The Basic Preparation Food: Dairy Products.
HARD AND SOFT CHEESES
Cheese is made from milk which has been naturally or artificially turned sour. The first method is achieved by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, friendly bacteria to convert the milk’s natural sugars into lactic acid. The latter method is effected by adding an enzyme, usually in to form of rennet.
Colouring and salt are usually added too. The whey is then drained off and the curds are pressed into moulds where they are ripened or cured. Some cheeses are subjected to pressure; soft cheeses are not. Curds are ripened or cured by a variety of means. The method, the quality of the milk and its pasture, the breed of cow, sheep or other animal and the type of bacteria all govern the final product.
Some local conditions are unique and those areas produce cheeses that are not successfully replicated elsewhere: for example Gruyere and Edam, although factories do try. Some even have some success, as most of the world’s Cheddar cheese now comes from the United States and Canada.
The constituents of cheese are typically: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the rest. These percentages vary from region to region as some manufacturers use full-cream milk, others skimmed-milk and yet others add extra cream. Others add some extra sugar, although most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and may be considered as ‘concentrated milk’ and stored as such.
Many people say that cheese should not be kept in a fridge and although storing in water, as for milk, is not an option, a cool larder is definitely ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in muslin in a cool, airy place. If the weather is hot, dampen the cheesecloth with water to which a little vinegar has been added.
Cheese is typically served in Europe with a salad or/and bread and is often served after or instead of the sweet course. Hard cheese can be difficult for children to digest and grating it first will make it more palatable to them. Once grated the cheese can be sprinkled on vegetable or fish soups or sauces; added to egg, pasta, rice and oatmeal dishes; put on baked potatoes or pastry; toasted on bread or put in salads and sandwiches.
How To Cook Cheese: A little known fact is that many people find cooked cheese indigestible. The reason lies in its molecular structure. Here is why: cooked starch can be digested by the saliva in the mouth but other foods must pass to the stomach or intestines for this process. They are, however, broken up in the mouth. Digestion of protein begins in the stomach and is completed in the small intestine, while fat is not rendered soluble until it reaches the small intestine.
Cheese possesses a high fat and protein mixture, but in melting, the fat often covers the protein and prevents the digestive juices reaching it in the stomach. Therefore, its digestion is delayed until the fat has been absorbed in the intestines. Cheese can be rendered more digestible by:
1] Combining it with some starchy food, because the starch will absorb the fat, not allowing it to cover the protein.
2] Using seasoning: Cayenne Pepper or mustard will irritate the intestinal lining, causing the release of extra digestive juices.
3] Cooking rapidly at high temperature. This stops the protein from becoming tough and stringy and so, harder to digest or you could add cheese to sauces late in the process.
4] Adding alkali: so, large pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g (3 ozs) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins easier to digest.
If you would like to read more about Welsh food, food in general or how to use cheese in particular, just go over to Traditional Welsh Recipes