Types and varieties of cheese

According to archaeologists, hard cheese as a product appeared about three thousand years BC on the Arabian Peninsula.These findings are based on the results of radioisotope analysis of dry cheese tops, which were found during excavations of ancient cities and Bedouin sites on the Arabian Peninsula, in Armenia and inside the pyramids of ancient Egypt. About three thousand years ago, the Bedouins brought hard cheese from the Arabian Peninsula to Georgia. From that moment on, it quickly spread to Kievan Rus, ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, Syria, Western Europe and other states.

The appearance of hard cheese is shrouded in legends. According to one of them, one Arabian merchant Kanan regularly traveled with a caravan of camels loaded with spices, silks and clothes through the Arabian desert. His wife, gathering her husband on a long journey, baked flat cakes of unleavened dough and poured water and camel's milk with sour cream into the skins. One day, after a multi-kilometer transition under the scorching sun, Kanan decided to have a snack in the shade of an oasis. In a wineskin with camel milk, he unexpectedly found a muddy whey and a dense white lump on the bottom with a sour odor, which he did not eat.

The stocks of lozenges that Kanan took with him on the road are almost over. Feeling hungry after a hot, tiring journey, Kanan decided to try a white clot at the bottom of a waterskin. The new product turned out to be very pleasant to the taste, for a long time it quenched the hunger, one small piece was enough for the whole day, it did not spoil even after a multi-day hike in the hot desert. So explains the origin of the cheese ancient legend.

The young shepherd grazed the camels and, going home, forgot in the cave bread with cottage cheese, which he always took with him for lunch. Remembering this, he returned to the cave a few weeks later. Instead of bread, he found stale rye rusk, instead of cottage cheese - a white lump covered with mold. The youth liked the aroma and taste of the cheese lump, he decided to make it at home. He took the prepared product to the neighbors for tasting. Among them were cheese makers who improved the recipe. Soon the gourmets of the whole world learned about it. This legend explains the origin of blue cheese.

According to historians, the process of obtaining cheese from milk under the influence of rennet was accidentally opened in the East. The merchants and warriors, going on a long journey through the Arabian desert, took a waterskin with spring water and a waterskin with fresh milk. For the manufacture of skins used sheep's stomach. Under the action of rennet enzymes of the gastric juice, which the skin of a skins was released, heated by a bright sun, the milk poured into it curled and turned into cottage cheese.

Cheese is a protein product that resembles a living being in its composition. Lactic acid and acidophilic bacteria and molds absorb oxygen and break down milk sugar and albumin to form lactic acid, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and water. Microbiologists call this coexistence of fungi, mold and bacteria a symbiosis. In the process of ripening, the oxidation of milk sugar occurs, the chemical composition of the cheese, its smell, color and taste are changed.

For many centuries, its cooking technology has changed little. It is obtained by fermenting a milk mixture with lactic acid or acidophilic bacteria, rennet, hydrolyzed with penicillin mold. After the end of the ripening process until the moment of serving, he “continues to live his life”. It continuously processes lactic fermentation and fermentation. It contains large amounts of calcium D3, milk sugar or lactose, protein, vitamins and enzymes.

For its manufacture uses whole or skimmed milk, buttermilk, whey, lactose and combined mixtures of the original substances. To prevent viruses, pathogenic bacteria and mold from entering the milk mixture, it is pasteurized by heating to 60-80 ° C for 30-60 minutes. The main varieties of cheese are made from the milk of cows, goats, mares, camels.Delicacies made from yak and reindeer milk are very rare.

At the moment, several thousand varieties of cheese are presented in the sales assortment. To stimulate demand for their products, manufacturers cunning - they call the well-known variety with a new additive a different name. Since there is still no single classifier in cheese making, without experts and chemical analysis of appearance, taste and smell, it is very difficult to draw the right conclusions.

The range of cheeses produced is so diverse that even a sophisticated gourmet sometimes finds it difficult to determine a particular variety by appearance, smell or taste.

According to the manufacturing technology they are:

• soft;
• solid;
• smoked;
• semi-solid;
• fused

Hardness distinguish cheese:

• fresh;
• soft;
• solid;
• semi-hard threaded;
• solid threaded.

Norwegian cheesemakers from the variety of species emit:

• fresh;
• with white mold;
• with washed crust;
• with blue mold;
• pressed;
• cooked-pressed;
• serum;
• albumin;
• processed or fused;
• Deutsch;
• Norwegian brown;
• blue with penicillin mold.

According to the method of cooking cheesemakers distinguish the following types:

• grating;
• cottage cheese;
• from cottage cheese unripe.

According to the method of production are divided:

• solid;
• soft;
• brine.

Real gourmets especially appreciate lightly salted cheese. It is used as a snack instead of dried fish, for preparing savory salads, pizza, toppings for pies. Fans of culinary experiments in order to impart specific taste and aroma to lightly salted cheese add flavoring seasonings, a small amount of sea salt, exotic fruits, dried kelp, greens - cilantro, parsley, celery, dill, garlic.

