It’s also possible that the First Quarto version of Hamlet might be a combination of Kyd’s work and Shakespeare’s, or a draft from the time when Shakespeare was turning Kyd’s work into the play we now know. But this is only conjecture, building theories with few facts.
No matter how many similarities there are between the various adaptations of the central story, it is indisputable that it was Shakespeare’s work that became an instant hit, and has remained so through all the centuries since it was first played. Even when the theatres were closed by the Puritans in Cromwell’s England between 1642 and 1660, versions of Hamlet were still performed in taverns and inns. And it was one of the first great theatrical successes once the theatres were allowed to open again.
CHEESE
The cheeses in this book are only as real as the characters and places; in other words, I have made them up. But they do obey the rules of real cheeses made from cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk, with thousands of permutations depending on the season, what sort of grass or other fodder the animals have eaten, how the cheeses have been made and stored or aged, and what other ingredients have been added. As my Ophelia would well know, a cheese from the same cow’s milk can vary enormously if made by a different person, or by the same person and using the same recipe but at a different time of year when the grass is drier or sweeter or more lush, or when the cow’s offspring are very young, or later in their lactation when they are older.
In Shakespeare’s time, every region, even most farmhouses, had their own particular cheeses, most of them known only as far away as the next village. They were often called after the women who made them, or who had invented them; or given picturesque names, like Wette Willie, to raise a smile in winter. The names would not have been recorded, which is why this book has its own cheeses, not the ones that are made today.
In cold climates, and before the days of refrigeration and canning, a household’s survival depended on its stocks of salted or smoked meat, dried or smoked fish, dried fruits, sacks of flour, barrels of salted or fermented or clarified butter, and, most of all, cheese. Cheese was women’s work, and women’s wealth too. In many northern countries, if a woman was divorced by her husband, she took the household’s cheeses with her when she left. Waxing, soaking in brine, rolling in dried leaves or wood ash, and the development of hard rinds were all ways to keep cheeses through the winter and early spring months, till the grass grew again, and the cows, sheep and goats gave birth and began producing milk once more. These kinds of cheeses are delicious, but they were born from desperation and the need to survive when snow covered the earth and nothing grew.
It’s easy to make cheese. It’s also easy to make a cheese that will last over winter. It’s harder to make a good cheese, and even more difficult to make a superbly delicious one. If you wish to make cheese properly, buy a book on the subject, seek out the correct ‘starters’ and, if possible, do an apprenticeship with a good cheese-maker. More and more good artisan cheese-makers offer weekend workshops in cheese-making, and you can choose the types of cheeses you want to tackle first. But beware: cheese-making can become a totally absorbing hobby. Even your first attempts will probably be better than the ‘rat trap’ cheese sold in sweaty plastic in the supermarket.
WARNING: All cheese can contain listeria or bacteria or moulds that can give you food poisoning. Do not experiment with home-made cheese if you’re pregnant, or have low immunity. Don’t eat commercial soft cheeses either.
Fresh or ‘green’ cheese
Fresh or ‘green’ cheeses, such as cottage cheese and cream cheese, only take a few minutes to make. They’re very adaptable — try them with fruit for lunch; on bread or biscuits; crumbled over steamed vegetables; or with a spoonful of jam and fresh cream for dessert.
Their flavour will vary with the season; as all food should vary, rather than being a year-long predictable harvest from the fridge.
Cottage cheese
This gets its name because it was so easily and quickly made in any cottage and needs no particular skill or equipment. Full cream milk is best, but a thinner cottage cheese can be made from most milks. Though if your first attempt is too thin and watery, try a better quality milk. (I have only made this with fresh cow’s milk.)
Gently heat two litres of milk so it feels neither hot nor cold to your wrist. (Don’t use your fingers to test the temperature as they may be calloused and so not as sensitive.) Add half a junket tablet (from the supermarket), or half a cup of lemon juice, or half a cup of puréed sour sorrel (the latter makes a bitter, pale green cheese). Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place till the milk goes lumpy — about twenty-four hours or longer. Line a sieve or colander with a clean tea towel, pour in the lumpy milk and allow the whey (the clear runny residue of cheese-making) to drain off. This will take about another twenty-four hours. You’ll be left with thick white curds — the cottage cheese. The cheese is now ready to eat.
