Sage Cheese

Filed Under: Culinary Herbs

Make your own delicious sage cheese!

A delicious homemade sage cheese recipe from Walsh’s Manual of Domestic Economy, 1857, as quoted in Grieve’s A Modern Herbal. First-time cheese makers are encouraged to consult a cheesemaking manual before attempting this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

  • The fresh tops of young red sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’)
  • Fresh spinach leaves
  • Rennet
  • Milk
  • Salt

PROCEDURE

  1. “Bruise [crush] the [finely chopped] tops of young red Sage in a mortar with some [finely chopped' leaves of spinach and squeeze [out] the juice;”
  2. “mix [the juice] with the rennet in the milk, more or less, according to the preferred colour and taste.”
  3. “When the curd is come, break it gently and put it in with the skimmer till it is pressed two inches above the vat. Press it 8 or 10 hours.”
  4. “Salt it and turn every day.”

SOURCE FOR THIS RECIPE

Grieve, Mrs. M. A Modern Herbal In Two Volumes: Volume II, I-Z. (New York: Dover Publications, 1971. ISBN 0-486-22799-5.)