294 THE 'BOOK OF CHEESE 



drawn. The curd is then piled on the draining table 

 and allowed to mat or fuse into fairly solid masses. After 

 several hours of draining and matting, the curd is cut 

 into strips and placed in a vat of hot water. In the hot 

 water, the blocks of solid curd melt into taffy-like masses 

 which are worked and molded by hand into more or less 

 standard shapes. Indian club or ten-pin forms are 

 most commonly produced. When the proper shape has 

 been gained, each mass is thrown into cold water which 

 solidifies it in that form. Cheese masses heat and cool 

 slowly; several hours of cooling are required to insure 

 a firm cheese. The newly made cheeses are salted in a 

 brine bath, then hung by a string to ripen. Sometimes 

 these cheeses are eaten fresh, again they are ripened several 

 months. They vary in size from one to six pounds. 

 Cornalba gives the composition of Italian caciocavallo 

 made from whole milk as water 32 to 34 per cent, fat 34 

 to 36 per cent, protein 28.5 to 29.5 per cent, salt 1.7 to 

 1.8 per cent; when made from half skimmed-milk, water 

 28 per cent, fat 27 to 28 per cent, protein 35 to 40 per cent, 

 salt 2.2 per cent. Other analyses vary widely from these 

 figures on account of the differing fat-content of the milk. 

 No standardized practice has been established in America. 



Provolono resembles Caciocavallo in method of manu- 

 facture and composition, the main difference being in 

 the shape of the cheese. It is more or less round and 

 is held by a coarse net made of small rope. The cheeses 

 are treated while curing the same as Caciocavallo. 



279. Sap sago. This hard green cheese imported 

 from Switzerland is made in cakes, tapering from perhaps 

 two inches in diameter to a rounded top with a height 

 of about two inches. These are made from skimmed-milk 

 curd, partially ripened then mixed with powdered leaves 



