The Basic Preparation Food: Dairy Products.
HARD AND SOFT 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, friendly bacteria to turn the milk’s natural sugars into lactic acid. The second method is effected by adding an enzyme, usually in to form of 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 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 constituent parts 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 area to area as some manufacturers use full cream milk, others skimmed milk and yet others add extra cream. Yet others add extra sugar, although most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and can be considered ‘concentrated milk’ and stored in 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 a viable option, a cool larder is definitely ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in cheesecloth in a cool, breezy place. If the weather is hot, dampen the muslin 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 little known fact is that a lot of people find cooked cheese indigestible. The reason lies in its molecular structure. 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. 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:
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 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. A large pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins more easily digestible.
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