Tuvi
10-25-2000, 10:39 PM
since so many people here (not mentioning any names) love cheese, including myself, i thought this post would be beneficial to those wanting to learn more about the marvelous world of cheese.
Cheese is one of the most varied and subtle foods in the world. In taste cheese can be bland, buttery, innocuous, rich, creamy, pungent, sharp, salty or lightly delicate. In texture it can be hard enough to chip off in flakes, so soft and runny that it needs to be eaten with a spoon or at any one of a dozen points of softness and firmness between these two extremes. In aroma, cheese can be rank and overpowering enough to turn the stomach of the strongest man (and still be eaten with relish by devotees), delicately aromatic or virtually unnoticeable. Cheese can serve as the perfect companion for wines, a superbly satisfying finale to a gourmet meal or simply as a basic nourishing foodstuff for family snacks.
It is this variety of character that has made cheese so appreciated as a food for hundreds, even thousands, of years. The reason for this is that the cheesemaking process, while following the same broad pattern, isjected to numerous variations in types of milk, cheesemaking techniques and the length of the time given to maturing. The differences in textures, flavours and aromas of different cheeses are the result of these numerous variations.
Thus cheeses offer an enormous range from the rich delicacy of a Brie or a Camembert to the full 'bite' of a mature Cheddar and the sharp piercing saltiness of a Feta. And while every cheese is not to every taste, it is fair to say that almost everyone can find a cheese to suit his or her taste. Cheese is also one of the most nutritious of foods. A cheese with a fat content of 48 per cent has a protein content in the region of 23-25 per cent, making the protein value of 210 g (7 oz) of such a cheese equal to 300 g (10 oz) of meat. In one solid, compact form, cheese also contains calcium, phosphorus, mineral salts and varying amounts of A and B and other vitamins.
Of course most cheeses are also high in calories, a fact that causes many people concerned with their weight to be wary. A cheese's calorie count can be judged from the fat content which most cheeses have detailed on their packaging. The fat content refers to the percentage of butterfat in the dry matter of the cheese. The Dutch, for example, class their cheeses as:
Full-cream cheese 48 per cent fat content
40+ at least 40 per cent fat content
20+ at least 20 per cent fat content
4+ (skim milk cheese) 4 per cent fat content
While it is true that many cheeses do have a high calorie count, this does not apply to them all. Cottage Cheese, depending on whether it is creamed or not, has a butterfat content varying between 4 and 15 per cent; the German sour curd cheeses such as Harz and Mainz have a fat content under 10 per cent, and Australia has recently developed a fat modified Cheddar-style cheese marketed as Altapol.
It is worth remembering, too, the overall composition of cheese when considering its fat content. The softer the cheese the higher its moisture content will be. Thus soft cheeses such as Camembert and Brie can contain up to 50 per cent water therefore their fat content (45-50 per cent) need only be counted against half of what you eat. On the other hand, the fat content of Emmentaler (45 per cent) cannot be considered so reducible as Emmentaler is a hard cheese which has had a large degree of moisture drained from it.
At the top end of the fat-content scale lie the double and triple creme cheeses, which can have a fat content of from 60 to 75 per cent. If you develop a passion for these, it is probably best that you take up jogging.
PROVOLONE!
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9909.jpg
AMERICAN! mmm.. getting hungry.. wow that looks good
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9805c.gif
MOZZARELLA! pure and white, like an angel.
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9804c.gif
Look at this lovely assortment of the finest French cheeses...
http://www.fromages.com/img/hp01.jpg
Cheese is one of the most varied and subtle foods in the world. In taste cheese can be bland, buttery, innocuous, rich, creamy, pungent, sharp, salty or lightly delicate. In texture it can be hard enough to chip off in flakes, so soft and runny that it needs to be eaten with a spoon or at any one of a dozen points of softness and firmness between these two extremes. In aroma, cheese can be rank and overpowering enough to turn the stomach of the strongest man (and still be eaten with relish by devotees), delicately aromatic or virtually unnoticeable. Cheese can serve as the perfect companion for wines, a superbly satisfying finale to a gourmet meal or simply as a basic nourishing foodstuff for family snacks.
It is this variety of character that has made cheese so appreciated as a food for hundreds, even thousands, of years. The reason for this is that the cheesemaking process, while following the same broad pattern, isjected to numerous variations in types of milk, cheesemaking techniques and the length of the time given to maturing. The differences in textures, flavours and aromas of different cheeses are the result of these numerous variations.
Thus cheeses offer an enormous range from the rich delicacy of a Brie or a Camembert to the full 'bite' of a mature Cheddar and the sharp piercing saltiness of a Feta. And while every cheese is not to every taste, it is fair to say that almost everyone can find a cheese to suit his or her taste. Cheese is also one of the most nutritious of foods. A cheese with a fat content of 48 per cent has a protein content in the region of 23-25 per cent, making the protein value of 210 g (7 oz) of such a cheese equal to 300 g (10 oz) of meat. In one solid, compact form, cheese also contains calcium, phosphorus, mineral salts and varying amounts of A and B and other vitamins.
Of course most cheeses are also high in calories, a fact that causes many people concerned with their weight to be wary. A cheese's calorie count can be judged from the fat content which most cheeses have detailed on their packaging. The fat content refers to the percentage of butterfat in the dry matter of the cheese. The Dutch, for example, class their cheeses as:
Full-cream cheese 48 per cent fat content
40+ at least 40 per cent fat content
20+ at least 20 per cent fat content
4+ (skim milk cheese) 4 per cent fat content
While it is true that many cheeses do have a high calorie count, this does not apply to them all. Cottage Cheese, depending on whether it is creamed or not, has a butterfat content varying between 4 and 15 per cent; the German sour curd cheeses such as Harz and Mainz have a fat content under 10 per cent, and Australia has recently developed a fat modified Cheddar-style cheese marketed as Altapol.
It is worth remembering, too, the overall composition of cheese when considering its fat content. The softer the cheese the higher its moisture content will be. Thus soft cheeses such as Camembert and Brie can contain up to 50 per cent water therefore their fat content (45-50 per cent) need only be counted against half of what you eat. On the other hand, the fat content of Emmentaler (45 per cent) cannot be considered so reducible as Emmentaler is a hard cheese which has had a large degree of moisture drained from it.
At the top end of the fat-content scale lie the double and triple creme cheeses, which can have a fat content of from 60 to 75 per cent. If you develop a passion for these, it is probably best that you take up jogging.
PROVOLONE!
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9909.jpg
AMERICAN! mmm.. getting hungry.. wow that looks good
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9805c.gif
MOZZARELLA! pure and white, like an angel.
http://www.ilovecheese.com/art/spotlight/spt9804c.gif
Look at this lovely assortment of the finest French cheeses...
http://www.fromages.com/img/hp01.jpg