Sweet lovers and small children from the whole variety of varieties are very fond of sweet cheese for desserts, which is popularly called the curd mass. It can be made at home from fresh farm milk, homemade sour cream, steamed raisins, sugar or powdered sugar, dried apricots, strawberries, cherries, pineapple pulp and papaya.

Recently, dried cheese has become very popular, cheese sticks, dry curd sourdough are made from it, it is included as an ingredient in the sausage of SK Salami. At room temperature and low humidity in dried form, it retains its nutritional properties indefinitely. Dishes with the addition of this product are included in the menu of seafarers, gourmets, cosmonauts, fans of extreme sports, polar explorers, tourists.

After filling the dry rennet and heating the milk mixture is divided into serum and protein clot. Experts call it "young cheese". Loose, with a pronounced sour taste, high moisture content and characteristic odor, it is, from the point of view of an ordinary person, more like sour curd than hard cheese.

Salted cheese is prepared at home from whole milk, kefir or sour cream and salt. This very tasty fermented milk product can be cooked for 5-6 hours even by an inexperienced person who is familiar with cooking only from ready-made dishes at the dinner table or from recipes. It is pleasant to the taste, nutritious, perfectly quenches hunger and thirst. Cooked from inexpensive products at home, it serves as a full-fledged substitute for cheese in a Caesar salad. Its savory taste goes well with Oriental dishes.

Homemade unsalted cheese can be used as a separate dish. From the point of view of modern medicine, it is a source of natural calcium D3, lactose, essential amino acids and some useful elements from the periodic table. From the point of view of the cook, this is an excellent semi-finished product for preparing many culinary masterpieces. From the point of view of the consumer, it is a very tasty and healthy product.

Even among the gurus in the field of fermented milk products there is no systematic approach to the classification of hard cheese. This is clearly seen in the example of cheese — a delicious dessert cheese known to everyone. Producers in central Russia add basil and dill to the dairy mix, paprika in Armenia, garlic and cilantro in Georgia, and sea salt in Azerbaijan. These additives not only improve the taste of cheese, they create an unforgettable impression on guests and tourists. From the point of view of the consumer, cheese with garlic and cheese with sea salt are completely different varieties of cheese, from the point of view of the manufacturer, these are two varieties of the same variety.

Melted cheese is obtained from substandard rennet cheeses, cottage cheese, butter and vegetable oil, other dairy products with the addition of emulsifiers or melters and spices. Let out such grades of a processed cheese:

• single;
• sausage;
• pasty;
• with paprika;
• with dill;
• sweet;
• chocolate.

Vendors divide the variety of cheeses into five categories:

• fresh - white, with a slightly sour taste (Feta, cheese, Mozzarella);
• soft cheeses - have the taste of fat cream with mushroom smell (Camembert);
• semi hard cheeses - dense, yellow color, with taste of baked cream (Gouda, Edam);
• hard cheeses - very dense, slightly sweetish taste (Maasdam, Parmesan);
• blue mold - streaks of a penicillin mold of a blue or greenish shade, with sharp taste (Dor Blue).

Rennet cheeses have gained the greatest popularity and deserved respect. Rennet of natural origin (pepsin, renin, chymosin) for its production for a long time was obtained from the mucous membrane of the stomach of young calves up to ten days old. Beginning in 1990, dairy plants and chemical and pharmaceutical plants began to produce a synthetic analogue of a natural rennet enzyme - yeast culture - recombinant chymosin (Fermentation-Produced Chymosin FPC).

Synthetic rennet enzymes folds the milk protein at room temperature under the action of bright light without increasing the acidity of the cottage cheese mixture. The use of FPC completely excludes participation in the process of production of cheese and other fermented milk products of GMOs, other chemical additives potentially hazardous to human health. According to statistics, by 2015, more than 95% of rennet cheeses in the world were produced using FPC.

Blue German cheese with Dor Blue's penicillin mold occupies a special place. It is prepared from standard dairy ferment. Before folding with rennet or pepsin, a live culture of penicillin mold and maltose is added to the curd, after which the leaven is kept at 37 ° C for 24 hours. During this time, an intensive reproduction of the penicillin culture occurs in the milk mixture. Colonies of blue, green and gray with a specific antibiotic odor appear on the surface.

Cheese flakes are separated from whey, pressed and put in a dark warm place with a temperature of 37 ° C and humidity of 90% for further maturation. Cheese with mold is used as a folk remedy for the treatment of blood poisoning, pneumonia, malignant neoplasms, venereal diseases and HIV infection as part of complex therapy.

There is no official classification of hard cheese. Cheese makers say that currently there are about four hundred varieties of cheese. The references in the literature about the existence of more than two thousand varieties is most likely the counting of all varieties of hard cheese as separate varieties.For example, feta cheese with greens and feta cheese with garlic, cheese curd with pineapple and cheese curd with green kiwi fruit, cheese curd with coconut chips and cheese curd with coconut oil. Despite the difference in name and price, these are modifications of one of the four hundred types of the same fermented milk product.

French cheese makers classify cheeses according to the milk coagulation technology in the manufacturing process:

1. on the enzyme for coagulation of milk - rennet and acid;
2. on the mechanism of formation of the cheese head - pressing, stretching;
3. by education, the peel is natural, washed, with mold, slug;
4. the consistency of the curd is soft, semi-soft, semi-solid, hard.

