The Art of Natural Cheesemaking - Foreword and Preface

F ORE WO R D
Finally, the cheesemaking book Ive always wanted to read!

Cheese is such an important realm of fermentation and food preservation.
It transforms one of the most perishable of food products, milk, into a food
that can be stored and transported, even without refrigeration. And its brilliant diversity of flavors, smells, textures, and appearances exemplifies the
creativity and adaptability of human culture. One crucial factor in this diversity is microbial biodiversity, in that much of the variation in cheeses is due to
different types of organisms and microbial communities, as selected by aging
environment and surface treatment.
Most of the contemporary practice of cheesemaking, along with most of the
contemporary literature, relies on the use of laboratory-derived pure-strain
cultures, which are a relatively new phenomenon, possible for barely 150
years and widely used for a much shorter time. These pure-strain cultures
represent a radical departure from the entire earlier history of cheesemaking,
in which all cheeses relied upon the rich microbial communities indigenous to
milk, often accentuated by the practice of backslopping, which means incorporating a little of the previous batch into each subsequent one.
While cheese is such an extraordinary manifestation of biodiversity, the
logic behind most contemporary cheesemaking is that of monoculture, using
a single microbial strain (or possibly two or three) in lieu of the broader
microbial communities used traditionally. This is as true for most farmstead,
home, or hobby cheesemakers as it is for the mass producers.
The Art of Natural Cheesemaking reclaims this earlier cheesemaking legacy,
with great practical information on how to work with raw milk, along with
widely available kefir grains or yogurt, to encourage different types of microbial communities for different types of cheeses. David Asher poses a challenge
to conventional cheesemaking, as he puts it, and offers a bold vision of
cheesemaking as wild fermentation, by revisiting older methods that rely
upon the biodiversity of raw milk. We need to stop thinking of the cultural
regimes in cheese as individual strains of bacteria or fungi, he declares. It is
the reductionist industrial approach to cheesemaking that has singled out
what are believed to be the important players in an evolving cheese; the minor
players have been cast aside and forgotten. Yet its the combination of the
important players and their supporting microorganisms that make for a
healthy cheesemaking. For it is not an individual species that makes a cheese,
but a community of microorganisms . . .
The Art of Natural Cheesemaking starts with this impassioned and compelling manifesto; then the rest of the book is devoted to methods, in sufficient
detail to guide the reader through the process. I have spent time with David,
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as both teacher and student. I have greatly enjoyed his delicious cheeses, and
Ive had success using those of his methods that I have tried. He provides clear
and methodical instructions, along with great illustrative photographs, to
guide you through making an incredible array of cheeses in your home
kitchen. And he does so relying entirely upon microbial communities indigenous to the milk, or those of yogurt or kefir. He offers simple techniques,
emphasizing improvisation with whats easily available rather than buying
specialized gadgetry.
This book appears in the context of a broader fermentation revival, in
which diverse ancient fermentation traditions are being reawakened and
explored anew after a period of eclipse by industrial production. Home practitioners and small local enterprises alike are experimenting with traditional
techniques. For anyone interested in traditional, low-tech cheesemaking, The
Art of Natural Cheesemaking will be an empowering tool. Welcome to the
fermentation revival!
Sandor Ellix Katz
March, 2015
P RE FACE
Im visiting this remote island off the west coast of British Columbia on a
writers retreat organized by a stranger. I received an e-mail from Jaylene out
of the blue, inviting me to come to Lasqueti to teach a cheesemaking class. She
asked me what she could offer to get me to come out and engage her community, far off the beaten track. I told Jaylene that I had wanted to visit her island
since Id first learned of it, and that I had been waiting for years for an invitation to come. All that Id ask, I added, would be for a quiet cabin to write in...
Lasqueti is different. It is a place where feral sheep have the run of the
island; where severe storms born of the Pacific crash ashore with ferocious
winds; and where Douglas firs, normally majestic broad-branched trees, cling
to the rocky soil and grow twisted and bonsai-like, prostrate against seaside
cliffs. It is a maverick island where the community does things their own way,
preferring to remain off-grid and off-ferry, preventing the development that
has scoured neighboring lands. And it is a place where residents grow gardens,
wildcraft, and seek out natural ways of living, and where DIY is a way of life.
It is places like these that truly appreciate my teachingsfor it is places like
these that have inspired my teachings. It is on the islands of the wild west
coast of Canada that I learned to farm. And it is on these islands that I taught
myself a new way to make cheese.
It is the land, it is the communities, and it is the people of the islands that
have inspired my ideals of a natural cheesemaking. Without the healthy
ecologies of the farm, the forest, and the sea; without the communities
self-sufficiencies; without the farmers spirit; and without the peoples rejection of the status quo, I would never have put together these thoughts.
The ecologies on these islands are vibrant and alive. You hear them first
thing in the morning with the dawn chorus of birds. You see them firsthand
walking through mature forest stands. And you taste them, toothe vitality of a healthy soil ecology coming through in the fine flavor of locally
grown produce.
These island communities are more introspective, observing the comings
and goings more acutely than mainland communities. It is clearer here how
tenuous our dependency on an overextended food system is, as nearly every
morsel of food in the grocery store arrives on a truck from off-island.
The island awareness encourages people to be more invested in what sustains them, and organic gardens are prevalent here as nowhere else in North
America. Farmers cultivate diverse farming operations, featuring livestock,
row crops, and orchards; compost-building plays a key role in the development of healthy soil; seed-saving practices adapt crops to the local growing
conditions; and permaculture systems ease the load on the land. Farmers here
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also slaughter and butcher their own animals because, though local regulations restrict such activities, its the only way their isolated farms and
communities can remain viable.
The people of these islands support their farmers, who are considered
heroes and celebrities, sharing ranks with visiting health-care practitioners
and volunteer firefighters. Residents here question authority and the status
quo and strive to make the change they wish to see in the world.
It is thanks to the people here, like Jaylene, that I am encouraged to teach.
It is thanks to the many organizations here that are promoting food sovereignty and provide venues for my classes that Im able to teach; and now, it is
thanks to Chelsea Green that my words will teach a far greater audience than
I could possibly reach.
Lasqueti Island, British Columbia, Canada
April, 2014
The healthy ecologies of the West Coast are the inspiration for my cheesemaking.
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F ORE WO R D

Finally, the cheesemaking book Ive always wanted to read!

The Art of Na t ur a l C h eesema k i ng

The Art of Na t ur a l C h eesema k i ng

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