Cheeeeeese!
Right now, I am mentally doing that thing Wallace does where he waves his hands, fingers curled inwards, in front of his shoulders and gloats, "Cheeeeeese!"
I took the boy to Beecher's Handmade Cheese today for macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cheese curds.
Note: Seattle weather not to scale.
Anyway, in addition to having absolutely delicious cheesy things, Beecher's is one of the few places that makes real, single-vat, artisan cheddar in this part of the country. And you get to watch them make cheese, every single day. Their web site says they go through 1000 gallons of fresh milk from local dairies every day. Today, I took video.
In brief, the milk is curdled into curds and whey in absolutely enormous metal tubs in the glass-walled cheesemaking room. Then they slice the curds into blocks, which are stacked to drain more whey out, and then they shred the curds into smaller pieces, salt them, and re-heat the curds and whey in a final step before the curds are cut, put into molds, and pressed to age for one year.
Watch and be amazed!
Comments
oh my....I'd go nuts and they would need to forcibly remove me from that place.
The cheese is so good. The curds (which were grass two days ago, as the people at the store like to remind you) don't really squeak, but I think that might have to do with the preparation process. I've had squeaky curds before.
@SweetMisery, I was there with some people who had been to Tillamook. They said that Tillamook was worth seeing, but totally different -- you never got the chance to see the little individual steps like you see at Beecher's daily. I hope to make the trip down to Tillamook this summer.