The Traditional Use Of Dairy Produce: Part 2 – Cheese
Basic Preparation Of Foods: Dairy Produce.
HARD AND SOFT CHEESES
Cheeses are made from milk which has been naturally or artificially soured. The former method is achieved by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, beneficial bacteria to convert the milk’s natural sugars into lactic acid. The second method is effected by adding an enzyme, usually 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 reproduced anywhere else: for example Roquefort and Edam, although factories do try. They even have some success, just think most of the world’s Cheddar cheese now derives from the USA and Canada.
The constituents of cheese are roughly: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the other 1%. These proportions do 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 should be considered as ‘concentrated milk’ and stored the same way.
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 cheesecloth in a cool, breezy place. If it is hot, dampen the cheesecloth with water to which a little vinegar has been added.
in Europe, cheese is frequently served with a salad or/and bread and is often presented after or instead of the dessert course. Hard cheese can be nigh-on impossible for children to digest and grating it first will make it more edible for them. After being grated the cheese can be scattered on vegetables or fish soups or sauces; combined with egg, pasta, rice and oatmeal dishes; put on baked potatoes or pastry; toasted on bread or put in sandwiches or salads.
How To Cook Cheese: A little known fact is that many people find cooked cheese indigestible and the reason lies in its 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 when melted, the fat frequently 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 in the following way:
1] Combining it with some starchy food, because the starch will absorb the fat, not allowing it to cover the protein.
2] Adding seasoning. Cayenne Pepper or mustard will irritate the intestinal lining, causing extra digestive juices to be released.
3] Cooking quickly at high temperature. This prevents the protein from becoming tough and stringy and therefore, harder to digest. Add cheese late to sauces.
4] Adding an alkali: for example, a generous pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 3 ozs (75g) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins easier to digest.
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