably already have a large stockpot, but make sure you have a dairy thermometer (meat ones usually don't go low enough) and a cheesecloth for draining. Both are available at Sur La Table locations.

Photos by Lawrence Luk for Express