Page 28 - Food Service Magazine March 2019
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TRADE TALK
TALK
TASTE FOUNDATIONS
A CHEESE'S FLAVOUR IS NOT JUST IN THE HANDS OF ITS MAKER; IT GOES RIGHT BACK TO THE MILK. ALEKSANDRA BLISZCZYK SPEAKS TO PEPE SAYA BUTTER FOUNDER PIERRE ISSA, CHEESE EXPERT WILL STUDD, AND ALMOND MILK CO. FOUNDER CAMERON EARL TO FIND OUT THE BUILDING BLOCKS THAT GO INTO DAIRY (OR DAIRY-ALTERNATIVE) PRODUCTS.
Not all milks are cut from the same cloth. Milks from cows fed on hay,
grains or grass can be chalk and cheese; and whether a nut is activated or dry-roasted can change the taste of its “milk” entirely. Diners and customers are looking increasingly for local dairy products, in all their glorious forms, so it pays to know what’s what before putting in your orders.
DAIRY
Let's go back to the beginning. Good dairy products start with good milk. “The breed and genetics of the cow, [its]
diet, season [and] milking environment ... are very important,” says cheese specialist Will Studd.
Starting with the beast itself, the breed can determine its milk’s application. In Australia roughly 70 per
cent of dairy cattle are of the Holstein breed, as these cows are known to produce high milk yields over their lifetimes. But smaller dairy farms
are branching out, rearing less-common breeds such as Jersey, Brown Swiss, Ayrshire, Australian Red and Illawarra in order to produce milks better suited to specific uses.
When looking at butterfat content, Holstein cow's milk has only 3.7 per cent, whereas the milk from Jersey cows, for example, sits at around 4.7 per cent, making for a richer cream. The milk from Brown Swiss cows is high in protein (3.5
per cent), as is the milk from Illawarra cows (3.29 per cent), so their milks are ideal for cheese production. This is because 38 per cent of the solid matter in milk is made of protein, and
80 per cent of milk’s protein is casein, which is the predominant protein found in cheese.
The next thing to consider when choosing the right milk
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