Basic Preparation Of Foods: Dairy Produce.
CHEESE.
Cheese is made from milk which has been naturally or artificially soured. The former method is brought about by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, beneficial bacteria to turn the milk’s natural sugars into lactic acid. The latter method is effected by adding an enzyme, usually 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 conditions are unique and those areas produce cheeses that are not successfully copied anywhere else: cheeses like Gruyere and Edam, although factories do attempt it. They even have a measure of, just think most of the world’s Cheddar cheese now derives from the USA and Canada.
The constituents of cheese are typically: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the other 1%. These proportions vary from region to region as some producers use full-cream milk, others skimmed-milk and yet others add extra cream. Others add some extra sugar, although most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and should be considered as ‘concentrated milk’ and stored as such.
Many people say that cheese most not be kept in a fridge and although storing in water, as for milk, is not an option, a cool larder is definitely ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in cheesecloth in a cool, breezy place. If it is hot, dampen the cheesecloth with water to which a little vinegar has been added.
Cheese is often served in Europe with a salad or/and bread and is often dished up after or instead of the pudding. Hard cheese can be difficult for children to digest and grating it first will make it more edible for them. Having been grated the cheese can be scattered on vegetable 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 salads and sandwiches.
How To Cook Cheese: A not well known fact is that a lot of people find cooked cheese practically indigestible and the reason lies in its make-up. 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 to be completed. 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] Combining it with some starchy food, because 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 extra digestive juices to be released.
3] Cooking briskly. This has the effect of preventing the protein from becoming tough and stringy and therefore, harder to digest. You could also add the cheese late to sauces.
4] Adding alkali: so, large pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g (3 ozs) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins more easily digestible.
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