You can add salt if you like, but cottage cheese is naturally quite salty. Chopped fresh herbs and freshly ground black pepper are a good addition.
Cream cheese
This cheese is very smooth and can be used instead of butter.
Simmer half a litre of cream for five minutes. Leave the cream to get cold, then whip it well. When it’s thick, turn it into a clean tea towel and hang it overnight, or for two to three days and nights. The watery whey will drip out. Be careful — whey is sticky and messy. I usually hang ours over a shower or bath so the mess is easily washed away. Do not do this in hot weather, unless your bathroom is air-conditioned or very cool.
When you unwrap the cheese, it will be roundish and thick enough to slice, though it will crumble a bit.
Variations: I sometimes add four tablespoons of Cointreau, one tablespoon of grated orange zest and four tablespoons of caster sugar to the cream before whipping it. This makes a superb dessert — by itself, with raspberries, or with more fresh thick cream.
You can also add chopped walnuts, grated lemon zest, vanilla or orange or rosewater or kirsch.
Farmer’s baked cheese
Whip two cups of cream cheese with one cup of thick fresh cream and three eggs. Add sugar and flavouring to taste: try the orange flavouring above, or a little vanilla, or add sour cream instead of sweet cream mixed with grated lemon zest.
Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for about an hour or two, until firm. Eat hot or cold, with more cream, fruit and ice-cream.
Fresh-milk cheese
This isn’t a cottage cheese or cream cheese; it’s simply a fresh cheese made with milk and no cream, so it has a lower fat content.
Fill a bowl with milk, and leave it for two days at room temperature. (This assumes your room is a comfortable temperature. If it’s very warm, keep the milk in a cool cupboard or pantry.) The milk should thicken slightly without going bad. You can hasten this process by adding a junket tablet, but there’s no need if you have patience.
Pour the milk into a cloth — I use a clean tea towel, doubled over — and hang it in a cool place, like over the bath, till the liquid has run out and the cheese is firm.
Serve with fresh fruit, fresh fruit purée, cream or sugar.
Hard cheese
Take a large bowl of milk and leave it out overnight. Next morning, warm the milk to blood heat, so it feels neither hot nor cold to the inside of your wrist.
Stir the milk well, add a little rennet (an enzyme found in the lining of a calf’s stomach, usually dried; available from the supermarket), or half a junket tablet, or a commercial cheese ‘starter’, which will give by far the best results. Stir, and leave it in a warm place till it sets like custard.
Cut the curd gently with a sharp knife into tiny squares, then keep slicing till they almost mix together again. Now heat slowly to 38 degrees Celsius (about blood heat), occasionally stirring gently. Try to keep the curds at this temperature for about an hour, either in the oven at its lowest possible heat, or at the side of a wood-burning stove, or wrapped in a blanket.
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Now ladle the curds into a clean tea towel inside a sieve, so the watery whey can drain off. This may take a night or two.
Press the now firm curds into a round, wrap it in several tea towels pre-soaked in salt and water, and dry it.
Put the wrapped cheese on a wire tray or sieve, press it flat in its tea towels, then put a weight on top to force out even more moisture. This weight should be as heavy as you can manage — a couple of bricks covered in a clean tea towel are excellent.
After two hours, turn the cheese over and put the weight on the other side.
Repeat this turning process for at least a fortnight.
Unwrap your cheese. If it looks and smells good — not rotten or mouldy — coat it in a salt crust, wax or a combination of butter and melted paraffin. Leave it in a cool place for three months, and turn it every day.
This type of cheese can be eaten fresh, but it won’t be ripe. I prefer cheese that’s three weeks or so old — it’s milder and soapier. Of course, you can leave the cheese for much longer than three months, and the taste will be stronger and richer.
A good cheese can be stored for years or decades and may get better with time, but you need to know how to turn it, store it and age it, as well as possibly covering it with wax or salt. Making a mature cheese is an art and a skill.
If you want a very yellow cheese, add a few calendula petals when first pressing.
Clotted cream
This is the cream that should accompany a Devonshire tea. It’s far superior to whipped cream and lasts much longer, whether in the fridge or out of it.
Heat non-homogenised milk to just below boiling point — just too hot to touch. Leave overnight at room temperature, or near a heater in cold weather, in a covered bowl.
The next morning, skim off the cream. It will be almost thick enough to slice, a bit like solid silk. And delicious.
Clotted cream can be used with the methods above to make a superb cream cheese.
