The Milk
Here in Australia there is no way that I can easily source raw milk and raw milk is at the core of medieval cheese making. Regional raw milk is what gives a cheese its beginnings. The region defines its flavours, its bacterias and its processes.
I can not for a moment entertain the idea that I can source milk appropriate for each cheese (and I really don't think anyone expects me to either!). So much depends on the time of year that the animal is milked and the floral influence that that milk is under. Grass is turned into cheese via the machine that is 'cow'. What comes out is dependent on what goes in, and grasses, wild flowers etc etc all play a role in that end product.
That floral influence plays 'havoc' more than you might think. Just like the flowers that bees collect pollen from affect the flavour of the honey, so does the grazing material effect the milk. Regional plant varieties, alpine grasses versus seaside shrubbery each affects the raw milk that is produced. Like a lot of things, the specific influences we now label as say 'Gouda' only occur in that one small area.
Medieval cheese making is incredibly regional. Medieval towns who are renown for the cheese (Edam, Gouda, Cheddar, Derby) all have one thing that sells their cheese, the distinct flavour that that cheese is known for. In modern terms they are Region of Designated Origin. Much like what we knew as champagne is now known as sparkling wine, unless it is actually from the region of Champagne.
These days we also have concerns over such things as nasty bacteria and liver fluke. So we do things such as pasturise our milk to remove any of those issues (and apply certain standards to the storage and transportation of milk/products). And we do that to the point of regulating the immunizations and medications given to all livestock that produce milk. These modern controls give us safety, but they cost us access to raw milk (it is illegal to sell most raw milks in Australia for human consumption).
If I had easy access to raw milk I would want to see how much of an influence our modern processes have on milk and cheese products. I would split the amount of milk, pasturise half and then make exactly the same cheese using exactly the same recipe. This would tell me how much of an influence the modern process has. But even with access to raw milk I would be no more or less inclined to use it for making 'Gouda' over commercial bought milk. Raw milk here in Australia is not a suitable raw milk for making 'Gouda'. It is out of region.
And that leads me to say that raw milk can be awesome I am sure. But I do not want to make anyone tasting my cheese sick. So commercial milk with a modern recipe made under sanitary conditions will always trump following a medieval recipe using period appropriate tools with riskier sanitary conditions. I do try and meet in the middle, but I won't risk my consumers if I don't have to.
The Recipes
A modern recipe is a distinct, reliable and replicable way of getting certain results. Modern recipes are simply a way of getting the same answer again and again.
The one thing that a recipe does is allows me to use pretty much any milk and know what the outcome will be. This is very important as it takes away all the variability that milk throws into the mix.
Each known 'medieval' cheese is known for a flavour and texture. What these modern recipes allow anyone to do is replicate it in a way that you to can experience that cheese, regardless of the region you live in. It has taken the humble cheese global. :)
Where a medieval recipe effectively does the same thing as a modern one, the one thing that is missing from the medieval is the surety that at the end of the process what I will taste is what they would have tasted (or as similar as I can get). Because I do not have access to 'their' milk.
What am I trying to accomplish?
I guess in the end what I am trying to accomplish is medieval experience. I would like to taste the cheeses that those in medieval times tasted. I am hindered by lack of access to milk from the regions needed, so I do the next best thing and use a recipe and a packet of bacteria.
As for replicating processes from medieval to modern, as I said in my documentation for last years pentathlon, my equipment is modern, the process is not. So I am quite comfortable with the fact that I use a stainless steel pot and a gas cooktop, and not a ceramic or copper pot over a fire. Doesn't mean I am not going to try and use those things (hopefully at Festival!) but the overall process is the same regardless of the modernity. Some things just have not changed. :)
References:
Jeon, I. (l996) Undesirable flavors in dairy products, in _Food Taints_and Off- Flavours_ (M.J. Saxby, ed.) pp. 139-167.
Tunick, M (2014) The Science of Cheese, Oxford University Press, New York USA.
Mendelson, A (2008) Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages, Alfred A Knopf, New York USA.
Food Standards Australia, accessed November 2014,
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/primaryproduction/dairyraw/Pages/Questions-and-answers-about-P1022.aspx
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