ClO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 31,1981
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Swiss is probably the
easiest cheese to recognize -
with your eyes, at least
That’s because, in addition
to its sweet, nuthke flavor,
Swiss cheeses has “eyes” of
its own. the holes that make
if famous This unusual
characteristic develops
during the last stages of
Swiss cheese manufacture
However, the eyes are
caused by bacteria that are
an important part of the first
steps of the process.
All cheese-making begins
with a large vat of warmed
milk to which these
beneficial, acid-producing
bacteria, as well as rennet,
an enzyme, are added These
two substances curdle the
milk, causing the milk
solids, the curd, so coagulate
and separate from the liquid,
or whey Curd is the basic
stuff of cheese, whether it’s
cottage, Colby or Camem
bert. The different ways in
which curd is coagulated and
treated after it forms, in
addition to the type of milk,
create ,the unique tastes,
textures and aromas of
different cheeses.
In traditional Swiss cheese
production, the curd is first
cut into kernel-size pieces
with a “Swiss harp,” a wire
device that looks Idee a large
egg-sheer. The curd and
whey mixture is stirred and
cooked. Then the curd is
drained of most of the whey,
placed in cylindrical hoops
and pressed remove
remaining whey. After about
24 hours, the large wheels of
hardened curd are sub
merged in brine to draw
moisture from the surface,
producing a firm but flexible
rind This nnd holds the
cheese’s shape, while
allowing it to expand as the
eyes develop.
The wheels are then
placed in a warm, humid
room for six to eight weeks,
where they ferment, like
wine During fermentation,
the bacteria that were added
at the beginning continue to
act on the curd, changing it
to cheese by knitting the
aa-aac
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pieces together and creating
the special texture and
flavor of Swiss. A by-product
of this bacterial activity is
carbon dioxide gas It cannot
escape due to the surroun
ding cheese, so bubbles
develop within the mass,
slowly merging to form the
eyes. In the old days, cheese
makers tested for proper
fermentation by tapping the
nnd. They could tell by the
sound whether the eyes were
well distributed and of the
correct size
Today, most cheese plants
use a process developed in
the early 1940 s to produce
large, rindless blocks of
Swiss By eliminating the
wasted nnd, the process
reduces cost to both
processor and consumer.
The manufacturing steps are
basically the same as in
traditional methods.
However, the curd is pressed
in a rectangular vat instead
of hoops and is then cut into
80-pound blocks After
salting (for flavor
development only) the
blocks are wrapped in
plastic, which does the same
job as a rind, but prevents
one from forming because it
seals moisture in and air out.
After fermentation, Swiss
cheese made by either
method is placed in a cool,
humid “cellar” to age or
cure. Here, eye formation
stops but flavor development
continues. The aged cheese
is ready for eating m four
months, although some
Swiss is allowed to ripen as
long as a year for a more
pronounced flavor. Someone
cutting pito a traditionally
made, well-aged wheel of
Swiss may even fmd that the
eyes are weeping “tears”
that are actually brine.
Why is Edam cheese round?
And Gouda not?
Edam and Gouda also
have eyes, very small ones,
but these cheeses are
remembered toi then
shapes as well as then mild,
pleasing flavors Edam is
the only spherical cheese in
the world. It is made in balls
weighing about four pounds
each; Baby Edams weigh
two. Tradition has it that
Edams first were made
round so their thirteenth
century Dutch exporters
could roll the cheeses down
the streets to the wharves
FRANK
WALTERS
OF
to learn
Another story tells how
Edam got its nickname, the
‘ cannonball cheese ” In
1841, American commanders
of the Uruguayan fleet were
able to defeat the Argentine
Navy, led by the British, by
shooting with Edams when
they ran out of cannonballs.
No matter where Edam gets
its nickname, its real name
comes from a village in
Holland, and its shape from
the molds in which it is
pressed and the milk from
which it is made.
To form an Edam cheese,
cooked curds are mounded
m the bowl-shaped bottom
portion of a mold with
drainage holes Then a
matching top half is fitted
over the curds and they are
pressed to squeeze out the
whey. Since Edam is made
from a blend of skim and
whole milk, which
coagulates faster than whole
milk alone, the curds hold
the spherical shape when the
mold is removed.
Gouda (pronounced Khow
da by the Dutch} is made
from whole milk. Old-tune
cheese makers found that
when Gouda curds were'
removed from round molds,
they were not firm enough to
stay round and so collapsed
into the familiar convex
wheel shape. Today Gouda is
sold in wheels weighing up to
12 pounds and as Baby
Goudas weighing as little as
10 ounces
Why is Blue cheese blue?
The blue lines running
through Blue cheese are
actually colonies of
penicillin mold that were
placed there deliberately
The origin of Blue-type
cheese was probably ac
cidental One day long ago,
the story goes, a shepheid
(ess} in the desolate,
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BRUNING I Pa,nt
company
about cheese?
mountainous caussts area
of France left provisions of
bread and ewe’s milk cheese
in one of the many caverns
that dot the area (Perhaps
he or she was being chased
by villains or had met a
sheep-watcher of the op
posite sex ) When s/he
returned to the cave several
weeks later, s/he found the
mold from the spoiled bread
had spread to the cheese
Curiosity, or maybe hunger,
forced her/him to taste, and
what a delightful surprise' It
tasted so good that people
deliberately set cheese to
mold in these cool caves,
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FEED THRU FENCE
★ All cows can be released at one time ★ Stabilizer on bottom of yoke for
or individually extra strength
★ When handle is in lock position, cow ★ Custom built to your specifications
automatically locks as it enters * You can release all cows or hold cows
★ No more chasing cows that need treatment
★ Heavy duty construction
PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC.
Hardware • Farm Supplies
Custom Manufacturing * Crane Service
with their special air cir
culation Later cheese
makers began to add dried,
moldy bread crumbs to the
curds before taking them to
the caves
Blue cheese is made about
the same way today.
Cultures of Pencilhum
roqueforti and Pencilbum
glaucum are grown in
laboratories The resulting
spores are added to the
cheese curd along with salt.
The curd is piessed in tall
cylindrical hoops and then
holes are drilled to let air
enter the cheese body and
allow the mold to grow Blue
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cheese is cured in a cool,
very humid room, much like
the original caves, for two to
five months until the mold is
. flourishing. Then it is
packaged and distributed as
soon as possible, because the
mold continues to grow,
curing the cheese further
and causing the flavor to
become sharper.
So next tune you savor this
distinctive cheese, perhaps
at a cheese tasting, you’ll be
able to enliven the con
versation by telling how Blue
came by its unusual color
Or why Swiss cheese has
holes
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SIZES:
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Up To 15
Months Old
ADJUSTABLE-
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8 Months And
Older (Pictured)
LARGE -
For Cows
15 Months
And Older