–Gaby Montejo, sculptor/performance artist
Ingredients:
Four litres milk
¼ cup cider vinegar
Sterilize a thermometer, ladle, pot, colander, and cheesecloth.
Slowly heat the milk in a pot over 30 minutes until it reaches 80C (180F)
Stir frequently so that it does not burn on the bottom.
Hold the temp stable for 10 minutes.
Then slowly stir in the vinegar until the milk acidifies (turns into curd).
If this still does not happen, raise the temp 5-10 degrees more and hold for 10 min before adding another dose of ¼ cup vinegar to curdle the milk.
Line the cheesecloth over the colander over a basin and pour in the curds.
Tie up the cloth into a sack and hang to let drip for a couple hours until the cheese is stiff and dry.
Turn out the lump onto a plate and serve with chutney, crackers, & salami.
Note: Instead of cheesecloth, this mould form can be anything of your choosing as long as it has little holes in it to allow the whey to drain out (i.e. perforated acrylic sheet or metallic insect netting).
Store covered in fridge for up to 7 days
Coming from a family of Cuban refugees, J. Gabriel Montejo “Gaby”, began his art studies in Miami, then graduated with dual honors degrees in Sculpture and Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has attended numerous artist residencies including the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico, Anderson Ranch in Colorado and the Millay Colony in New York. Thanks to a generous fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, he was able to obtain a Masters degree from Sydney College of the Arts in Australia and later immigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand. After teaching art for many years, he now manages the workshop at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts.
Gaby often uses food, along with a wide range of other materials and methods, in his work. A recent exhibition at ABC Gallery in Christchurch, NZ included a performance during which Montejo navigated the space of the gallery wearing a modified bicycle contraption and a diaper filled with cheese.
