Rangiport
Rangiport cheese, which is practically the same as Port du Salut, is made in the Department of Seine-et-Oise, France. It is about 6 inches in diameter and 2½ inches thick, and weighs about 2½ pounds.
Raviggiolo
Raviggiolo, which is an uncooked, soft, sweet, creamy, fast-curing cheek very much like Crescenza, is made in Tuscany, Italy, from ewe's milk.
Rayon
Rayon cheese is a special type of Swiss, made in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, largely for export to Italy; some is made also in Italy. It is made of partly skimmed milk; the curd is cooked to a stage that insures a very dry, hard cheese in which there are no eyes. When cured, it usually is shipped to Turin where it is placed on edge on shelves in dry, warm caves; some fat drains out, and the cheese becomes exceedingly dry and hard. When it has reached this stage it is called Raper. It is used for grating.
Reblochon
Reblochon is a soft, French cheese that weighs between 1 and 2 pounds. Enough rennet is added to fresh, whole milk at a temperature of about 80° F. to curdle it in 30 minutes. The curd is cut to the size of peas and cooked to about 95°. After the whey is removed, the curd is put into molds about 6 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep, and a 5-pound weight is put on each. The cheeses are turned frequently, and they are salted after they have been in the molds 12 hours. They are cured for 4 or 5 weeks in a moist room at a temperature of about 60°.
Brizecon cheese, which is made in Savoy, France, is similar to Reblochon.
Analysis: Moisture, 53.2 percent; fat, 20.5 percent; protein, 19.3 percent; and salt, 1.8 percent.
Reggiano
Reggiano, which is nearly the same as Parmigiano and Emiliano, is one of the sub-varieties of Grana, the hard Italian cheeses used for grating. It was first made in Reggio Emilia, Italy, from April through November. It is now also made in other countries, including the United States. In the United States, and sometimes in Italy, it is commonly called Parmesan, or Reggiano Parmesan.
Reggiano is made by much the same method as is used in making the other Grana-type cheeses. Reggiano is cylindrical, with plane faces; the cheeses weigh from 55 to 66 pounds. It is softer and finer-textured than Lodigiano, contains more fat, is pressed, and is faster curing. It is cured not less than 14 months and usually not more than 2 years.
Analysis: Moisture, 25 to not more than 32 percent; fat, 22 to 26 percent (not less than 32 percent in the solids).
Uso Reggiano-Parmigiano cheese, which is made outside the usual source area, is similar to Reggiano.
A Reggiano-type cheese made in Uruguay is called Colonia Hard cheese, and a similar cheese made in Argentina is called Trebolgiano.
Reindeer-milk
Reindeer-milk cheese is made to a very limited extent in Norway and Sweden. Rennet is added to the milk at a temperature of 100° F., and the curd is cut, dipped into forms, and pressed lightly. Then the curd is cut into pieces about 5 by 4 by 2½ inches in size, which are salted on the surface and ripened in a dry curing room.
Requeijão
Requeijão cheese is made in northern Brazil. Skim milk, with or without lactic starter, is held until it coagulates. The coagulated milk is heated, with stirring, to a temperature as high as 175° F., the whey is drained off, and the curd is gathered in bags and pressed. Then it is placed in flat pans, broken up, and washed with warm skim milk in the proportion of 2 parts of skim milk to 1 part of curd. The skim milk-curd mixture is then heated, with stirring, as before. When the curd sticks together and the casein in the skim milk curdles and adheres to the mass of curd, the whey is drained off again, and the curd is pressed and washed with warm skim milk as was done earlier. Heating and stirring of the mixture and draining of the whey are repeated once more. Then the curd is mixed, from 2 to 2.5 percent of salt is added, and it is kneaded on a table for about 15 minutes. Hot butterfat or rich cream is added at the rate of 1 part of butterfat to 5 parts of curd, and the mixture is heated with stirring. The cheese is then molded in parchment-lined boxes. About 11 pounds of cheese is obtained from 100 pounds of skim milk and 3.4 pounds of rich cream.
Analysis: Moisture, 55 to 70 percent; fat, 8 to 20 percent; and protein, 16 to 20.5 percent.
