The way of cheese...

Cheese at a glance.
Actually there are a lot of definitions about cheeses and exactly what the cheese is.
Most of them said:
1) A solid food prepared from the pressed curd of milk, often seasoned and aged.

2) A food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey, an often cylindrical cake of this food.

3) Etc.

So try to summarize them and create global definition of cheese and the way how people discovered it.

Cheese is a form of fermented food produced 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 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. That fact explains the scope of diversity in cheese’s brands and kinds.

The first cheeses were "fresh," that is, not fermented. They

consisted solely of salted white curds drained of whey, similar to today's cottage cheese. The next step was to develop ways of

accelerating the natural separation process. This was achieved by adding rennet to the milk. Rennet is an enzyme from the stomachs of young ruminants—a ruminant is an animal that chews its food very thoroughly and possesses a complex digestive system with three or four stomach chambers.

In the Europe, cows are the best known creatures of this kind. Rennet remains the most popular way of "starting" cheese, though other starting agents such as lactic acid and various plant extracts are also used. Now it’s time to add the starter bacteria.

Starter bacteria convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The same bacteria (and the enzymes they produce) also play a large role in the eventual flavor of aged cheeses. Most cheeses are made

with starter bacteria from the Lactococci and similar families. But Swiss starter cultures also include other keep in secret bacteria, which produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles during aging, giving Swiss cheese or Emmental its holes - called “cheese - eyes".

the milk chemistry. Cheeses that are heated to the higher temperatures are usually made with thermophilic starter bacteria that survive this step.

The first and simplest way of extending the

length cheese would keep without spoiling was simply ageing it. Aged cheese was popular from the start because it kept well for domestic use. In the 1300s, the Dutch began to seal cheese intended for export in hard rinds to maintain its freshness, and, in the early 1800s, the Swiss became the first to process cheese. Frustrated by the speed with which their cheese went bad in the days before refrigeration, they developed a method of grinding old cheese, adding filler ingredients, and heating the mixture to produce a sterile, uniform, long-lasting product.

Processing the Curd - at this point, the cheese has set into a very moist gel. Some soft cheeses are now essentially complete: they are drained, salted, and packaged. For most of the rest, the curd is cut into small cubes. This allows water to drain from the individual pieces of curd.

Some hard cheeses are then heated to temperatures in the range of 35–55 °C. This forces more whey from the cut curd. It also changes the taste of the finished cheese, affecting both the bacterial culture and

Salt has roles in cheese besides adding a salty flavor. It preserves cheese from spoiling, draws moisture from the curd, and firms cheese’s texture in an interaction with its proteins. Some cheeses are salted from the outside with dry salt or brine washes. Most cheeses have the salt mixed directly into the curds.

The next significant step to affect the manufacture of cheese occurred in the 1860s, when Louis Pasteur introduced the process that bears his name. Pasteurization entails heating milk to partially sterilize it without altering its basic chemical structure. Because the process destroys dangerous micro-organisms, pasteurized milk is considered more healthful, and most cheese is made from pasteurized milk today.

Cheeses achieve their final shape when the curds are pressed into a mold or form. The harder

the cheese, the more pressure is applied. The pressure drives out moisture—the molds are designed to allow water to escape—and unifies the curds into a single solid body
A newborn cheese is usually salty yet bland in flavor

and, for harder varieties, rubbery in texture. These qualities are sometimes enjoyed - cheese curds are eaten on their own - but normally cheeses are left to rest under controlled conditions. This aging period (also called ripening) lasts from a few days to several years. As a cheese ages, microbes and enzymes transform texture and intensify flavor. This transformation is largely a result of the breakdown of casein proteins and milk-fat into a complex mix of amino-acids, amines, and fatty acids.Some cheeses have additional bacteria or molds intentionally introduced before or during aging. In traditional “cheesemaking”, these microbes might be already present in the aging room. They are simply allowed to settle and grow on the stored cheeses. More often today, prepared cultures are used, giving more consistent results and putting fewer constraints on the environment where the cheese ages. These cheeses include soft ripened cheeses such as Brie and Camembert, blue cheeses such as Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and rind-washed cheeses such as Limburger.

Prior to the twentieth century, most people considered cheese a specialty food, produced in individual households and eaten rarely. However, with the advent of mass production, both the supply of and the demand for cheese have increased. In 1955, 13 percent of milk was made
into cheese. By 1984, this percentage had grown to 31 percent, and it continues to increase. Interestingly, though processed cheese is now widely available, it represents only one-third of the cheese being made today. Despite the fact that most cheeses are produced in large factories, a majority are still made using natural methods. In fact, small, "farmhouse" cheese making has made a comeback in recent years.



Each country or region developed different types of cheese that reflected local ingredients and conditions. The number of cheeses thus developed is staggering. France, famous for the quality and variety of its cheeses, is home to about 400 commercially available cheeses.



Many European now own their own small cheese-making businesses, and their products have become quite popular, particularly among connoisseurs.



There are many ways of classifying the cheeses. “Cheesemakers” have tried to split them on different categories depends on:
• Length of aging
• Texture
• Methods of making
• Fat content
• Kind of milk
• Country/Region of Origin

If you still need more information please visit the page:

http://cheese.com

– portal designed and fully created by people who love that sort of food.

Also there is an online book: How to make a cheese -

http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/MPGuide/mpguide5.htm.

Questions:
1) What do you think about the cheese? If you like it, what are your favorite types and kinds?
2) What is the traditional way of serving the cheese?
Would you prefer it with sandwich or just put on cheese-board?
3) What do you think about mix cheeses with fruits and wine?