Helping You Enjoy And Understand Cheese
CUTTING THROUGH THE JARGON TO GET TO THE CHEESE!
We Start With Milk
Cheese starts with a white liquid called milk. So without going into the extremely complicated chemistry of milk (OK I admit I am a chemist by training) here is all you need to know.
Milk is a mixture of a large number of nutrients which mammals use to feed their very young in the early stages of their lives. Making cheese is all about controlling and manipulating these ingredients to end up with cheese.
We use full cream organic milk for all our cheeses, from our own goats and from neighbours’ cows. The taste of the final cheese can vary slightly depending on the time of year, the pasture the animals have been feeding on, and how recently they have given birth – this affects the fat content.
(There are so called vegan cheeses, not made from milk, but these are really more of a pate – perfectly fine, but not cheese!)
Cultures
So, the first term we will explore is STARTER CULTURE. As the name suggests, STARTER CULTURES start the process of adjusting the makeup of the milk by increasing ingredients that will eventually play a part in the formation of the cheese while restricting unwanted ingredients.
The next term is RIPENING CULTURES. These are cultures added to some cheese (but not all) to produce a specific cheese type like Brie, the blue cheese family and others.
The choice of culture has an important effect on the way a cheese turns out. Over the years, we have selected the cultures that we prefer, and that work best with our high quality milk.
The Cheese Begins To Take Shape
COOAGULATION is the process whereby RENNET is added to milk to start a chemical (sorry!) process which leads to the milk separating into CURDS and WHEY. The CURDS are the mass which eventually solidifies and forms the young cheese. (We use vegetable rennet only – so our cheese is always vegetarian).
The WHEY is mainly water with some protein solids. WHEY is used in the making of certain cheese products like Ricotta and cottage cheese. Alternatively it is an excellent food for farm animals; a gallon of milk will produce nearly a gallon of whey. Our pigs love our whey.
SALT – always without iodine - is the final item added to the young cheese which is then ready for pressing. This process will reduce the whey content still further and firm up the cheese.
The Mould
Just about all hard cheeses, and some soft ones, are formed in a mould, usually for no more than a day or two to allow them to firm up and take on their shape. All cheeses that have been made for hundreds of years have their own particular mould size and shape.
The cheese when it comes out of the mould after being formed is now called a wheel. Of course, as a farmhouse producer we often scale down the size of the finished cheese – making 50lb wheels of cheese isn’t practical. Our cheese wheels vary in weight from two or three pounds to ten or twelve pounds.
Affinage – The Key To Great Cheese
The cheese is then ready for ripening. And here comes the next big word… AFFINAGE. This is the tender loving care the young cheese gets over the next weeks, months, and sometimes even years. This is the most important part of cheese making and it is an art form originally practiced by the French - hence the French name.
Affinage consists of turning, cleaning, occasionally salting or adding a coating of herbs, spices, or alcohol, and sometimes changing the temperature or the humidity of the environment. As you can imagine, temperature and humidity control are challenging in the tropics.
European cheese makers, of which there are tens of thousands based in little farms and villages all over Europe, control affinage with immense care and it is this which determines the quality of the flavor of the final cheese. It’s this attention to detail that has made European cheeses world famous.
And to indicate just how important this stage of the development of a cheese is, the job of caring for the cheeses during ripening is considered a highly specialized skill and he who has that responsibility is called an AFFINEURE. In French cuisine hierarchy the Affineur ranks only second to a chef.
Now For The Cheese Itself
Cheesemakers use a lot of terms, some familiar, and some not so much. When you are talking about cheese, it’s handy to know at least some of these words and what they mean.
The Rind
As cheeses ripen they naturally form an outer skin referred to as the RIND. A natural rind - and all our cheeses have natural rinds - is perfectly edible and in many cases actually enhances the flavor. You might occasionally see a little mold on the rind, and this is part of the natural aging process. It’s perfectly edible. Some commercially made cheeses have a wax coating which apart from looks serves no real purpose.
You will notice a white bloom which forms over the surface of Brie, Camembert and certain other cheeses. This is definitely to be eaten as part of the cheese. This bloom is often referred to as Neige (which of course is French for snow)
The Paste
This is the posh name for the texture of the solid cheese through the stages of its development. So a cheese might have a firm paste, a creamy paste, a crumbly paste – there are any number of ways to describe the paste.
Pairings - What Does Cheese Go with?
Over time certain cheese have become associated with various accompaniments. Stilton and port wine is one of the most famous pairings. Another famous combination is cheddar cheese with beer and pickled onions (the Ploughman’s Lunch). Spanish cheeses are often accompanied by guava paste. Some less familiar modern pairings include Chevre with baba ghanoush (eggplant dip), Roquefort with salted chocolate and Gouda with honeycomb.
Cheese does not have to be eaten with crackers or bread. It stands well on its own, or with more imaginative things. But if you do use crackers or bread, try to choose one that compliments the flavour and texture of your cheese.
How To Store Cheese
This is a very important subject and one which will make a big difference to the flavour and to your enjoyment of your cheese.
Generally speaking cheese should be stored in a fridge at around 45-50 F and brought to the table about 30 minutes before consumption to allow its flavour to develop.
If you are carrying cheese home, then try to keep it chilled if possible, In a cooler or against a block of ice in your shopping bag.
For longer term storage cheese should be kept ideally in a covered container, stoneware is ideal, but plastic will work. Cover cut surfaces with saran wrap/clingfilm or wax paper.
Please, NEVER freeze your cheese!
Most cheeses ripen from the inside out, but Brie, known as a surface ripened cheese ripens from the outside via the very familiar white mold. This mold is completely edible and should never be removed.
Cheese is most usually cut in wedges. To serve, always cut with the wedge, never across. This is just a matter of tradition and appearance.
How To Eat Cheese
Well, that’s easy enough, just dig in, right? Well, not necessarily.
If you are at a formal cheese tasting, with an assortment of cheese to try, it’s usual to start with the mildest flavoured ones first. Between cheeses, cleanse your palette with a slice of cucumber, or a sip of water. Your host will be your guide.
If you are in a less formal setting, for example at a party with a cheese board, try to follow the same kind of rule, but there is no need to be quite so strict.
If you are offered cheese as a final course in a restaurant, your server should indicate the order in which the cheeses can be best enjoyed.
© Copyright White Rock Farm Good Food