Try either clotted cream or cream cheese with fresh raspberries or strawberries, the small ones with flavour, that Shakespeare knew. The Ophelia of this book would not have approved of supermarket varieties.
About the Author
Jackie French is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator, the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014–2015 and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors and writes across all genres — from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction. ‘Share a Story’ is the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term as Laureate.
You can visit Jackie’s website at:
www.jackiefrench.com
Titles by Jackie French
Historical
Somewhere Around the Corner • Dancing with Ben Hall
Daughter of the Regiment • Soldier on the Hill • Hitler’s Daughter
Lady Dance • How the Finnegans Saved the Ship
The White Ship • Valley of Gold • Tom Appleby, Convict Boy
They Came on Viking Ships • Macbeth and Son • Pharaoh
A Rose for the Anzac Boys • The Night They Stormed Eureka
Oracle • Nanberry: Black Brother White • Pennies for Hitler
I am Juliet • To Love a Sunburnt Country
Ophelia: Queen of Denmark
Fiction
Rain Stones • Walking the Boundaries • The Secret Beach
Summerland • A Wombat Named Bosco • Beyond the Boundaries
The Warrior: The Story of a Wombat
The Book of Unicorns • Tajore Arkle
Missing You, Love Sara • Dark Wind Blowing
Ride the Wild Wind: The Golden Pony and Other Stories
Refuge • The Book of Horses and Unicorns
Non-Fiction
Seasons of Content • How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri
Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me into a Writer
How to Guzzle Your Garden • The Book of Challenges
Stamp, Stomp, Whomp • The Fascinating History of Your Lunch
Big Burps, Bare Bums and Other Bad-Mannered Blunders
To the Moon and Back • Rocket Your Child into Reading
The Secret World of Wombats
How High Can a Kangaroo Hop? • A Year in the Valley
Let the Land Speak: How the Land Created Our Nation
I Spy a Great Reader
The Animal Stars Series
The Goat Who Sailed the World • The Dog Who Loved a Queen
The Camel Who Crossed Australia
The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded
The Horse Who Bit a Bushranger
Dingo: The Dog Who Conquered a Continent
The Matilda Saga
1. A Waltz for Matilda • 2. The Girl from Snowy River
3. The Road to Gundagai
The Secret Histories Series
Birrung the Secret Friend
Outlands Trilogy
In the Blood • Blood Moon • Flesh and Blood
School for Heroes Series
Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior • Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs
Wacky Families Series
1. My Dog the Dinosaur • 2. My Mum the Pirate
3. My Dad the Dragon • 4. My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome
5. My Uncle Wal the Werewolf • 6. My Gran the Gorilla
7. My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken • 8. My Pa the Polar Bear
Phredde Series
1. A Phaery Named Phredde
2. Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce
3. Phredde and the Zombie Librarian
4. Phredde and the Temple of Gloom
5. Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian
6. Phredde and the Purple Pyramid
7. Phredde and the Vampire Footy Team
8. Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants
Picture Books
Diary of a Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
Pete the Sheep (with Bruce Whatley)
Josephine Wants to Dance (with Bruce Whatley)
The Shaggy Gully Times (with Bruce Whatley)
Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip (with Bruce Whatley)
Baby Wombat’s Week (with Bruce Whatley)
The Tomorrow Book (with Sue deGennaro)
Queen Victoria’s Underpants (with Bruce Whatley)
Christmas Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)
A Day to Remember (with Mark Wilson)
Queen Victoria’s Christmas (with Bruce Whatley)
Dinosaurs Love Cheese (with Nina Rycroft)
Wombat Goes to School (with Bruce Whatley)
The Hairy-Nosed Wombats Find a New Home (with Sue deGennaro)
Good Dog Hank (with Nina Rycroft)
The Beach They Called Gallipoli (with Bruce Whatley)
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2015
This edition published in 2015
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Jackie French and E French 2015
The right of Jackie French to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
French, Jackie, author.
Ophelia: queen of Denmark / Jackie French.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 9852 4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978 1 4607 0192 8 (ePub)
For ages 10+
Ophelia (Fictitious character)—Juvenile fiction.
A823.3
Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images: Woman © Ayal Ardon / Arcangel Images; all other images by shutterstock.com
Author photograph by Kelly Sturgiss
Ophelia Page 20