Ricotta
Ricotta cheese is made from the coagulable material (principally albumin) in the whey obtained in the manufacture of other cheeses, such as Cheddar, Swiss, and Provolone. It was first made in Italy and, therefore, is classed as an Italian cheese. However, it is now made in all the countries of central Europe and in some parts of southern Europe. It is made also in the United States, principally in Wisconsin and New York. It is sometimes called whey cheese or albumin cheese; other names for it are Ziger or Schottenziger, Recuit, Broccio, Brocotte, Sérac, Ceracee, and Mejette.
Cheddar-cheese whey usually contains between 0.2 and 0.35 percent of fat, and Swiss-cheese whey contains at least twice as much. In making Ricotta, usually all of the fat is left in the whey, and in the United States from 5 to 10 percent of either whole milk or skim milk is added. Usually whole milk is added if fresh Ricotta is being made, and skim milk if dry Ricotta is being made. The fat is incorporated in the cheese with the coagulated albumin, and it improves the body, flavor, and food value of the cheese.
The manufacturing process should begin soon after the whey is removed from the original cheese, before it has developed excessive acidity; the acidity should not be more than 0.20 percent. The sweet whey is heated in a kettle with a steam jacket to a temperature of 200° F. (near the boiling point). Sometimes live steam is injected into the whey. Sour whey or other coagulant is stirred in. Much of the coagulated albumin rises to the surface, and is dipped out with a perforated ladle or removed with a dipping cloth. The curd may be hung in the dipping cloth to cool and drain, or it may be dipped into perforated forms or spread on a screen platform in a vat. To improve the flavor and promote ripening, lactic starter may be mixed in after the curd has cooled to about 100°. From 1 to 1.5 percent or more of salt may be added at this time.
At this stage the curd is moist, grainy, and lacks cohesiveness; it resembles cottage-cheese curd in consistency. If it is to be marketed as fresh or moist Ricotta, draining is continued or the curd may be pressed for several hours in cheesecloth-lined hoops; then it is packed in paper cartons that usually hold 5 pounds. If it is to be marketed as dry Ricotta, the curd is placed in perforated forms about 6 inches in diameter and 9 inches deep, and it is pressed heavily for a longer period. Then it is salted on the surface, if it was not salted earlier, and it is dried in a curing room at a temperature of 100° F., or slightly higher. Dry Ricotta is suitable for grating.
Approximately 5 pounds of fresh, moist curd is obtained from 100 pounds of unskimmed cheese whey with 5 pounds of added whole milk.
Analysis: Fresh, moist Ricotta—Moisture, 68 to 73 percent; fat, 4 to 10 percent; protein, 16 percent; carbohydrate, 3 percent; and salt, 1.2 percent. Cured, dry Ricotta—Moisture, 60 percent; fat, 5.2 percent; protein, 18.7 percent; carbohydrate, 4 percent; ash, 3.6 percent; and salt (in the ash), 1.5 percent.
Riesengebirge
Riesengebirge is a soft cheese that is made from goat's milk in the mountains of northern Bohemia. The milk is coagulated with rennet at about 90° F. The curd is broken up, the whey is dipped off, and the curd is put into forms and kept in a warm place for 24 hours. Then the cheeses are removed from the forms, salted on the surface, dried for 3 or 4 days, and then placed in a cool, moist cellar to cure. About 18 pounds of cheese can be made from 100 pounds of milk.
Rinnen
Rinnen, a sour-milk, spiced cheese, has been made in the Province of Pomerania, Poland, since the 18th century. It derives its name from the wooden trough in which the whey is drained from the curd and the curd is kneaded. It is made from milk that is sufficiently acid to coagulate when it is heated to about 90° F. The curd is broken up and heated to expel the whey. Then the curd is put in the wooden trough, the whey is drained off, the curd is kneaded by hand, and caraway seed is added. The curd is shaped in forms and pressed; salt is rubbed on the surface of the cheeses, they are dried, and put in wooden boxes in which they ripen.
Riola
Riola, a soft cheese with a strong flavor, usually is made from ewe's or goat's milk. It is made like Mont d'Or, except that it is ripened for 2 to 3 months instead of a week.
