So, today as I was waiting for Kim to finish editing the outdoor clay oven manuscript, I started thinking about what else I was a subject matter expert on (expert status loosely applied of course).
It took me a few minutes until I came up with the idea of writing a book about Home Cheese Making. It struck me as bleeding obvious seeing that I also write a cheese making blog over at Little Green Cheese!
I know, I know. It has all been done before, and I do have own some wonderful cheese books produced by some great authors, however there is always one thing that seams to be missing after you read the recipe.
That missing part is the taste test! Authors rarely describe what the finished cheese tastes like, or provide tips on how to improve the cheese they have written about. These will be accompanied by links back to my YouTube cheese making tutorials which are very popular with beginners and seasoned home cheese makers alike. That is my angle that should make it stand out from the pack.
Of course it will have cheese making methods, all the recipes that I have modified over the years and written down, as well as some wonderful photographs, and explanation of cheese making hygiene. And of course a section on sourcing local milk.
With the book structure already formatted, and some of the pieces in place for a comprehensive manuscript, I thought about a title.
How does “Keep Calm and Make Cheese – Artisan Cheese Making At Home” strike you as a title for this book?
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Copyright © Gavin Webber |
I even took the time to produced a book cover which I am pleased with, and which Kim thinks is great.
Anyway, this is what I have being doing all day, as well as keeping the garden and chickens alive, so it is definitely time for a break. It is 33°C here at [10:17]pm, which is the tail end of a two day heat wave with more to follow during the week. Hot, damn hot.
Time for a well earned home brewed Cerveza!
Update: I finished the eBook and it is now published!
Here is the link to “Keep Calm and Make Cheese” if you are interested in purchasing it.
Sounds like a great idea! Book cover looks fab as well.
That’s an excellent idea Gavin. I had often thought a ‘professionally made’ CD/DVD of your cheese video tutorials would be a good idea, but an ebook with recipes and links to the videos takes it one step further. The title sounds very good too, though I’m not entirely sure what the word ‘Artisan’ implies when used in connection with cheese and wonder if it is the ‘word of the moment’. I understand it to mean small independent professional cheese makers making small amounts of specialist cheeses for sale in cheese shops, rather than 1kg batches at home in the kitchen.
I just opened one of my cheeses made last February, so nearly a year old. Wow, it is fantastic. Slightly crumbly but creamy at the same time. Sharp but at the same time full flavoured. I’m not very good at describing flavours but it is truly addictive: I just can’t stop nibbling at it. Thinking about it as I write is making my mouth water such that I want to raid the fridge!
david
Your cheese recipes and videos are the best. They are recipes that are tested and WORK! Some other cheese books offer recipes but they are inaccurate or do not work at all. I’ve enjoyed every one of the cheese recipes I’ve tried on your site, Feta, Romano, Cheddar — all work really well for me. The Romano was spectacular. I anxiously await your cheesemaking ebook.
Love the title! Making my first cheese is on the list of to-dos this year so I look forward to buying the book.
This year I want to make cheese using shop milk and smaller quantities. Don,t laugh but we get our milk off a farmer and because its such an effort get 40 litres, in two lidded buckets, so it takes hrs and hrs and hrs of work to produce our kilo blocks of cheddar.Smaller quantities also means I can experiment. I like the title of your book and have no problem with the word artisan, cheesmaking even at home is an art and anything above a basic soft cheese is artistic.
I am looking forward to your book as it will all be in one place and am going to teach my DIL to make cheese as well.
Great idea, love the title.
I’ve never been a big fan of all of the different derivatives of “Keep calm and carry on” but in saying that the book cover looks fantastic and I would most definitely buy the book as I fully intend to begin making cheese this year. In fact, I’d even preorder this one! 😀
Holy cheese Gavman !!!
another ebook ?
May the cheddar be with you
And also with you. Melted on toast of course Phil
I like it! Having only made a couple of my own cheeses and being a devotee of your 30min mozzarella technique I’d be very interested in that book. After the clay oven one of course, which I have every intention of using to build my own. I even have the location mapped out (which I usually do after I decide to do something and then have to find somewhere to squeeze it in!…) Hope you’re enjoying the cool change.
I recently purchased my partner a cheese making book and while choosing it I skimmed through a good dozen. You are right they didn’t seem to include the tasting. That topic seemed to be covered in separate books. The other thing I noticed is authors seem to rarely comment on their failures, but I think this help the reader get a better understanding of how to make it successful.
Like the title, it’s different.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Work has begun in earnest!
Gav x