by Owen Jones
About The Basic Preparation Of Foodstuffs: Dairy Products.
CHEESE.
Cheese is made from milk which has been naturally or artificially soured. The former method is brought about by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, friendly bacteria to turn 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 put in too. The whey is then allowed to drain off and the curds are pressed into moulds where they are kept until 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, the breed of cow, sheep or other animal and the quality of its pasture and the type of bacteria all govern the end result.
Some local environmental conditions are unique and those areas are capable of producing cheeses that are not successfully copied anywhere else: for instance Roquefort and Camembert, although factories do attempt it. Some even have a measure of success: remember that most of the world’s Cheddar cheese now derives from the United States and Canada.
The constituents of cheese are roughly|typically|: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the other 1%. These proportions 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 while storing in water, as for milk, is not an option, a cool larder is ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in cheesecloth in a cool, airy place. If the weather is hot, dampen the cloth 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 not well known fact is that a lot of people find cooked cheese practically indigestible and the reason lies in its make-up. This 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 to be completed. 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 often covers the protein and stops 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 made more digestible in the following way:
1] Adding to or combining with starchy foods. 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 rapidly|quickly|briskly| at fairly high temperatures. This has the effect of preventing the protein from becoming tough and stringy and so, harder to digest. You could also add the cheese late to sauces.
4] Adding alkali: so, generous pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g (3 ozs) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins easier to digest.