Page 7 - Ei 2018-2019 Catalog

Cheese Styles
Semi-soft
These cheeses can be of numerous styles, with or without rind development, pressed or unpressed.
Many can be eaten within days or weeks, but others are left for months of refinement.
Some traditional styles, such as
Tomme de Savoie and Morbier, might be
ripened with cave molds or washed
with bacteria laden smears to develop greater flavor. Favorites include Havarti,
Port Salut and Chimay.
Semi-firm to Hard
Many styles exist within this sub-category, but most are created by pressing the curd to make a drier cheese, one that will be aged. Some are cooked, meaning the curds are heated to draw the proteins together to create a dense texture. Cooked curd and pressed cheese, some taken to
extreme age, form Grana-styles (grating) like the extraordinary Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.
Cheddar is milled and pressed into forms or blocks, then aged for various lengths of time. Others can be washed with brine solutions
or smears to develop greater flavors, such as Comte and Gruyere. The density and dryness of
the cheese will depend very much on the make, but also the length of age and curing process.
Gouda cheese, a tradition
of the Netherlands, truly spans
the range from semi-firm to hard, with
each age profile having a distinct following there.
Blue
Although thought of as a category in itself, blue or blue-veined cheeses can be classified in categories much like other aged cheeses. Most blue cheeses are ripened with special molds that often add striations throughout the interior of the cheese, though there are some that are ripened on the exterior.
Molds (penicillin) are typically added to the
milk and grow within the cheeses, aided by piercing to allow air to enter the interior of the cheese. Famous cheeses in this group are Roquefort from France, classic Danablu from Denmark, Stilton
from England and Gorgonzola from Italy. Many of these cheeses are developed with no rind, thus various wrappings are used to protect them and should not be removed until being used.
Molds within the cheese often present themselves on the exterior of the cheese as
they age, so do not be alarmed!
CHEESE • CHEESE
Whether as an ingredient or simply served by itself, the vast selection of cheese available from around the world is astounding. Yet even more remarkable, the quality and selection now available from across this country from small farms and artisans, defies even the historic. Both a scientific and artistic endeavor, cheese is a cultured phenomenon.
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