Robbiole
Robbiole, which is similar to Crescenza, is a soft, rich, fast-ripening cheese made in the Italian Alps, especially in Lombardy. It is circular and flat and weighs between 8 ounces and 2 pounds. Usually it is made from milk that is skimmed after creaming for about 12 hours, but sometimes it is made from whole milk. The method of making Robbiole is very simple. Rennet is added to the milk at a temperature of 90° F., and about 30 minutes later the curd is cut fine and is put into forms with perforated bottoms. The forms are about 8 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. The cheeses are removed from the forms about 5 hours later and are placed on straw mats on a drain board; they are turned frequently. After they have been on the drain board for 2 or 3 days, they are salted on the surface and are then placed in a cool, moist cellar for 12 to 15 days to ripen.
Analysis: Moisture, 46 percent; fat, 28 percent; protein, 20 percent; and salt, 3 percent.
Robbiolini
Robbiolini, which is very similar to Crescenza, is a soft cheese made mostly in Lombardy, Italy, in winter. It is made from cow's milk or from a mixture of cow's milk and either ewe's or goat's milk. Each cheese weighs about 3½ ounces. About 10 percent of acid whey is added to the milk, which then is coagulated with rennet at a temperature of 60° F. After 24 hours the curd is cut into slices, it is drained for 3 or 4 hours, then kneaded by hand into small rolls. About 3 percent of salt is mixed with the curd while it is being kneaded. The cheese ripens in a few days; it should be held at a temperature of not more than 50° until consumed.
Rocamadur
Rocamadur is a soft cheese made from ewe's milk in southern France. Rennet is added to the milk at a temperature of about 77° F.; when the curd has coagulated, it is dipped into terra cotta forms and the whey is drained off and salt is sifted into the forms. The cheese remains in the forms for a day. Each cheese weighs about 2 ounces.
Roll
Roll cheese is a hard cheese made in England from cow's whole milk. It is cylindrical, about 9 inches in diameter and 8 inches thick, and weighs about 20 pounds.
Rollot
Rollot, a soft, ripened cheese similar to Camembert, is made in the Departments of Somme and Oise, France. It is about 2½ inches in diameter and 2 inches thick, and weighs about 6 ounces.
Romadur
Romadur is a soft, ripened cheese made in southern Germany, especially in Bavaria, from either whole or partly skimmed cow's milk. It is similar to Limburger and has the same origin, but is smaller, has a milder aroma, and contains less salt. There is less smear on the surface during ripening and, according to some authorities, its quality is better. Whole-milk Romadur is similar to Liederkranz. The cheeses usually are about 2 inches square and 4½ inches long, and weigh about a pound. However, there are smaller sizes also that weigh ¼ to ⅓ pound.
The milk, sometimes with color added, is set and the curd is prepared as in making Limburger. The forms often are like those used in making Weisslacker, that is, they are divided into sections for the individual cheeses; otherwise, the curd is cut into rectangular sections for the individual cheeses after the curd is firm. The forms are laid on a screen or mat while the whey drains off and the curd becomes firm. After the cheeses are removed from the forms, they are rubbed with dry salt several times during a 12-hour period. They are cured for a shorter time and less intensively than Limburger and at a slightly lower temperature—in some factories the final curing temperature is as low as 42° to 45° F. —and there is less surface smear. The cheeses are wrapped in parchment and tinfoil and are packed in wooden boxes for shipment. About 12 pounds of cured cheese is obtained from 100 pounds of whole milk.
Schützenkäse, which is made in Austria, is similar to Romadur. Schlosskäse, made in Austria and Germany, and Harracher, Hochstrasser, and Kremstaler, made in Hungary, are also similar.
Analysis: Moisture, 48.5 to 55.5 percent; fat in the solids, 47 percent in whole-milk Romadur.
Romanello
Romanello (little Romano) is a very hard, Italian cheese usually made from partly skimmed or skim milk. The cured cheese has a sharp flavor and is suitable for grating and use as a condiment. It is made like Romano. The curd often is drained in wicker baskets, and the imprint of the basket remains on the surface of the cheese. Sometimes, however, it is pressed in hoops. The interior of the cured cheese is white and contains numerous small openings. The cheeses are 8 to 9 inches in diameter, 4 or 5 inches thick, and weigh from 9 to 12 pounds.
