CHEESE

DEFINITION

Cheese is a fermented food derived from the milk of various mammals. Since humans began to domesticate milk-producing animals around 10,000 B.C., they have known about the propensity of milk to separate into curds and whey. As milk sours, it breaks down into curds, lumps of phosphoprotein, and whey, a watery, grey fluid that contains lactose, minerals, vitamins, and traces of fat. It is the curds that are used to make cheese, and practically every culture on Earth has developed its own methods, the only major exceptions being China and the ancient Americas.

HISTORY

• Most authorities consider that cheese was first made in the Middle East. The earliest type was a form of sour milk which came into being when it was discovered that domesticated animals could be milked. A legendary story has it that cheese was 'discovered' by an unknown Arab nomad. He is said to have filled a saddlebag with milk to sustain him on a journey across the desert by horse. After several hours riding he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find that the milk had separated into a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps. Because the saddlebag, which was made from the stomach of a young animal, contained a coagulating enzyme known as rennin, the milk had been effectively separated into curds and whey by the combination of the rennin, the hot sun and the galloping motions of the horse. The nomad, unconcerned with technical details, found the whey drinkable and the curds edible.
  

• Cheese was known to the ancient Sumerians four thousand years before the birth of Christ. The ancient Greeks credited Aristaeus, a son of Apollo and Cyrene, with its discovery; it is mentioned in the Old Testament.
  

• In the Roman era cheese really came into its own. Cheesemaking was done with skill and knowledge and reached a high standard. By this time the ripening process had been developed and it was known that various treatments and conditions under storage resulted in different flavours and characteristics.
  

• The larger Roman houses had a separate cheese kitchen, the caseale, and also special areas where cheese could be matured. In large towns home-made cheese could be taken to a special centre to be smoked. Cheese was served on the tables of the nobility and travelled to the far corners of the Roman Empire as a regular part of the rations of the legions.
  

• During the Middle Ages, monks became innovators and developers and it is to them we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today. During the Renaissance period cheese suffered a drop in popularity, being considered unhealthy, but it regained favour by the nineteenth century, the period that saw the start of the move from farm to factory production.
  
  

Cheese can be made from milk of various animals like

cows, sheep, goats, horses, camels, water buffalo, yak and reindeer or a combination of it.

Most cheese makers expedite the curdling process with rennet, lactic acid, or plant extracts, such as the .

In addition to milk and curdling agents, cheeses may contain various ingredients added to enhance flavor and color. The great cheeses of the world may acquire their flavor from the specific bacterial molds with which they have been inoculated, an example being the famous Penicillium roqueforti used to make France's Roquefort and England's Stilton. Cheeses may also be salted or dyed, usually with annatto, an orange coloring made from the pulp of a tropical tree, or carrot juice. They may be washed in brine or covered with ashes. Cheese makers who wish to avoid rennet may encourage the bacterial growth necessary to curdling by a number of odd methods. Some cheeses possess this bacteria because they are made from unpasteurized milk. Other cheeses, however, are reportedly made from milk in which dung or old leather have been dunked; still others acquire their bacteria from being buried in mud.

The unusual texture and flavor of processed cheese are obtained by combining several types of natural cheese and adding salt, milk-fat, cream, whey, water, vegetable oil, and other fillers. Processed cheese will also have preservatives, emulsifiers, gums, gelatin, thickeners, and sweeteners as ingredients. Most processed cheese and some natural cheeses are flavored with such ingredients as paprika, pepper, chives, onions, cumin, car-away seeds, jalapeño peppers, hazelnuts, raisins, mushrooms, sage, and bacon. Cheese can also be smoked to preserve it and give it a distinctive flavor.

STEPS OF CHEESE MAKING

Step 1—Setting:

All milk contains five basic components.Those components are water, lactose (or “milk sugar”), fat, protein and minerals.The protein in milk is of two types: casein and whey. Along with fat, casein makes up the bulk of the solid part of cheese, while whey is essentially the liquid left after the milk curdles.Some of casein’s amino acid chains strongly bind the mineral calcium phosphate (the main component of bones and teeth), which holds casein molecules together in larger spheres called micelles.The surface of the micelles is hydrophilic, or water-loving (this is why milk is white—the surface keeps the casein suspended in water).

Bacteria (either already swimming around in the milk or added to it) added to milk initiates production of lactic acid in milk which curdles the milk and enzymes derived from the stomach lining of milk-producing mammals and called rennet are added to the milk.vegetable rennet which is derived from certain strains of Fungi and Bacteria or vegetable rennet produced from wild artichokes, fig leaves, safflower, or melon. Today recombinant or genetically engineered pure chymosin derieved from micro organism is also available.The rennet shaves off the hydrophilic surface layer of the casein, causing the micelles to coagulate into what is called the curd.

Step 2—Cutting:

The curd is “cut” into smaller particles this expels liquid which is called whey the smaller the particle, the less water it holds, thus more whey is expelled from the curd. In large factories, huge vats of curdled milk are cut vertically using sharp, multi-bladed, wire knives reminiscent of oven racks. The same machine then agitates the curds and slices them horizontally.

Cutting can be done manually, the curds are cut both ways using a large, two-handled knife. Soft cheeses are cut into big chunks, while hard cheeses are cut into tiny chunks. (For cheddar, for instance, the space between the knives is about one-twentieth of an inch [half a centimeter].) After cutting, the curds may be heated to hasten the separation

Step 3—Cooking:

The curd is heated to cook at different temperatures depending on the desired texture and characterstics of the finished product, this expels more whey.

“For some cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano, they’re cooked to very high temperatures with considerable stirring for long periods of time,” Kindstedt said. “At the other extreme, some cheeses like brie, traditional brie, receive essentially no heating, no stirring, no cooking.”

Step 4—Draining:

Draining separates more whey from the curd, depending on how dry the final cheese is supposed to be.

Step 5—Knitting:

This step overlaps with draining; as the whey drains away, the curd particles come into contact with each other and stick into a bigger mass.

Step 6—Pressing:

Weight is applied to the cheese to give it its final shape and to squeeze out more whey, depending on the type of cheese of course.

Step 7—Salting:

Can be added by sprinkling or rubbing it on the cheese or by submerging the cheese in a salt brine; it continues to draw out whey.

Step 8—Special applications:

These can include applying specific environmental conditions such as humidity and temperature or physical manipulations like turning the cheese while it ages.

NAMES OF DIFFERENT CHEESES
Abbaye de Belloc Halloumi Abbaye de Citeaux Halloumy (Australian) Abbaye du Mont des Cats Haloumi-Style Cheese Abertam Harbourne Blue Abondance Havarti Acapella Heidi Gruyere Ackawi Hereford Hop Acorn Herrgardsost Adelost Herriot Farmhouse Affidelice au Chablis Herve Afuega'l Pitu Hipi Iti Airag Hubbardston Blue Cow Airedale Humboldt Fog Aisy Cendre Hushallsost Allgauer Emmentaler Iberico Alverca Idaho Goatster Ambert Idiazabal American Cheese Il Boschetto al Tartufo Ami du Chambertin Anejo Enchilado Isle of Mull Anneau du Vic-Bilh Jarlsberg Anthoriro Jermi Tortes Appenzell Jibneh Arabieh Aragon Jindi Brie Ardi Gasna Jubilee Blue Ardrahan
Juustoleipa Armenian String Kadchgall Aromes au Gene de Marc Asadero Kashta Asiago Kefalotyri Aubisque Pyrenees Kenafa Autun Kernhem Avaxtskyr Kervella Affine Baby Swiss Kikorangi Babybel