What is more fun than making cheese? Making cheese in medieval clothes! Well, ok, my clothes are technically renaissance…
This weekend, Mr. Cheesemaker and I drove up to Marin County to experience the Society for Creative Anachronism Culinary Symposium. For the uninitiated, SCA is a group which recreates medieval history, from costumes to jousts to historical cooking methods. And they offered a whole track of cheesemaking classes at this symposium, from the basics to pressed cheese, mozzarella, skyr (Icelandic yogurt-like cheese), and cooking with and tasting historic cheeses.
Here are some highlights:
Check out the medieval contraption this gentleman built to drain his "bag" (farmer's) cheese
And you thought wimples were just for Sound of Music...
Much of our lunch was cooked on the outdoor "hearth". Where are the men? Breaking down a pig, of course.
I was pressed into service in the Cooking with Cheese class...maybe it was my serving wench attire.
I did learn a lot, so next time you are in my class, hit me up on the history of Norwegian settlers’ eating habits in Iceland or why Cheddar wasn’t served at the cheese tasting.