Romanello is made from cow's milk in a few factories in New York and Wisconsin. It is also made in Argentina. It is similar to Romano in composition.
Romano
Romano, which is sometimes called Incanestrato, is one of the most popular of the very hard Italian cheeses. It was first made from ewe's milk in the grazing area of Latium, near Rome, but it is now made also from cow's and goat's milk and in other regions in southern Italy and in Sardinia. When made from ewe's milk, it is called Pecorino Romano; from cow's milk, Vacchino Romano; and from goat's milk, Caprino Romano. Romano-type cheese made in Sardinia is called Sardo. Some Romano cheese is made in the United States from cow's milk, and considerable quantities are imported from Italy and Sardinia.
The cheeses are round, with flat ends; they vary in size but frequently are about 10 inches in diameter and 6 inches thick. A single cheese usually weighs between 15 and 20 pounds but may weigh as much as 25 pounds. The interior is somewhat granular and has practically no holes or eyes.
The milk usually is partly skimmed, and it may be pasteurized. It is put into a vat, warmed to a temperature of about 90° F., and rennet is added. If the milk is pasteurized, starter must be added. After a coagulation period of 15 to 20 minutes, the curd is cut, and then heated with stirring to about 118°. In some factories, the curd is dipped from the whey into the hoops, which are circular and lined with cloth; in other factories, the whey is drained off, then the curd is stirred and part of the salt is mixed in before the curd is hooped. The hoops of curd are pressed, and they are turned frequently. Sometimes in Italy the cheeses are punched with holes to aid drainage; this practice, however, may result in growth of mold within the cheese.
When the cheeses are removed from the press, they are immersed in salt brine and later salt is rubbed on the surface. They are cured on shelves at a temperature of 50° to 65° F. They are kept clean (they may be scraped to clean them), and they are turned frequently. They may be colored black on the surface, and may be rubbed with olive oil toward the end of the curing period.
Romano is cured for not less than 5 months. It is used as a table cheese after curing for 5 to 8 months, and after longer curing—usually at least a year—it is hard, very sharply piquant, and suitable for grating. About 8 pounds of Romano is obtained per 100 pounds of milk.
Analysis: Moisture, not more than 34 percent (usually 32 percent); fat in the solids, not less than 38 percent; and salt, 5 to 6 percent.
Roquefort
Roquefort, a blue-veined, semisoft to hard cheese, is named for the village of Roquefort in the Department of Aveyron in southeastern France, where its manufacture has been an important industry for more than two centuries. At one time shepherds prepared the curd, but now the milk is collected and the curd is prepared in centralized dairies.
A French regulation limits use of the word Roquefort to cheese made in the Roquefort area from ewe's milk. Other French cheese of the blue-veined type is called Bleu cheese, and blue-veined type cheese made in the United States and other countries is known as Blue cheese. In addition, these are the distinctive blue-veined cheeses of England (Stilton) and Italy (Gorgonzola).
Roquefort cheese is characterized by its sharp, peppery, piquant flavor, and by the mottled, blue-green vein§ throughout the curd and the whiteness of the curd between the veins. Powder containing spores of Penicillium roqueforti mold is added to the curd as it is being put into the hoops, and the veins result from growth of the mold during the curing period. The powder is prepared by inocculating loaves of fresh bread with a pure culture of mold; when the mold has permeated the bread—in 4 to 6 weeks—the interior is crumbled, dried, ground, sifted, and stored for use in the cheese.
Following is a brief description of the making process: Ewe's whole milk is set with rennet at a temperature between 76° and 82° F. It is customary to heat fresh milk to between 122° and 140° and then to add enough cold milk to adjust the mixture to the setting temperature. After a coagulation period of 1½ to 2 hours, the curd is cut, the free whey is removed, and the curd either is transferred onto a cloth to drain or is mixed and drained in the vat. Then it is transferred to perforated metal hoops, about 7½ inches in diameter and 6 inches deep, which rest on drain mats on drain boards. The curd is put into the hoops in 3 or 4 layers, and blue-mold powder is sprinkled between each layer.
