Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cleanliness is next... milkiness?

So there's been a strange confluence of thought, here at Sashinka Towers.

Firstly, having a baby, and sterlising everything, and washing my hands in antibacterial soap like ten times a day has made me think about how clean is clean, and if dirt is good - turns out the New York Times (sashablog sashablog if you want to read it) have been reading my mind: A Little Dirt Is Good for You is a piece about whether our immune systems are being affected by not having the odd bit of dirt in our super-clean society.

Then, as you know, I've been thinking of recreating the kez (cheese) both my grandma's used to make from milk and buttermilk, and drain in a muslin cloth on the washing line.

To this end, last night I heated whole milk to 90 degrees, and added buttermilk, stirred and left it at room temperature. I know you're supposed to wait 24 hours before something happens, but I took a peek this morning, and it's still pretty.. well, milk like. My dad felt that because the milk is pasteurised, it won't work (which may be true), so I've been reading up on raw milk (aka fresh milk) - fascinating piece from the Guardian about raw milk and it's pros and cons.

Meanwhile, I may have to find some, as my kez is not doing what it's supposed to, methinks.

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