CHAP. vi. SKIM CHEESE AND CREAM CHEESE. 335 



ing whey, together with the curd, being thrown into a coarse strainer, 

 and exposed for cooling, is then pressed as closely as possible. It is 

 afterwards put into a vat, and again pressed for a few minutes, in order 

 to extract the remaining whey. The curd being thus drained from the 

 whey, is taken out once more, broken as finely as possible, salted, 

 and submitted to the press. The other operations do not materially 

 vary from those adopted in the cheese-making districts ; but they are 

 more easily performed on the curd of skim-milk, as it is more readily 

 coagulated and separated from the whey, and requires less subsequent 

 care and pressure than that of milk and cream united. The Suffolk 

 cheese used to form, in general, part of ever^y ship's stores, because it 

 resisted the effects of warm climates better than most others ; but it 

 was characterized by "a horny hardness and indigestible quality." 

 A better kind is made in Dorsetshire, although the only perceptible 

 difference in management consists in the rennet and the milk being put 

 together cooler ; for, by having the milk hot, and immediately applying 

 the rennet, the whey drains so quickly as to impoverish the cheese and 

 render it tough. The old Suffolk cheese was known as " Bang and 

 Thump," and a local rhymester thus described it : 



" Those that made me were uncivil, 

 For they made me harder than the devil. 

 Knives won't cut me ; fire won't sweat me ; 

 Dogs bark at me, but cannot eat me. " 



And the poet Bloomfield said that Suffolk cheese 



" Mocks the weak effort of the bending blade ; 

 Or in the hog-trough rests in perfect spite, 

 Too big to swallow, and too hard to bite." 



Whereupon we may conclude that the cheese of the county had a 

 reputation peculiarly its own. 



Cream Cheese is generally made in August or September, the milk 

 being at that time richer and better than at other periods. It may, 

 however, be successfully made at almost any time. Cream cheeses are 

 more liable to accident than the poorer sorts, from being chilled or 

 frozen before they become hard, for when the frost once penetrates a 

 cheese of this kind it destroys every good quality, and either makes it 

 ill-tasted or generates putrefaction. Hence, this kind of cheese should 

 always be kept in a warm situation, and particularly preserved from 

 the frost, until it has sweated well, otherwise all the advantage of its 

 rich quality will be completely lost. Cream cheese, however, is in 

 general only wanted for immediate use ; and that kind commonly so 

 called is, in fact, nothing else than thick cream drained, and put into 

 a small cheese-vat about an inch and a half in depth, having holes in 

 the bottom to allow any liquid that may exude to pass, and having 

 rushes, or the long grass of Indian corn, so disposed around the 

 cheese, as to admit of its being turned without being broken. It is 

 thus that the celebrated Bath and York cream cheeses are made, but 

 the greater number of those commonly sold are composed of milk. 



Cream cheese, it is obvious, is not " cheese " in the true sense of 



