The Basic Preparation Food: Dairy Products.
CHEESE.
Cheeses are manufactured from milk which has been naturally or artificially soured. The former method is brought about by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, beneficial bacteria to convert the milk's natural sugars into lactic acid. The second method is effected by adding an agent, usually in to form of rennet.
Colouring and salt are frequently put in too. The whey is then allowed to drain off and the curds are pressed into moulds where they are kept until ripened or cured. Some cheeses are subjected to pressure; soft cheeses are not. Curds are ripened or cured by a variety of means. The method, the quality of the milk, the breed of cow, sheep or other animal and the quality of its pasture and the type of bacteria all govern the final product.
Some local conditions are unique and those areas produce cheeses that are not successfully reproduced elsewhere: for example Gruyere and Camembert, although factories do try. They even have some success, as most of the world's Cheddar cheese now comes from the USA and Canada.
The constituent parts of cheese are roughly: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the other 1%. These proportions do vary from area to area as some manufacturers use full cream milk, others skimmed milk and yet others add extra cream. Yet others add extra sugar, although most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and can be considered 'concentrated milk' and stored in the same way.
Many people say that cheese should not be kept in a fridge and while storing in water, as for milk, is not an option, a cool larder is ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in cheesecloth in a cool, airy place. If the weather is hot, dampen the cloth with water to which a little vinegar has been added.
Cheese is often served in Europe with a salad or/and bread and is often presented after or instead of the sweet. Hard cheese can be difficult for children to digest and grating it first will make it more palatable to them. Having been grated the cheese can be sprinkled on vegetable or fish soups or sauces; combined with egg, pasta, rice and oatmeal dishes; put on baked potatoes or pastry; toasted on bread or put in salads and sandwiches.
How To Cook Cheese: A little known fact is that many people find cooked cheese indigestible and the reason lies in its structure. Here is why: cooked starch can be digested by the saliva in the mouth but other foods must pass to the stomach or intestines for this process. They are, however, broken up in the mouth. Digestion of protein begins in the stomach and is completed in the small intestine, while fat is not rendered soluble until it reaches the small intestine.
Cheese possesses a high fat and protein mixture, but in melting, the fat often covers the protein and prevents the digestive juices reaching it in the stomach. Therefore, its digestion is delayed until the fat has been absorbed in the intestines. Cheese can be rendered more digestible by:
a] Cooking it with some starchy foodstuff, since the starch will absorb the fat, thus preventing it covering the protein.
2] Using seasoning: Cayenne Pepper or mustard will irritate the intestinal lining, causing the release of extra digestive juices.
3] Cooking rapidly|quickly|briskly| at fairly high temperatures. This has the effect of preventing the protein from becoming tough and stringy and so, harder to digest. You could also add the cheese late to sauces.
4] Adding alkali: so, large pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g (3 ozs) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins more easily digestible.
CHEESE.
Cheeses are manufactured from milk which has been naturally or artificially soured. The former method is brought about by standing the milk in a warm place and allowing natural, beneficial bacteria to convert the milk's natural sugars into lactic acid. The second method is effected by adding an agent, usually in to form of rennet.
Colouring and salt are frequently put in too. The whey is then allowed to drain off and the curds are pressed into moulds where they are kept until ripened or cured. Some cheeses are subjected to pressure; soft cheeses are not. Curds are ripened or cured by a variety of means. The method, the quality of the milk, the breed of cow, sheep or other animal and the quality of its pasture and the type of bacteria all govern the final product.
Some local conditions are unique and those areas produce cheeses that are not successfully reproduced elsewhere: for example Gruyere and Camembert, although factories do try. They even have some success, as most of the world's Cheddar cheese now comes from the USA and Canada.
The constituent parts of cheese are roughly: 33% fat, 33% protein and 33% water with salt, colouring, sugar etc making up the other 1%. These proportions do vary from area to area as some manufacturers use full cream milk, others skimmed milk and yet others add extra cream. Yet others add extra sugar, although most do not. All cheeses have a high calcium content and can be considered 'concentrated milk' and stored in the same way.
Many people say that cheese should not be kept in a fridge and while storing in water, as for milk, is not an option, a cool larder is ideal. Try the traditional method of hanging it up in cheesecloth in a cool, airy place. If the weather is hot, dampen the cloth with water to which a little vinegar has been added.
Cheese is often served in Europe with a salad or/and bread and is often presented after or instead of the sweet. Hard cheese can be difficult for children to digest and grating it first will make it more palatable to them. Having been grated the cheese can be sprinkled on vegetable or fish soups or sauces; combined with egg, pasta, rice and oatmeal dishes; put on baked potatoes or pastry; toasted on bread or put in salads and sandwiches.
How To Cook Cheese: A little known fact is that many people find cooked cheese indigestible and the reason lies in its structure. Here is why: cooked starch can be digested by the saliva in the mouth but other foods must pass to the stomach or intestines for this process. They are, however, broken up in the mouth. Digestion of protein begins in the stomach and is completed in the small intestine, while fat is not rendered soluble until it reaches the small intestine.
Cheese possesses a high fat and protein mixture, but in melting, the fat often covers the protein and prevents the digestive juices reaching it in the stomach. Therefore, its digestion is delayed until the fat has been absorbed in the intestines. Cheese can be rendered more digestible by:
a] Cooking it with some starchy foodstuff, since the starch will absorb the fat, thus preventing it covering the protein.
2] Using seasoning: Cayenne Pepper or mustard will irritate the intestinal lining, causing the release of extra digestive juices.
3] Cooking rapidly|quickly|briskly| at fairly high temperatures. This has the effect of preventing the protein from becoming tough and stringy and so, harder to digest. You could also add the cheese late to sauces.
4] Adding alkali: so, large pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda per 75g (3 ozs) will help neutralize the fatty acids and make the proteins more easily digestible.
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