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2024 | HOOK MAGAZINE 37 MiLk iNTo CHEESE The Founda5ons of Natural Cheesemaking Using Tradi5onal Concepts, Tools, and Techniques by David Asher David Asher is a cheesemaker extraordinaire who takes his cheese very seriously and with his new book, Milk Into Cheese, he is doing all he can to ensure that the rest of us take it equally seriously. The art of cheesemaking is a long, storied tradi5on that in many ways has been pushed aside by the modern meth- ods of large-scale produc5on around the world. Asher's book is a call to arms to re- claim what has been lost. Milk Into Cheese is a celebra5on of all things cheese. He starts by sta5ng what is, for him, the number one rule: everything be- gins with the milk. He is so adamant about this, that he believes actually drinking milk is a waste (aside from breast milk for infants), as all milk should be made into cheese using natural methods that "are the best (indeed the only!) approach for making all styles of cheese." Having thrown down the gauntlet, Asher shows us the way. Milk Into Cheese is more than a love le6er to natural cheese, it con- SuSTAiNAbLE bADASS A Zero-Waste Lifestyle Guide By Gi6emarie Johansen As we grapple with the ongoing climate crisis, the word sustainable gets tossed around le% and right. The concept of living a sustainable life is appealing, but the devil is in the details and most of us can be- come overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the problem. Enter Git- temarie Johansen. This sustainabil- ity blogger has dedicated her life to living as sustainable a life as possible, and in spreading the good word far and wide. Now, she has pulled all her knowledge to- gether into an entertaining, edu- ca5ng volume en5tled Sustainable Badass, giving the world an easy- to-swallow guide on what it takes to truly live sustainably. The first point Johansen makes is that not everyone is going to be able to do absolutely everything in her book and each reader should do what works for them and be sat- isfied that they are moving towards the global solu5on as best they can. Some of the changes Johansen made are truly severe, but she rec- ognizes that they are not for every- one. Her book is a guide to a sustainable lifestyle, but only that. A guide. It is up to the reader to take what he or she can take from her wisdom and make the changes that can be made in his or her life. The villain of sustainability is, of course, plas5c. The stuff simply does not decompose and lasts for- ever. The first few chapters of the book deal with this: what is plas- 5c; how is it made; what can we do about it. She touches on the concept of greenwashing (large corpora5ons producing items that appear to be small, local, and sus- tainable but are anything but) and the impossibility of avoiding plas- 5c 100% of the 5me. It can be daun5ng to read about how diffi- cult it is to avoid plas5c and the damage it creates, but once you get through this first quarter of the book, it is like you've eaten your vegetables and now here comes the good stuff. By David Neilsen Book Reviews tains a detailed series of instruc5ons on how to create dozens of different cheeses from around the world. Part One discusses the basic elements of cheesemaking: milk, culture, rennet, and natural cheese. Part Two delves into the process of making cheese including the tools needed, proper sal5ng techniques, and building your cheese cave. Part Three is an explora5on of cheese, glorious cheese. Asher divides the land of cheese into the four seasons, and places the world's cheeses in their proper season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. This is the bulk of the book, and includes recipes for a wide range of cheeses from Clabber and Halloumi in the Spring to Mozzarella and Gouda in the Summer to Goat and Sheep bu6er in the Fall to Yogurt and Cream Cheese in the Winter. A series of appendices round out the book, covering concepts that didn't easily fit into his schema5c but which are nevertheless important. The book is both heavily detailed and sur- prisingly easy to read, making it perfect for master cheesemakers and beginners alike. Asher may or may not manage to create the groundswell for natural cheesemaking he endeavors to impart upon the world, but it is not for want of trying.

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