Experimental cookery

Cheese spreads. The term cheese spread may be applied to any pack- aged form of cheese that can be easily spread with a knife at ordinary room temperature. Templeton and Sommer name the types on the market as: (1) cream cheese, mixed with pickles, olives, etc., (2) processed cheese of such age and moisture content as to be "spready," and (3) processed cheese with concentrated whey or skim milk powder added and of such fat and moisture content that the mix will spread easily. They say that, since the composition is quite different from cheese, as defined for Food and Drug regulations, the product cannot be sold as cheese. Actually they are sold as food products under proprietary trade names. The desirable spreading qualities may be due to the moisture content or the fat content or both. The use of cheese in cooked products. All of the factors that affect the plasticity of the cheese when heated for blending, i.e., the degree of ripening, the acidity, and method of manufacture, also affect its blending properties with other ingredients in such dishes as rarebit, cheese souflSe, and macaroni and cheese. To these factors may be added the extent of drying. For the cut or grated surface of cheese may dry rather extensively. Hence, the protein in the surface area really needs soaking for hydration before it will blend with other ingredients, or it may entirely lose its plasticity. Cream cheese may be combined with eggs, sugar, etc., for cheese cake or REFERENCES 315 similar cooked dishes. But, in general, whether in its original state after curing, or processed, the Cheddar type is the cheese usually combined with cooked products. The cheese is combined with white sauce or eggs at low temperatures and by stirring. The temperature should be as low or lower than that used for blending, 40° to 50°C. often being preferable to 60° to 70°C. As the protein becomes plastic the fat exudes. Stirring aids in emulsifying this fat with white sauce and casein of the cheese. Cheese souffle. A colleague, Plagge, suggested a good method of com- bining the ingredients for cheese souffle. The beaten egg yolks were added to the white sauce before the grated cheese, because the addition of the egg 5^olks cooled the mixture to a greater extent before the cheese was added. However, another advantage of this order of mixing is that the egg yolk aids in emulsifying the fat of the cheese. For the same reason beating with a rotary egg beater as the cheese softens is a good method of blending the cheese with the white sauce, since it more efficiently divides the cheese, thus increasing the surface area for emulsification. Processed cheese usually combines particularly well with white sauce and egg yolk, because of its added water content and the emulsification of the fat. REFERENCES Babcock, C. J. The Whipping Quality of Cream. U. S. Dept. Agri. Bull. 1075 (1922). Barger, G., and Coyne, F. P. The Amino-Acid Methionine; Constitution and Synthesis. Biochemical J. 22: 1417 (1928). Brickner, V. The Zinc Content of Some Food Products. J. Biol. Chem. 38: 191 (1919). Browne, C. A. A Contribution to the Chemistry of Butter-Fat. I, The Physi- cal and Chemical Constants of Butter-Fat. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 21: 612 (1899). II. The Chemical Composition of Butter-Fat. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 21: 807 (1899). III. The Chemistry of Rancidity of Butter-Fat. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 21: 975 (1899).