The art of natural cheesemaking by David Asher

Abstract

Cheese wasn’t designed. Cheeses were, and are, products of specific geographical, economic, ecological, and cultural circumstances. And so in the history of cheesemaking we see the history of agriculture, of trade, of places, and people. The countless cheeses—each made with only milk, rennet, bacterial cultures, and salt—reflect the diversity of the contexts in which they were first produced. Cheese therefore offers a rich, “living “connection to the past and, as Asher’s The Art of Natural Cheesemaking implies, a lens for engaging with the political, ethical and ecological issues that affect our futures.

Keywords

• cheesemaking
• cheese