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To Make Fresh Curd
Take one pint of milk and one dessertspoon of essence of rennet. Warm the milk to blood heat on the fire, remove, and then add the rennet; let it stand aside until set, about an hour. Place the curd on a hair sieve, and put a plate on top of it, applying gentle pressure for about a minute, and then place a five pound weight on the plate and leave it to drip for about a quarter of an hour. Remove the weight and plate, scraping up the curd into a heap, and repeat the pressing process, in all about three or four times to the hour. At the end of the hour an eleven pound weight may be put on and left on for another hour, at the end of which time the curd will be free from whey and of the consistency of tender fish. Fresh country milk will take a much less shorter time to set, say ten minutes, and require less rennet. Another way of getting the whey out of the curd is to hang it up in a cheesecloth to drain. This will take several hours, but the result is satisfactory. Curd may be flavored with vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, etc., added to the milk before warming.
This is fresh unripened cheese — the sort of curd that goes into curd tarts, cheesecakes and sweetened puddings — and the whole thing hinges on the milk you buy.
- Ultra-pasteurised milk will not setUltra-pasteurised milk sets very poorly -- UHT and ultra-pasteurised milk has been heated hard enough that denatured whey proteins bind to the casein, so rennet cannot form a proper gel. Use ordinary pasteurised whole milk, preferably not homogenised; the curd will be firmer.
- Blood heat means 98-100FTake the milk to about 37C and no further. Above roughly 110F the rennet begins to lose activity, and milk scalded to near simmering will give a weak, grainy set.
- The rennet quantity is not transferableA dessertspoon is two teaspoons, but "essence of rennet" was a dilute domestic preparation. Modern liquid rennet is far stronger — usually a few drops per quart — so follow the dose on the bottle rather than this measure, or the curd will turn bitter and rubbery.
- Rennet is not vegetarian by defaultTraditional rennet comes from a calf's stomach lining. Vegetable or microbial rennet, or fermentation-produced chymosin, does the same job if that matters to you.
- Leave it absolutely still while settingDo not stir, jog or move the bowl once the rennet is in. Disturbing a setting curd shatters the gel and you get whey-logged flakes instead of a clean break.
- Hair sieve and weightsA hair sieve is a fine-mesh sieve; line it with muslin or a double layer of cheesecloth so the curd does not push through. For the 5 lb and 11 lb weights, a plate topped with tins or a jug of water is close enough — the numbers matter less than steady, increasing pressure.
- The cheesecloth method is easierHanging the curd to drain for several hours needs no rigging, and the author says the result is satisfactory. Drain it in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature.
- Yield and keepingA pint of milk gives only a few ounces of pressed curd, so scale up if you want enough for a tart. It is an unripened fresh cheese with no acid or salt to protect it: keep it covered and cold and use it within two days.
- FlavouringsVanilla, ginger and nutmeg go in before warming as directed. Do not add lemon juice or anything acidic at that stage — it will curdle the milk on its own terms and spoil the rennet set.
Rennet-set fresh curd was a fixture of the Victorian and Edwardian larder, the same reaction that produces junket when it is left sweet and unpressed and cheese when it is drained and aged. Its main use in an English household was the curd tart and the baked cheesecake, dishes still associated with Yorkshire. Bottled "essence of rennet" -- dilute calf-stomach extract sold by chemists and grocers -- made the process a matter of minutes rather than a dairy operation. The note that fresh country milk sets in ten minutes with less rennet reflects the difference between very fresh, unpasteurised, unstandardised milk and the bottled town supply.