The curd is not pressed, but the hoops are turned several times the first day, and two or three times daily for the next 4 or 5 days. Then the cheeses are removed from the hoops, and they are taken to the caves for salting and curing. There are many natural caves in the Roquefort area and additional excavations have been made. The caves are a network of caverns and grottoes connected with one another and with the outside surface by numerous channels through which a brisk movement of cool, moist air keeps the temperature at not more than 50° F. (often as low as 40°) and the relative humidity at about 95 percent throughout the year, thus providing natural conditions that are favorable to mold growth and ripening of Roquefort cheese.
The cheeses are dry salted, piled in two or three layers for 3 days, then salted again and piled in layers for another 3 or 4 days—making a total salting period of a week. Besides improving the flavor, the rather heavy salting retards growth of slime-forming micro-organisms and foreign molds and is one of the factors that control normal ripening. When salting is completed, each cheese is punched with 60 or more holes, which permit air to reach the interior of the cheese so that the blue mold can grow. The cheeses are then placed on edge on racks, and they are cleaned every 2 or 3 weeks by scraping and brushing. The curing period is 2 to 5 months, depending on the extent of ripening desired. When ripened sufficiently, the cheeses are cleaned, wrapped in tinfoil, and boxed. They may be stored at a temperature of 40° F. The yield of cured cheese is said to be nearly 20 percent of the weight of milk used.
Analysis: Moisture, 385 to 41 percent (not more than 45 percent); fat, 32.2 percent; fat in the solids, not less than 50 percent; protein, 21.1 percent; ash, 6.1 percent; and salt (in the ash), 4.1 percent.
Royal Brabant
Royal Brabant is a small, Limburger-type cheese that is made in Belgium from cow's whole milk.
Runesten
Runesten cheese, which was first made in Denmark, is made also in the United States, in Minnesota and Wyoming. It is similar to Swedish Herrgårdsost (Manor cheese). The cured cheese resembles Swiss cheese, but the eyes are smaller and each "wheel" is much smaller, weighing about 5 pounds. The cheeses are cured for about 3 months. They are wrapped in red transparent film.
Saanen
Saanen, which also is called Walliser or Walliskäse, is a hard cheese similar to Swiss and to Spalen or Sbrinza. It is made from cow's milk in the Cantons of Bern and Wallis (Valais) and nearby areas in Switzerland, where its manufacture dates back to the sixteenth century. The cheeses are 12 to 16 inches in diameter, 3 to 3½ inches thick, and weighs usually between 12 and 25 pounds. The curd is very firm, and in aged cheese it is brittle and deep yellow in color.
Saanen is made in much the same way as Swiss except that, like Spalen, the curd is heated to a higher temperature, it is firmer, and it contains less moisture; the eyes are smaller and fewer in number; and the cheeses are smaller and they are cured for a much longer period. They are cured for at least 3 years and not infrequently for 7 years or more. Much of the fully cured (aged) cheese is used for grating.
It is not unusual for a cheese to be accorded great honor in a household and for it to be kept for many decades. It is the custom to make a cheese at the birth of a child and to eat portions of the cheese on feast days during his life and at his burial and also to honor his descendants on similar occasions. It is said that one cheese was kept for such use for 200 years.
Analysis: Moisture, 25 percent.
Sage
Sage cheese is an American-type, spiced (sage-flavored) cheese made by either the Cheddar or Granular or Stirred-curd process; it is pressed in any of the shapes and sizes in which those cheeses are pressed. The curd has a green, mottled appearance throughout. At one time, green sage leaves were added to the curd before it was hooped. Now, sage extract is added for flavor; and the green, mottled appearance is produced as follows: Succulent green corn is cut fine, and the juice is pressed out. This juice is added to a small part of the milk, which is made into curd in the usual way; the rest of the milk is also made into curd, and the two lots of curd are mixed just before hooping.
Analysis: Moisture, 38 to 39 percent; fat in the solids (whole-milk Sage), not less than 50 percent; fat in the solids (partly skimmed-milk Sage), not less than 20 percent.
St. Benoit
St. Benoit, which is a soft cheese similar to Olivet, is made in the Department of Loiret, France. Charcoal is added to the salt which is rubbed on the surface of the cheese. It is cured for 12 to 15 days in summer and 18 to 20 days in winter. The cheeses are about 6 inches in diameter.
