(spooky music) (spooky footsteps) (key jingles) (creaky door) (footsteps) (breathing) Salut! So I'm finally back from Italy I learned a lot about mozarella making. Let's put this to good use. (zipper sounds) So, welcome back to the mozarella making series. This episode is about following the Italian tradition to the closest. In case you missed it, I strongly suggest you watch the episode 3 of the series, just because it was shot in Italy. Uhhhhh And if you need another reason, well, ah, it's going to be super helpful to understand everything that is happening in this episode. Well, there are plenty of things I need to change in terms of technique, timing, process... ...but I guess that it all starts with one *key* ingredient and Benito was super specific about this. MILK So I will share with you more details along the way, but for now we need to get going because the milk I have in mind is super limited in terms of supplies. (zipper noises) Welcome back to FRANCE (crinkly plastic sounds) And I'm sure the sound is just *delightful* now, isn't it? Whatever. It's raining outside, wh–what would you exp— (BEEP) (zooooom) (various checkout beeps) Jersey cow's milk is twice as fatty as regular whole milk, eh, and because it is raw it has all the bacterial activity, which I need to curdle the milk properly, and to add even more flavours. (upbeat musical interlude) Honestly, I am not that much concerned with the bacteria situation right here you see, since raw milk is risky but the mozarella making process involves boiling water at the end which temperature is way higher than the pasteurization temperature So, it should be fine. Well, I know what you're thinking. He told us not to worry, and yet he's putting gloves on. Well, you see it has nothing to do with what I just said... It's just that, ah, somebody in here needs to learn how to safely handle a hot glue gun... Hah, thats... that's a stupid problem. So in terms of quantities, I'm going to use about a gallon of milk Which is you know 3.8L (milk splooshes) The colour is different. It's much more yellow, or more likely to be cream coloured La mozarella fata en la casa (?) But first we need to heat the milk to about 38 degrees celcius That's about 100 degrees F But you know we need to do this slowly, gently, without stopping from stirring. (musical interlude) The milk is now ready for me to add the, ah, culture. Ah, I'm—of coure I'm going to tell you a bit more about this very specific bacteria culture. Ah, but first, let's just work a bit more. (musical interlude) A good thermometer is probably the only real, you know, tech piece of equipment you will need in this cheese-making adventure Depending on your budget you can find a super cheap or super expensive one and I'll post a few links in the description box down below Ah, to speed things up, I've started on the stove right there, but afterwards we're gonna be in here. I'm setting up a warm water bath Ah, just because a more gentle, a more uniform, and also more stable. (water splooshing) So just for your information, the water bath is at 45 degrees celsius, and that should keep my milk nice and warm during the ripening process which lasts around 60 minutes. (musical interlude) To make cheese the traditional way, you need to use bacteria known as a "culture" Let's see if my Theoretical Blue Fridge behind me has something to say about this The first type of lactic acid bacteria is called "mesophilic" And those bacteria have I'm sure loads and loads of qualities, but I'm not that much interested to them because basically they can't stand the heat And that's why we're using the second type called "Thermophilic" I'm probably too close... I'm not "probably too close"... I'm DEFINITELY too— (BLEEP) So those bacteria are more or less performing the same action than these you know breaking down the lactose these can stand the heat and that's super useful when you're making mozarella. You can buy each of those cultures online I'll share a few links down below. Right the milk is now ready and it's time to add renith I need 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 drops and they need to be diluted in a bit of water. (pre-cheese splooshes) You're supposed to sir in an up and down motion for about 30 seconds So and this needs to rest for about 60 minutes until the curds actually appear Oooooooooh oui! This is exciting! Well you see at the cheese factory the guy did not use a knife to cut the curd They used a "spherical knife" Which is called in italian: a "spino" I WANT a spino Where do I BUY a spino? You can't buy a spino... (grumble groan) (laughs) Well this is an easy fix, right? (epic, purposeful music) And there you go, this is how you make a DIY spino Ahhhhhhhhhh... You don't make a DIY spino, You make a spino... (incoherent French laughs) This is exactly what you should get... You should get... Something that, that looks soft but still like a custard You should get some whey floating on top And then you should get the side slightly coming off You see? (musical interlude) Ooooo, oui! So now, those beautiful curds need to rest for about 30 minutes until they settle gently at the bottom of the pot Uh, by the way if it gets a little less warm Then you can