Menonite Cheese

We just got back from Mexico, where we had the BEST time at DH's parents house. It was fun, yet relaxing at the same time. One of the fun things we did this time was tour a Menonite cheese factory. The Menonites are Germans that live kind of like Amish, but in Mexico. They are actually slowly becoming more modernized. The colony we visited use cars and have rubber tires on their tractors.
Their cheese is pretty good. The factory smelled funny and kind of sour, but I didn't think it was too bad. (the kids didn't like the smell at all) It only takes about 2 days to complete the cheese, which is much faster than I thought. First they put fresh milk into a bin and add rennet to curdle the milk. It takes about 30 min. to curdle. The whey (watery liquid) then drains out and the curds settle together. They then slice this into chunks to put into the cutter. Then they cut the cheese. (hahahaha) Then they add salt and rake the chunks with a pitchfork thingy to distribute the salt. Then they put the salted cheese chunks into round containers that have been lined with cheesecloth. These containers then get stacked together sideways and pressed together. They remain pressed over night, and the excess liquid drains out. In the morning, they take the cheese rounds out of the containers and dip them into wax and then put them into the refrig. storage until they are shipped out and sold. Pretty cool!
I'll post more pictures and info about the trip later.