314 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



containing up to fifty kilograms. These enormous 

 cheeses are finally left in cellars to the action of fer- 

 mentation, which perfects them. 



"Gruyere cheese owes its name to a little village 

 in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In the 

 Vosges, Jura, and Ain a great quantity of this 

 cheese is made. This too is made of cows' milk. 

 The milk, after a third of its cream has been 

 skimmed off, is slightly warmed in large kettles over 

 a brisk fire. Then the rennet is poured in. When 

 the curd has formed, it is separated as much as pos- 

 sible by being stirred in the kettle with a wide 

 paddle, after which it is warmed still further. 

 Finally the curd is collected, placed in a mold, and 

 subjected to strong pressure. The cheese thus pro- 

 duced is next rubbed several times with salt, and 

 then stored in a cellar and left undisturbed for two 

 or three months. It is during its stay in the cellar 

 that the holes or eyes characteristic of Gruyere 

 cheese make their appearance; they are due to 

 bubbles of gas released from the fermenting sub- 

 stance of the cheese. You will notice in the mak- 

 ing of this kind of cheese the application of heat. 

 The milk is warmed over the fire just before the 

 rennet is added, which is not done in the other kinds. 

 Hence Gruyere cheese is called cooked cheese. 



"If kept too long, all cheeses are sooner or later 

 invaded, first on the outside and then within, by 

 mold, yellowish white at first, then blue or greenish, 

 and finally brick red. At the same time the cheese 

 decays and acquires a repulsive odor and a taste so 



