CHEESE 



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They are very careful to prevent fermentation in this cheese, and in order to effect 

 this, the ciird, after being well broken and pressed, is soaked in salt and water ; salt 

 is also rubbed on the outside of the cheeses, and it thus acquires the quality of keeping 

 well, even in warm climates. These cheeses are generally known in Holland by the 

 name of Edam cheeses, from the name of the place where they are made. 



Another cheese much used in Holland is one made from skim milk ; not having 

 much flavour of its own, cummin seeds are mixed with the curd to supply this defect. 



The Roquefort cheese is made in Franco from goats' or sheep's milk. The evening's 

 and morning's milk are mixed, and rennet is used in the ordinary way to coagulate it. 

 The curd is then subjected to great pressure, and when the whey is all extracted, the 

 cheeses are laid on shelves, side by side, and frequently wiped carefully to dry them 

 without heat. They generally wrap the cheeses in coarse cloths, to prevent them 

 from cracking in drying. When they are quite dried, they are taken to caves dug in 

 the rocks, where the air is always cool, and placed on shelves. They are then salted, 

 and after about two or three days, they are rubbed with a coarse cloth, and then 

 scraped with a knife. They are then left for fifteen days, during which time they 

 get hard, and begin to get mouldy on the outside : the mouldiness is removed by 

 a knife, and this process is repeated every fifteen days, for two months, and sometimes 

 oftener. During this time the crust formed on the cheeses becomes successively white, 

 greenish and reddish ; when it is this latter colour, they are fit for use. 



The Brie cheese is another, the quality of which is nearly as good as the last, but it is 

 only used in the places where it is manufactured, because it will not keep. It is very 

 simply made ; the milk curdled in the usual manner is put to strain on a wicker frame. 

 When all the whey has been extracted, the cheese is salted and put in a very cool place; 

 the salting is repeated every two days : when salted sufficiently it is removed to a 

 cave or placed on a bed of hay, until it softens. This cheese should be eaten when it is 

 about the consistency of cream ; it is then delicious, but if left longer, it becomes putrid. 



The Neufchdtel cheeses are merely cream thickened by heat, and then compressed 

 in a small mould. They are esteemed a great delicacy. 



There is a small cheese much relished in Germany, made from skimmed milk. 

 The milk is curdled by being placed near the fire ; the curds are then put into a 

 linen bag, and all the whey pressed out of them. When this has become solid, the 

 curd is again broken in a tub, and allowed to remain in this state for several days. 

 Putrid fermentation then begins to take place ; when in this state it is taken and 

 rolled into little balls with the hand, and flavoured with carraway seed. After a few 

 days the inside of the ball becomes soft, and it is then esteemed a great dainty by many. 

 Sometimes they are placed in the smoke of a chimney over a wood fire; the smoke 

 hardens the outside, and when they are eaten, it is taken off like the rind of an apple. 



The Schabzieger, a Swiss cheese, is made in much the same manner ; the curd is 

 worked into a paste with a large quantity of an herb, called in the country dialect 

 ZiegerJcraut, finely powdered. It is then pressed into a mould, and becomes very 

 solid, and capable of being kept a long time. When eaten it is scraped and mixed 

 with butter, and spread on bread. It possesses a very peculiar taste. 



The Jura cheese is very much like the Gruyere, and is often sold for it. 



There is a kind of cheese or hard curd made in Switzerland with the whey that is 

 left after making other cheeses. The whey is heated over the fire until a thick scum 

 arises ; it is then put in a square box, all the whey runs off, and the curd, which is 

 called serre, remains ;*this is dried, and although nearly flavourless, is much eaten by 

 the people on the mountains, who use it instead of bread. They cut it in slices, and 

 spread butter on it, and it forms the principal food of some of the herdsmen. 



Composition of Cheese. 

 (Payen, Journal Phanmi.). 



Voi,. I. 



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