Choosing Cheese – Let Us Help You Choose!

Cheese can be consumed as a snack, as it is customary in our country, and for dessert, as it is customary in many countries around the world.

Cheese can be eaten as a snack, as it is customary in our country, and for dessert, as it is customary in many countries around the world. Every self-respecting country has given the world one, if not several varieties of cheese. If we take the general principles of cheese technology as a basis, then the cheeses can be divided into the following main groups: hard, semi-hard, soft and sour milk cheeses.

In each of these groups, in turn, we can distinguish the following types: to solid cheeses include types of Swiss, Dutch, Cheddar, Russian, brine cheeses, semi-hard cheeses such as Latvian: to soft cheeses – type cheeses dabuzhsky, Smolensk, Roquefort, Camembert and others, to fermented cheeses include tea, cream, etc.

Cheeses like Swiss.

In addition to Swiss itself, this group includes Soviet, Altaic, Kuban, Carpathian cheeses, etc. All these cheeses have a peculiar fine aroma, a sweet, spicy taste.

The international name of the Swiss cheese is its Emmental and, after the name of the Alpine valley, which is considered the birthplace of this cheese. In the chronicles Emmental cheese is first mentioned in the XV century.

Swiss cheese is produced as a low, wide cylinder up to 100 kg. Under the right conditions it can be stored for up to 1.5-2 years. Maturation of Swiss cheese lasts 6-8 months, or even longer. It is distinguished by a fine bouquet of flavors, which is dominated by sweet, nutty flavor, pliable buttery consistency of the cheese mass and a well-defined pattern of fairly large “eyes” with a “tear.

Cheeses like Dutch

In this group of cheeses, in addition to varieties of Dutch cheese include Kostroma, steppe, Yaroslavl, Poshehonsky, Stanislavsky, Uglich and other cheeses.

Dutch cheese is produced in the form of round or bar. Dutch cheese contains at least 50% of milk fat in dry matter, it has less moisture (43%).

Cheddar-type cheeses

Cheddar is the most common cheese in many countries, especially in the United States, Canada, and England. In these countries, 80-85% of the cheese produced is cheddar. This is due primarily to the fact that cheddar production lends itself to mechanization. Cheddar is shaped like a cylinder with a mass of 30-33 kg. It has a slightly sour, slightly spicy taste. Its consistency is soft. delicate, buttery, it can be smeared and crumbly.

This cheese dries up quickly on the cut, so it is sliced just before use.

Cheese Russian.

Among many other cheeses, it stands out for its peculiar taste, which is unique to it. Tender plastic consistency is combined with a pleasant, slightly sour taste, but sourness has a different shade than, say, in Kostroma cheese, more pronounced. And finally, it is less salty.

Brine cheeses

Brine cheeses – a special kind of cheese without crust, which are in great demand mainly among the peoples of the Caucasus, but, of course, many of them have their fans in other parts of our country.

These cheeses got their name for the fact that the maturation and further storage of most of them are made in brine of different concentrations. This gives them specific properties: a kind of sharp taste, very brittle and dense consistency.

Chanakh, Tushinsky, Ossetian cheeses are made from cow, goat and sheep milk or a mixture thereof. The technology of this group of cheeses is the same, they differ from each other in shape and size. Cheeses made from goat and sheep milk have a taste and smell peculiar to this milk.

Georgian cheese is made from the same types of milk. This cheese has a slightly sour taste and more delicate consistency.

Imereti cheese can be produced from cow, sheep, goat and buffalo milk. It is distinguished by its clean, slightly sour taste and dense, elastic consistency.

Bryndza is prepared from sheep, goat and cow milk. Bryndza is characterized by a sour, spicy taste, soft, sometimes crumbly consistency.

Roquefort

This is one of the most peculiar types of cheese. Among others, it stands out for its large amount of green mold. Fans believe that the more mold, the better the cheese.

The peculiarity of the Roquefort cheese is that the mold culture Penicillium Roqueforti is introduced into the cheese mass, and the head of cheese is pierced in many places with needles, because the mold grows well only with access to air. Moulds not only spice up the cheese in their own right, but also because they deeply break down fats and the decomposition products have a tangy taste. Mildew gives the cheese not only a peculiar flavor of pepper and spice, but also a delicate consistency.

Roquefort matures in 1.5-2 months, the salt in it no more than 5%.

This cheese cannot be sliced very thin. But due to its soft, buttery consistency it goes well on bread, galette, and dry table cookies.

Tea and cream cheeses

Tea cheese does not need to be matured. In appearance, it is a curd mass of uncut lactic acid flavor without extraneous flavors. It contains about 55% moisture, the consistency of the cheese mass is soft, smeared, creamy.

These cheeses have a peculiar taste, a harmonious combination of cheese flavor and appetizing smell of spices. High nutritional value of these cheeses, especially when combined with juices and fruits can recommend them for children’s nutrition.