Happy Friday! I came across a lovely article this morning about "natural" cheesemaking I thought I'd share.
What makes a cheese natural? A range of things, but in general it means using extremely fresh, raw milk & no lab-made cultures or rennet. 1/ https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/the-natural-touch

I talked about the different kinds of rennet the other day, how animal rennet is the most common in European-style cheesemaking. But really, the "fermentation-style" GMO rennet is, esp for mass-produced cheeses. It's just a lot cheaper. 2/ https://twitter.com/RealLisaC/status/1248111199423614977?s=20

"Natural" cheese proponents are really after terroir. In Europe, many of the AOC and similar cheeses have a number of specifications, including the breed of animal the milk comes from, where the animals graze, where the cheese is made, etc. All of those things... 3/

Affect the flavor of the cheese. Diff breeds of cow have different amounts of fat, for ex. There's one breed that's known for expressing a noticeable amount of beta carotene in its milk, making the milk "golden". Just as with meat, what the animal eats affects the milk flavor. 4/

And finally, the microbiome of the area affects both the flavor of the cheese, and ultimately, how gut microbe diversity of its consumer. There was another great article re the importance of this microbiome I discussed in this thread: https://twitter.com/RealLisaC/status/1231647774183026689?s=20