Friday, February 12, 2010

Cheesemaking: Brother Laurent

Brother Laurent cheeses are washed in a brine that helps them form a fragrant, orange-colored rind. It is an incredibly messy and labor-intensive process. Wash too frequently or too wet, and the cheeses dissolve. Wash infrequently, and other molds take hold that ruin the cheese.

After losing many batches, no one has been allowed to touch these cheeses (except me) during the critical stages. In my experience, washing is something that you get a feel for, not something that can be done strictly by a schedule or instruction alone.

In any event, it's much better all around that when a batch of BL fails, there is no one to blame but myself.