Vegan Non-Cheeses: Great Mature Non-Cheeses

Great Mature Non-Cheeses takes plant-based cheesemaking into the territory of noble moulds. No longer fresh cheeses to be eaten within days, but wheels that mature for weeks under the control of Penicillium candidum, Penicillium roqueforti and Geotrichum candidum.The book starts with the three protagonists: what each mould does, which curing-chamber parameters it works with, what visual signals it gives week by week, where to buy the starters and how to store them. A chapter on ferments and advanced cultures follows, covering the role of pH, coagulants, acidifiers and the order of inoculation, with dosages set out as a practical guide.Preparing the base takes a whole chapter, because that is where it is decided whether a wheel will mature or fall apart: composition, softening, blending, acidification, moulding with forms and cloths, draining, salting.Then the four families, each with its complete protocol. White rind in five phases, with turning and day-by-day checks. Blue-veined in six phases, with the piercing technique and the second piercing. Spice-affined wheels, with six production sheets. Leaf-affined wheels, from choosing and storing the leaves through to the wrapping technique and the leaf change.Each family closes with its own specific faults and the matching interventions, because a rind that will not take and a blue that will not develop are two different problems with two different answers.