CHAPTER IX 



Cheese 



CHEESE-MAKING may be described as a very ancient 

 art. Fresh cheeses, that is to say, non- ripened 

 cheeses, were probably made thousands of years ago ; 

 and although the art of cheese-making was doubtless 

 practised in a more or less crude form, much attention 

 seems to have been devoted from very early times to 

 the different methods of preparing cheese. Thus, for 

 example, in Aristotle's writings we find references to 

 the use of different kinds of rennet. 



Important R61e of Bacteria in Cheese- 

 Making. Cheese-making may be described as a 

 much more difficult art than butter -making, the 

 number of conditions which have to be reckoned 

 with in it being very much greater than in the case 

 of butter-making. The importance of bacteria in 

 the manufacture of cheese is, again, very much greater 

 than in the manufacture of butter. In the latter 

 case they are highly desirable allies, and, for a satis- 



