CHAPTER XXXIII 

 FARM DAIRY CHEESE (GOUDA) 1 



There are sold in America probably a hundred or more 

 varieties of cheese. Although by far the greater portion, with 

 respect to quantity, is made here, the manifold kinds are largely 

 imported from Europe, chiefly from Switzerland, Italy, France 

 and Germany. 



All cheese may be divided into two great classes, that made 

 from fresh sweet milk and that made from milk which has 

 become, or is made to become, slightly acid. The American 

 cheese, commonly sold simply as cheese, is of the acid curd 

 kind, while most of the imported cheeses are of the sweet curd 

 group. The Gouda is of Holland origin and is one of the sweet 

 curd cheeses. It is, therefore, more closely related to the Brick 

 and the Swiss than to our common cheese. 



The ordinary process by which our American cheese is made 

 in factories is not applicable to farm dairy cheese making, be- 

 cause it requires too much time, and is so complicated that it 

 requires years of practice to become sufficiently familiar with 

 the varying conditions in which milk comes to the vat. 



Process of Making. — The various changes that take place in 

 milk nearly all develop in the milk drawn in the evening and 

 kept over until the following morning. So if milk is made into 

 cheese immediately after it is drawn, no difficulty will be ex- 

 perienced, and by employing a simple and short method of manu- 

 facture, anyone at all accustomed to handling milk can make 

 a uniformly good cheese with the appliances found in any well- 

 regulated farm home. 



The best time to make farm dairy cheese is immediately 

 after milking. The milk should first be poured from one vessel 

 to another in some locality where the air is pure and fresh, 

 raising the vessel from which the milk is poured high, so the 



1 Adapted in part from Minnesota Circular, " Farm Dairy Cheese." 



367 