always top it all up with fresh, hot water. (musical interlude) Hmmmmm Come closer. So we need to remove the excess whey with a water pump, a whey pump... So I've been cleaning and sanitizing this uh, beautiful clear tubing, But it's only solving half the problem. I still need something to suck out all of the liquid... I— I mean I could—uhhhhh... Nah. Non... No no nonononono There is no way in a million years I'm gonna— (BLEEP) (sucking noises) (water spooshing) And now back in the water bath it goes And that resting period is called "The Maturation of the Curd" We are basically waiting for the curds to be acidic enough to be stretched into beautiful mozzarella balls It could take 2 to 4 hours (musical interlude) So performing the test is fairly easy First off you need to pick up a bit of those curds Place them in a strainer And then drop some boiling water on them It's starting to stretch It's starting to stretch But it's not ready yet. (disproval noises) (big sigh) A bit of bad news, a bit of a kickback In fact, it's 9pm, I've been doing loads of tests, an—and I can't seem to stretch this bad boy I mean I do get some stretch, but it's not amazing, it's just like a tiny stretch The worst part of this whole story, is that It's all my fault. I was too impatient again Should I say, To order the proper stuff So I went for a random unbranded whatever, thermophilic culture Which did produce nothing satisfying at the end, like— (sigh of annoyance) Merde! So I need to stop, I need to get some rest And I need to think Because basically now it's too late (sad violin solo) to order something online...so I guess yes, f(BLEEP)k me (cricket noises) (humming) (birdsong) Ok, so yesterday at my place, I made this This is active yogurt. I inoculated the milk yesterday night with a yogurt starter. Yogurt bacteria in most cases are Thermophilic instead of mesophilic— So I hope this is gonna solve it! The texture is very different than milk, it's closer to buttermilk, but a bit more slimy. Right, and now I'm starting out making another batch with this. You know a quick word, the more and more I get into this cheesemaking process And the more I see the similarities with the sourdough bread making process Seriously, you need to have a starter, you need to take good care of bacteria, Which are, by the way, lactic acid bacteria And then you expect them to do something good for the uh, you know, um, general outcome of the experiment, Like, for bread it would be using the CO2 they produce just to have nice rise But in this cheesemaking case, we're only using the acidifying, uh, properties of those bacteria. It's fascinating! (tense music) (water splooshing) Whah! Now that Is some proper stretch (singing victory song) Ok, right now to the bench, and before we can actually stretch the mozzarella, we need to drain it Cut this into small pieces, just so that When we heat this, we get a quick and even action Yeah, I'm excited, but I'm also stressed out Because even if it's ok to fail from time to time It's not ok to f— (BEEP) (stressful piano music) (stressful piano music) And so this is my first fully traditional mozzarella Ahhhhhhhhh (laughs) Now I'm gonna brine two of those in salt And I need to reach the, uh, seawater concentration Now I'm gonna leave the mozza balls in the soup for about 30 minutes I'm gonna keep one for tasting purposes And the other one (exciting string music) "Hello" "Salut" "Benito!" I've just made my first—Can you share Your opinion? Ciao! Ciao! I'm gonna be sending this to Ile Cassolaret (?) You know, the cheese factory in Italy where I saw the whole process. So, of course I will keep you guys posted if I get an answer, and if it's a video, I will even post it on this channel right here so please keep your eyes peeled! (suspenseful music) Nice! Look at these juices... Mmmm! Not like firm, but it's springy Now, is the taste better than the one I did with the citric acid... Yeahhh, it's more flavourful I'm not even sure if it's related to the fact I used raw milk or the fact that I used a culture, but I sense... You know, that slight freshness and tangy-ness Obviously, there is a very strong chance that I'm going to be roasted by Benito about the quality of my mozzarella, but I hope at least he will give me some credit for the good effort, and the pasta fillata (?) technique which I did perform So, long story short, if you're really into the cheesemaking process If you want to become a cheesemaker, or if you're just passionate about cheese, then yes, it is absolutely worth it. But, on the other hand if you're just an amateur, and you love food but you, you don't want to neglect your whole life for it Then I thought about something I thought about— hacking the milk. The whole story is not ready yet so I will probably tell you about this in the next episode If you enjoyed this video, then please share this on social media On Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Wherever, just spread it like butter! And lastly, please click "Subscribe" Cause I make videos every week It's always about the food, it's always about— (laughs) The madness, I'm afraid, but at the end it's always about having fun Take care! Buh-bye! Salut! (upbeat musical interlude music)
