What would you do with all that whey? Whey is the liquid that remains after the coagulation of milk in the cheesemaking process. It is mostly water, but is also rich in protein and lactose.
After making the first cheese batch of the season (those are
Elk Mtn. curds at the bottom of the vat) we were swimming in whey, and since Pholia is a farm that wastes as little as possible, pouring it down the floor drain wasn't an option. And why would we? Whey has many uses: It makes tasty pork when fed to hogs, it can be used as a land application for plants, and it can be turned into ricotta, to name a few. There are currently no hogs on the farm (besides yours truly), and apparently only specific plants will benefit from whey. Ricotta won.
As the whey heats, the remaining milk solids start to surface. Chunky.
Ricotta, meaning
to cook again in Italian, is a fresh cheese that traditionally is just reheated whey, though commercially is often made with whole milk and set with an acid (lemon, vinegar) to produce a higher yield product. Home cheesemakers use the milk/acid method, but the folks who's livelihood is being a Milk Magician get the real thing.
Making this type of cheese is almost too easy. We threw the pot on the stove, cranked the heat up to high, and carried on with other activities, of which there always many on a farm. Once the solids have risen to the top, turn the heat off, stir, and...
Scoop
Rest
Drain
Voila!
After it cooled, we tubed it and popped it in the fridge. Contrary to the rule, fresh cheese is probably the only style of cheese that is better when not served room temperature. Later that night we sprinkled the ricotta with nutmeg and cardamom, topped it with a sliver of honeycomb and some biscotti for scooping. The cheese was rich and delicate, best suited for a dessert. Turning it into a savory dish would have only masked the subtlety of this recooked cheese. Goat ricotta - who knew?