St. Claude
St. Claude is a small, square, goat's-milk cheese made in the vicinity of St. Claude, in the Department of Jura, France. The milk is curdled with rennet, and the curd is placed in molds for 6 to 8 hours. The cheeses, which are salted on the surface, may be eaten fresh or may be ripened in a cool, moist cellar. The cheeses weigh between 4 and 8 ounces.
St. Marcellin
St. Marcellin cheese, known in some parts of France as Fromage de Chèvre, is made in the Department of Isère, France, from goat's milk to which either ewe's or cow's milk is sometimes added. The cheeses are about 3 inches in diameter and ¾ of an inch thick, and weigh about 4 ounces. St. Marcellin is made by a method similar to that used in making Brie and Coulommiers. Blue mold is cultivated on the surface of the cheese, but not in the interior, and it is not classed as a blue cheese.
St. Stephano
St. Stephano cheese, which is similar to Bel Paese, is made in small quantities in Germany. It is made from whole milk and is cured at a temperature slightly below 40° F.
Salamana
Salamana, which is made in southern Europe, is a soft, ewe's-milk cheese. The curd is put into bladders to ripen. When cured, the cheese has a very pronounced flavor. It is used as a spread for bread, and it is also mixed with corn meal and used in cooking.
Salame
Salame (Italian, sausage) usually refers to a large-style Provolone, and this style is made not only in Italy but also in other countries, including the United States.
Stracchino Salame and Formaggio Salame refer to soft cheeses of the Bel Paese type.
Saloio
Saloio is a Hand cheese made from cow's skim milk on farms in the region of Lisbon, Portugal. It is a small cylindrical cheese, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, and it weighs about 4 ounces.
Analysis: Moisture, 76.3 percent; fat, 1.8 percent; protein, 11.4 percent; and salt, 2.5 percent.
Sandwich Nut
Sandwich Nut cheese is made by mixing chopped nuts with fresh Neufchâtel or Cream cheese.
Sapsago
Sapsago cheese has been made in the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland, for at least 500 years and perhaps more; it is made also in Germany. It is known by various other names, including Schabziger, Glarnerkäse, Grünerkäse, Krauterkäse, and Grünerkrauterkäse. It is a small, very hard cheese that frequently is dried. A powder prepared from clover leaves is added to the curd, which gives it a sharp, pungent flavor, a pleasing aroma, and a light-green or sage-green color. The cured cheeses are cone-shaped, 3 inches thick at the base, 2 inches at the top, and 4 inches tall, and weigh 1 to 2¼ pounds. The fully cured, dry cheese can be used for grating.
Sapsago is made from slightly sour, skim milk. The milk is put into a round kettle and stirred while it is heated to boiling temperature. Cold buttermilk is added slowly as heating and stirring are continued. The coagulum that appears on the surface is removed, set aside, and added to the curd when it is put into the forms. Then enough sour whey is added to precipitate the casein, as in making Ricotta, and stirring is stopped. If too little whey is added, the curd will be too soft and moist; if too much or too sour whey is added, the curd will be too firm and dry. The curd is collected in a cloth or strainer and spread out to cool as the whey is drained off. Then the coagulum that was set aside is mixed with the curd, salt may be added, and it is placed in perforated wooden forms, covered with a press lid, and pressed under heavy pressure at a temperature of 60° F. The curd is ripened (cured) under light pressure at this temperature for at least 5 weeks. At this stage, it is ready for use in making the cheese. In many cases it is sold and transported in large sacks or casks to a distant factory where the cheese is made.
The ripe, dry curd is ground, and about 5 pounds of salt and 2½ pounds of dried, powdered leaves of the aromatic clover, Melilotus coerulea, are added to each 100 pounds of curd. The mixture is stirred into a homogeneous paste, then packed in the small cloth-lined, cone-shaped forms.
About 10 or 11 pounds of fresh curd is obtained per 100 pounds of skim milk and about 65 pounds of Sapsago is obtained per 100 pounds of fresh curd.
Analysis: Moisture, as much as 40 to 43 percent but usually much less (cheese imported into the United States, not more than 38 percent); fat, 5 to 9.4 percent; protein, 40 to 42.5 percent; and salt, 4 to 5 percent.
0 comments:
Post a Comment