Cheese - Refinement And Flavor

Fresh, whey and stretched curd cheeses

The main factor in the categorization of these cheeses is their age. Fresh cheeses without additional preservatives can spoil in a matter of days. For these simplest cheeses, milk is curdled and drained, with little other processing. Examples include cottage cheese, Neufchâtel (the model for American-style cream cheese), Romanian Caş and fresh goat's milk chèvre. Such cheeses are soft and spread able, with a mild taste.

Whey cheeses are fresh cheeses made from the whey discarded while producing other cheeses. Corsican Brocciu, Italian Ricotta, Greek Mizithra, Norwegian Geitost, Provencal Brousse and Romanian Urda. Brocciu is mostly eaten fresh and is as such a major ingredient in Corsican cuisine, but it can be aged too.

Classed by texture

Categorizing cheeses by firmness is a common but inexact practice.The lines between "soft", "semi-soft", "semi-hard" and "hard" are arbitrary, and many types of cheese are made in softer or firmer variations. The factor controlling the hardness of a cheese is its moisture content which is dependent on the pressure with which it is packed into molds and the length of time it is aged.

Harder cheeses have lower moisture content than softer cheeses. They are generally packed into molds under more pressure and aged for a longer time. Cheeses that are semi-hard to hard include the familiar cheddar, originating in the Cheddar Gorge of England but now used as a generic term for this style of cheese, of which varieties are imitated world-wide and are marketed by the length of time they have been aged. Cheddar is one of a family of semi-hard or hard cheeses (including Cheshire and Gloucester) whose curd is cut, gently heated, piled and stirred before being pressed into forms. Hard cheeses - "grating cheeses" such as Parmesan and Pecorino Romano - are quite firmly packed into large forms and aged for months or years.

Classed by content

Some cheeses are categorized by the source of the milk used to produce them or by the added fat content of the milk from which they are produced. While most of the world's commercially available cheese is made from cows' milk, many parts of the world also produce cheese from goats and sheep, well-known examples being Roquefort, produced in France and Pecorino Romano, produced in Italy, from ewe's milk. One farm in Sweden also produces cheese from moose's milk. Sometimes cheeses of a similar style may be available made from milk of different sources, Feta style cheeses, for example, being made from goats' milk in Greece and of sheep and cows milk elsewhere.

Double cream cheeses are soft cheeses of cows' milk which are enriched with cream so that their fat content is 60% or, in the case of triple creams, 75%.

Processed cheese is made from traditional cheese and emulsifying salts, often with the addition of milk, more salt, preservatives and food coloring. It is inexpensive, consistent, and melts smoothly. It is sold packaged and either pre-sliced or unsliced, in a number of varieties. It is also available in spray cans.

Some of the most renowned cheeses, each with its own distinctive color, flavor, texture and smell include Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton.

So-called Blue cheese is created by inoculating a cheese with Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum. This is done while the cheese is still in the form of loosely pressed curds and may be further enhanced by piercing a ripening block of cheese with skewers in an atmosphere in which the mold is prevalent. The mold grows within the cheese as it ages. These cheeses have distinct blue veins which gives them their name and, often, assertive flavors. The molds may range from pale green to dark blue and may be accompanied by white and crusty brown molds. Their texture can be soft or firm.

Soft-ripened cheeses are those which begin firm and rather chalky in texture but are aged from the exterior inwards by exposing them to mold. Brie and Camembert, the most famous of these cheeses, are made by allowing white mold to grow on the outside of a soft cheese for a few days or weeks. Goats' milk cheeses are often treated in a similar manner, sometimes with white molds (Chèvre-Boîte) and sometimes with blue.

All you have to do now is to choose your favorite type of cheese and enjoy its flavor in the combination you prefer!