CHAPTER VIII 

 SOFT CHEESES RIPENED BY MOLD 



THE ripened soft cheeses include a series of groups of 

 varieties which, in addition to initial souring, have been 

 subjected to special ripening processes, and which in 

 the ripened condition are soft in texture and mostly have 

 high flavors. The varieties in each group have in com- 

 mon some essential principles of manufacture together 

 with a ripening process dominated by a characteristic 

 group of organisms. In certain groups, the ripening is 

 dominated by a yellowish or orange viscid surface slime 

 containing Oidium lactis and bacteria; in another series, 

 the characteristic organism is a mold of the genus Pen- 

 icillium (P. Camemberti). Referring to the analysis of 

 groups (page 83), the ripened soft cheeses are found to 

 fall into three well-marked groups, one of which may per- 

 haps be subdivided as indicated. The series curdled by 

 souring alone begins with approximately cottage cheese 

 curd and develops high flavors by ripening, as in " hand " 

 cheese. Ripened Neufchatel curdled by souring and 

 rennet together finds its basis in Neufchatel curd also 

 but modifies the final product until the familiar flavor 

 and texture of the unripened form are no longer recogniz- 

 able. Among the forms curdled by rennet alone the 

 Camembert series contains one form, Coulommiers, which 

 is occasionally used unripe, but represents in general a 

 mold-ripened group of highly flavored forms. The series 



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