Foods, their selection and preparation

Cheese-making has come to be an impor¬ tant industry, by means of which the nutri¬ ents of milk are stored in surplus producing seasons and areas and distributed to con¬ sumers in palatable and less perishable forms than fluid milk. Through scientific research, the amount of cheese has been increased and its quality improved to provide this stable source of milk nutrients, for both domestic and export markets. At the same time, progress has been made in the study of organ¬ isms and conditions of curing required for the production of special kinds formerly available only through import. The industry has demonstrated that many cheeses, which at one time were produced only in certain localities in Europe, can be made in the United States. VARIETIES OF CHEESE While there are more than 400 different kinds of cheese, there are only 18 or 20 dif¬ ferent basic varieties. These differ from one another in the kind of milk used, the amounts of fat and water retained in the curd, and the flavor and texture produced during ripening. While some cheeses are uncured, by far the most stable and, therefore, the most impor¬ tant in industry are the cured or ripened cheeses. During curing characteristic flavors are developed among and within varieties. To these, names of local origin were given, frequently the name of the town in which the cheese originated. On the basis of the differences mentioned above, cheeses are designated as cured (ripened) or uncured (unripened); high fat or low fat; soft, semihard, or hard; and mild or strong. These terms are used in describing the cheeses listed by their common names on pages 131 to 132. The most common types of hard cheese are Cheddar and Swiss (Emmenthaler). Both these are ripened by bacteria dis¬ tributed evenly throughout the curd and are cured in large forms of varying shapes and sizes. Cheddar cheese may have color added. Swiss cheese has no added color and has characteristic holes throughout, which are the result of gas formation dur¬ ing curing. Brick, Muenster, and Limburger are typical of the semihard cheeses; and cream (unripened), Brie, and Camembert of the soft types. The organisms causing ripening are applied on the surface and penetrate the mass during ripening. For this reason the soft cheeses are molded in small forms. In the United States, when the term cheese is used without qualification, it refers to Cheddar cheese, sometimes called Ameri¬ can or American Cheddar. Process Cheese. This is a pasteurized cheese made from blending one or more dif¬ ferent lots of cheese with the aid of heat, with or without the addition of water, and with not more than three per cent of a suit¬ able emulsifying agent. An unqualified process cheese means process Cheddar. It must contain not less than 60 per cent solids, half of which must be milk fat. Process cheese by a varietal name must conform to the limits of moisture and fat required for that variety. A cheese of uni¬ form quality, easily sliced and melted, re¬ sults from processing. The flavor of process cheese, however, is very mild. Process cheese is sold packaged in from one-fourth- pound to five-pound cakes. [127] Pineapple Limburger Roquefort EDAM — AMERICAN Cheddar Cheese Cream •Club or Snappy Cheese Swiss (LOAF) Parmesan club or Snappy cheese Cream Pimento AmerTcan Swiss Cottage U.S.D.A. Different Types of Cheeses, Showing Variety of Shapes