Domestic science (Clark, Cornell home economics)

Cheese is made by heating sweet milk and hardening or "coagulating" it with an acid or rennet into a curd. This is salted, and pressed into cheese. Cheese is very rich in proteid or nitrogenous food — 31.23%. Cheese is the most condensed form of nourishment, but in a raw state is often difficult to digest. Cheese often takes the place of meat. Used with macaroni the dish may form the principal food of a meal. As cheese is lacking in starch, it should be eaten with food containing starch — crackers and bread. Pupils or teachers bring samples of cheese from the grocer. Many varieties may be discussed and pupils can find out to which class of cheese these belong. Varieties of Cheeses — Whole Milk Cheese. Gloucester cheese is a hard cheese which contains much fat and is good for cooking, especially for Welsh rabbit. Single Gloucester contains only half the cream of the milk. Other varieties include American cheese; Cheddar, a cheese of a nutty delicious flavor; Dunlop; Cheshire, which looks like Cheddar but is stronger; and Stilton, a choice rich cheese, pale-colored, marked with greenish veins. Parmesan is a skimmed-milk cheese and has a sweet flavor due to fine pasturage on the banks of the river Po. It contains much casein and is a dry cheese. Gruyere is Swiss cheese. Cream Cheeses. In Edam cheese, the acid is used for curdling, and the outside is colored red. Neufchatel is a rich creamy white cheese. Brie is soft salted French cheese covered with a white mould and then blue or red mould. These moulds come from bacteria in strainers which are never washed. Camembert is a small yellowish cheese covered with a blue mould and white mould. Roquefort is a famous French cheese made from ewe's milk. It is made in layers between which are sometimes sprinkled crumbs of brown bread which have been allowed to develop a species of fungus growth. It is ripened in caves of 41° F. Holes are pierced in the cheese to admit air. Adulterations. Lard, potato, bean-meal, copper sulphate, coloring matter, saffron, are added. Composition. Water 30%, proteid 30, fat 35, salts 5. Nutritive value. Cheese gives a large amount of nourishment in small bulk. Cheese is apt to be indigestible, especially in skim-milk forms, but for men working vigorously in the open air, it is a serviceable diet. It requires thorough mastication to make it digestible. It is more digestible when slightly cooked than when raw. When overcooked it becomes tough and leathery. It is more digestible, when cooked, if a little bi-carbonate of soda is added. Average cheese digests in from 3|- to 4 hours. Cheese CHEESE 61 contains all elements needed in the body except carbohydrates. Cottage Cheese. 1 qt. sour milk, J tsp. salt, 2^ tbsp. butter, sufficient cream to make cheese moist as liked. Method. Set pan containing milk on back of the stove and heat, or set pan in another pan of hot water. When the curd separates from the whey, drain through a cloth. Squeeze the curd in the cloth until quite dry. Place this in a bowl and mix into a paste with the butter, cream and salt. Serve in small balls or lightly piled on a dish. Cottage cheese is quickly made and is a favorite dish for a luncheon. Cheese Straws. Cheese straws are often served with a salad course. Make a plain or puff paste, same as for a pie. Mix grated cheese with a few grains of cayenne and salt. Roll the paste about one-fourth inch thick and spread one-half of it with the cheese mixture; fold, pressing edges firmly together, fold again and roll out same thickness. Spread with cheese again and roll again. Do this twice. Then cut in strips four and a half inches long and about one-fourth inch wide. Bake ten minutes in quick oven. Serve. Cheesed Crackers. These will be nice for the school luncheon, as they are so easily prepared and take very little time.