For cheese, it is the stamens of cardoon thistle, picked when purple. This is where the coagulating enzymes are, in concentration at least. Im hearing about folks planting it in many places for cheese, as the technique is spreading outside of the areas of traditional usage.
If they require winter rain for grass green-up, does this mean that the north side of Gran Canaria has a mediterranean climate, or do they get summer rains too? Are they able to make cheese in the dry season? My main question is really, whether or not they change their use of milk coagulants (ratios of types, quantities, etc) as the milk changes with the seasons? Or do the recipes and cheese making processes remain the same and the character of the cheeses vary with the seasons? Or both?
oh and one more side question. Are the reed racks used for aging the cheeses made of Canary reed? Is this the home, or at least namesake of the canary reed "Arunda," that we have filling riparian zones on the west coast of the US?
As always, thanks for your dedication to learning and sharing. May your flock always be full
Great Questions Aaron! It is a Mediterranean climate, and I believe they milk sheep and make cheese until July/August. I didn’t get a sense of if they shift the coagulants/types of cheese seasonally, I’m hoping to get more info On that. The reed racks…..they call it cane, and I definitely want to learn what it is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is Arunda. A downside of only visiting a short time is that by then time I think of these questions, I’m gone!
Really cool to hear the thistle causes coagulation in the animals stomach to make nutrients more accessible. Does eating the cheese have a similar effect on our guts?
I wrote that part poorly, I meant that the enzymes in mammals stomachs coagulate milk to allow nutrients to be extracted. Thistle just happens to coagulate milk, unrelated to mammalian digestion.
Great read Trevor!
Did you notice or see the use of any other parts of thistle plants, or was always parts of flowers? Probably has to do with enzymatic abundance, something which also plays a big role in traditional brewing across Africa and elsewhere (https://www.beer-studies.com/en/Fundamentals/Six-brewing-pathways/Pathway-4-plants).
Great to see that the local knowledge about environments are still alive!
For cheese, it is the stamens of cardoon thistle, picked when purple. This is where the coagulating enzymes are, in concentration at least. Im hearing about folks planting it in many places for cheese, as the technique is spreading outside of the areas of traditional usage.
If they require winter rain for grass green-up, does this mean that the north side of Gran Canaria has a mediterranean climate, or do they get summer rains too? Are they able to make cheese in the dry season? My main question is really, whether or not they change their use of milk coagulants (ratios of types, quantities, etc) as the milk changes with the seasons? Or do the recipes and cheese making processes remain the same and the character of the cheeses vary with the seasons? Or both?
oh and one more side question. Are the reed racks used for aging the cheeses made of Canary reed? Is this the home, or at least namesake of the canary reed "Arunda," that we have filling riparian zones on the west coast of the US?
As always, thanks for your dedication to learning and sharing. May your flock always be full
Great Questions Aaron! It is a Mediterranean climate, and I believe they milk sheep and make cheese until July/August. I didn’t get a sense of if they shift the coagulants/types of cheese seasonally, I’m hoping to get more info On that. The reed racks…..they call it cane, and I definitely want to learn what it is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is Arunda. A downside of only visiting a short time is that by then time I think of these questions, I’m gone!
Really cool to hear the thistle causes coagulation in the animals stomach to make nutrients more accessible. Does eating the cheese have a similar effect on our guts?
I wrote that part poorly, I meant that the enzymes in mammals stomachs coagulate milk to allow nutrients to be extracted. Thistle just happens to coagulate milk, unrelated to mammalian digestion.
Fascinating as usual! Tell me, when is the Nat Geo feature coming?
I’m aiming to apply for these grants they offer. It would be so cool!