This simplified classification will easily help to systematize the whole variety of properties and external signs of different varieties, to determine the optimum temperature and humidity to preserve the microflora contained in cheese.

To slow down the process of natural oxidation, solid varieties should be stored in the refrigerator, preventing them from freezing. The best place to store curd cheese is the upper shelf of the refrigerator (temperature is about + 4 ° C), semi-solid varieties - the lower shelf (temperature from +6 to + 10 ° C), other varieties - the second shelf (temperature from +3 to + 6 ° C)

Ideal conditions are created in refrigeration chambers operating on the principle of No frost. In this chamber there is no freezer. The low temperature of the food and ventilation is maintained by a continuous stream of cold air, which is blown into the chamber by fans.

Hard cheese contains live lactic acid and acidophilic bacteria and yeast. These microorganisms create a unique bouquet of aroma and taste, protect the cheese from spoilage.

Cheese of hard and semi-solid varieties remains the longest. French cheese and other types of hard cheese are best wrapped in foil, in which you need to pierce a toothpick with 8-10 holes for gas exchange. To absorb excess moisture, you can put one cube of refined sugar or two coal tablets inside the foil. If it is necessary to store without a refrigerator, the cheese head is wrapped in a cloth moistened with saline and placed in a dark, cool place. A sign of spoilage of cheese inside the package is a fetid odor, a discharge through the holes of turbid mucus, and swelling of the package.

Soft cheeses with mold are stored at + 2 ° C for about one month, at a temperature of + 10 ° C - for about seven days. Camembert and Roquefort cheeses must be kept in a package, otherwise an unpleasant putrid odor will spread in the refrigerator and remain in it for a long time.

Homemade product can be stored no more than 3-5 days in an enamel pot or on a plate, covered with a lid on top. The lid should not be very tight to the plate so that it does not “suffocate”. For the flow of air under the cover you can put a few matches around the perimeter.

Suluguni, cheese and other pickled cheeses before storage should be soaked in boiled water or milk for 8-10 hours. This will remove mucus from the surface of the cheese head, leading to rapid deterioration. Store them in a salt solution on the top shelf of the refrigerator at a temperature of from 0 to + 4 ° C. Melted cheeses contain live lactic acid bacteria, therefore the ripening process goes on constantly. For this reason, they should only be stored in the refrigerator.

Sausage cheese is made from high-quality raw milk.It is smoked in special chambers on charcoal, birch logs or chips. As a result, an appetizing light brown or golden crust is formed on the surface, which protects the cheese from spoiling. This variety can be stored for a long time. After improper storage, it can be fully restored by putting it in warm farm milk for 2-3 hours. For the fastest recovery of volume, taste and smell of cheese in the milk, you need to add kitchen or sea salt at the rate of one tablespoon per liter. Of all the varieties of hard cheese sausage cheese lasts much longer than others. The shelf life of single and sausage cheeses - up to three months, pasty and sweet cheeses for dinner - no more than 30 days.

Mozzarella balls are stored at a temperature of +2 to + 4 ° C in whey or 3% saline solution. To prepare the solution, take one tablespoon of kitchen or sea salt for one liter of boiled water. Put cheese balls into the solution. Capacity with them is stored on the first shelf of the refrigerator.

When storing cheese in the refrigerator, you must follow the general rules.

• Avoid sudden temperature changes.. This kills the microflora of the cheese, after which it quickly rots. The best place for him is in the fruit compartment and vegetables down the fridge.
• Keep cheese away from other foods. It not only spreads a specific smell in the refrigerator, it itself absorbs the smells of other products.
• The crust on the surface of the cheese protects it from drying out and weathering.. No need to cut the cheese in advance.
• No need to buy cheese in advance. During storage it is very difficult to withstand all the time and parameters. Spoiled cheese in the fridge serves as a source of unpleasant odor.

• Blue cheese It is best stored in a glass jar or in a plastic container with the lid tightly closed.
• Pickled cheese need to store in a glass jar or saucepan. Pre-poured into a jar 3% solution of salt or sea salt, cooked in boiled water. To increase the shelf life in salt solution, you can add whey. Water without boiling for the preparation of brine can not be used.
• After opening Factory vacuum packaging of processed cheese should not be stored in an airtight container. Oxygen activates the processes of oxidation and fermentation, which significantly reduces the shelf life.
• If as a result of improper storage cheese lost a lot of moisture and dried up, it can be very simply "reanimated." To do this, put it in a pot of boiled water, pour in kitchen or sea salt at the rate of 30 grams per liter and bring the water to a boil (95 ° C), then turn off the heat, cool the water to room temperature. Drain the water from the pan, pour whole milk instead, add one tablespoon of cream or half a cup of cream, baking soda at the tip of the knife (about two grams) and half a cup of fresh whey or fresh kefir to a liter. Heat the milk slowly to 80 ° C and maintain this temperature for two hours, continuously monitoring it with a thermometer. Remove the cheese head, put it under the press to drain excess fluid.

How to choose cheese, see the following video.