Blessed are the cheesemakers!

Day 1 of Cheese Boot Camp.

If they'd said it was a 7.30am start on the website, I would never have signed up for it. Cheesemaking is one thing, but voluntarily getting up before dawn on a Saturday is just plain masochistic.

Still, the Lovely Luisa and I overdosed on caffeine and showed up to learn how to make:
camembert
cheddar
feta
mozzerella
quark
chabichou
whey ricotta &
milk ricotta.

By 1pm my brain had hit saturation point and wasn't taking in the specifics of cheese bacterias, the subtleties of temperature, warming jackets (not the clothing kind) and whatnot. Making three different types of cheese simultaneously was a major juggling act.

By 4 pm I didn't know if I was Arthur or Martha, and my brain had completely given up altogether, with the result that I entirely missed out on learning how to make the ricottas. I think I just stood at the sink and drooled quietly while everyone else got on with it.

The bizarre thing is... a room of 12 people, all doing an intensive 2 day cheese making course, and NOT ONCE did I hear 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'

Which was just plain weird.