About The Basic Preparation Of Foodstuffs: Dairy Products.
CHEESES
Cheeses are manufactured 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, beneficial bacteria to convert the milk’s natural sugars into lactic acid. The second method is effected by adding an agent, usually rennet.
Salt and colouring and frequently put in too. The whey is then allowed to drain away and the curds are pressed into moulds where they are kept until ripened or cured. Some cheeses, usually hard ones, are subjected to pressure; soft cheeses are not. Curds are ripened or cured by various means. The way it’s done, the quality of the milk, the breed of cow, sheep or other animal and its pasture, and the type of bacteria all govern the end result.
Some local conditions are unique and those areas produce cheeses that are not successfully copied 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 comes from the USA 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 producers use full-cream milk, others skimmed-milk and yet others add extra cream. Some add extra sugar, most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and may be considered ‘concentrated milk’ and stored as such.
Many people say that cheese must not be kept in a fridge and although storing in water, as for milk, is not a viable option, a cool larder is certainly ideal. Try the traditional method of suspending it from a hook in muslin in a cool, breezy place. If it is hot, moisten 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 has a high fat and protein content, but when melted, the fat frequently covers the protein and stops the digestive juices reaching it in the stomach. This results in, its digestion is delayed until the fat has been absorbed by the intestines. Cheese can be made more digestible in the following way:
a] Combining it with some starchy foodstuff, since 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 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 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.
If you would like to learn more about food in general or Traditional Welsh Recipes in particular, please visit http://welsh-recipes.the-real-way.com/ This article, The Traditional Use Of Dairy Produce: Part 2 – Cheese has free reprint rights.
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