324 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRII, aa, 1835. 



^E-SSJS 2>ilS2S'^a 



[Translated from the French, for the New England Farmer.] 

 CHBESE. 

 I Concluded from page 305.] 

 PAR.MESAN CHEESE. 



It is especially in tlie environs of Lodi, that 

 most of the Parmesan cheese, the reputation of 

 which is established in every country, is made. 

 Those which are carried into the market are 

 made in aiiliimn. It is remarked that the cows 

 which produce the milk of which it is made, jias- 

 ture in aquatic prairies, but covered with abundant 

 fodder, and that in autumn, tlie time when the 

 most is made, they are fed almost exclusively upon 

 rice straw. 



The manufacture of Parmesan differs but little 

 from thai of the Gruyere. Many cows are equal- 

 ly necessary to ju-oduce the necessary quantity of 

 of milk. The iriilkiug of the evening is mixed 

 with that of the morning ; the whole is poured 

 into a kettle suspended by a crane, over a moder- 

 ate fire. Whilst the milk is heating, the necessa- 

 ry quantity of saffron f<ir coloring the curd a 

 iine yellow is mixed with a portion of milk. 

 When the milk is rather more than luke-warm, 

 this mixture is ])oured in, and the rennet is intro- 

 duced, stirring the litpiid so as to spread equally 

 the yellow coloring and the rennet. The kettle is 

 immediately drawn from the fire and covered. 

 When the curd, is well formed, it is cut in every 

 direction with a wooden sword : the kettle is 

 placed again over the fire, and a brassoir with 

 nine pegs, is plunged into it and stirred round, 

 afterwards it is stirred for a quarter of an hour 

 \vith a brassoir with four pegs. Care has been 

 taken to renew the fire, and as soon as the parti- 

 r-les have acquired consistency, the kettle is taken 

 from the fire. After a few moments the curd set- 

 tips at the bottom of the kettle; the superfluous 

 whey is taken off — and then the curd, which is 

 drained in a cloth suspended by the four corners. 



As soon as the curd becomes cold, it is put into 

 a wooden mould ])laced upon the table because it 

 has no bottom ; a wooden dish is placed above, on 

 which is a very heavy w/?ight, and thus it is left 

 until the next morning. 



It is then taken out of the mould and carried to 

 the store house, 24 hours after it is salted on the 

 top and sides, and each day afterwards, during 

 from 15 to 20 in winter, and 12 to 1.5 in summer, 

 it is turned and salted each side alternately. 



It is afterwards kept in a cheese room neither 

 too dry nor too moist ; it is turned every day and 

 rubbed with oil from time to time. 



The Parmesan is much drier than the Gruyere, 

 and keeps a much longer time ; it.s flavor is 

 also different. Its superiority may be attributed 

 to more cooking and stronger pressure. These 

 are two things very easy to introduce in the man- 

 ut'acture of tlu^ Gruyere. 



CHESHIRE CHEESE. 



This cheese, of such repute in England, and 

 which always .sells with us at such a high price, 

 has the consistency of Parmesan, but less flavor. 

 .Some of it is made vvhirh weighs a hundred 

 pounds, and it is jjretended that these are the b(!St. 

 They are made in the form of a pine apple. 

 They last for many years. 



The milk of the evening before is skimmed and 

 the cream set by, because it is not thought proper 

 to enter, in this state into the coinposition of the 



cheese. Almost the whole quantity of the skim 

 milk, with the exception of that which is to fill 

 the kettle to be put over the fire, is turned into the 

 cheese tub (a kind of high narrow tub, the lower 

 part of which is larger than the upper.) When 

 the milk in the kettle is well heated, half of it is 

 turned into the cheese-tub, and the other half is 

 put into the cream which is set by. These oper- 

 ations should be finished just as the morning's 

 milk is drawn. Then the necessary quantity of 

 this new milk is poured into the tub. During this 

 time the cream, upon which the very hot milk has 

 been turned, becomes liquefied by the heat, and it 

 is mixed, in the tub, with the mass of milk which 

 is there. All the foam which has collected upon 

 the surface in consequence of the different move- 

 ments of the milk is taken off carefully. 



Then the rennet and the coloring matter are in- 

 troduced. We have mentioned the manner of 

 preparing the rennet for the Cheshire cheese ; the 

 coloring matter is an infusion of roucou orannotto. 

 As soon as the infusion of rennet and roucou 

 have been turned in, the whole is well stirred with 

 a large wooden spoon. Then the tub is covered 

 with a wooden cover, upon which is placed a 

 cloth, and the milk is left imtil it has curdled, 

 which takes place in about an hour or an hour 

 and a half. 



If the milk has been put hot into the pan, the 

 curd w ill be firm, and the whey which leaves it, 

 will be of a beautiful pale green ; this is a desira- 

 ble result. If, in continumgthe process, the mass 

 is found to be too cold, hot water or milk may be 

 turned into it, or a vase full of boiling water 

 placed in it ; but this can only be done before 

 the coagulation takes place. When on the 

 contrary, the milk lias been too hot, the process 

 must go on as it can ; as soon as the whey can be 

 separated from it, it is set to cool and turned into 

 the tub to cool the curd. When the milk is prop- 

 erly curdled, it is cut with a wooden sword, in 

 every direction and the whole mass is broken by 

 plunging the hands in, and kneading it completely. 

 When this is done, the tub is covered and the 

 curd is left for a few moments, which collects and 

 settles at the bottom. Then all the whey is taken 

 off that can be, then, separating the tub in two by 

 means of a movable partition which does not join 

 perfectly, the whole of the curd is put on one side, 

 and above it a plank with a heavy weight is placed ; 

 the whey thus runs off, and this jirocess is repeated, 

 by passing the curd alternately from one side of 

 the partition to the other, as long as any whey can 

 be taken off. 



The curd is then pounded in a tub, and a form or 

 mould lined with a thin cloth is filled, in such a 

 manner that the curd forms a cone at the top. 

 This form is filled with holes all round it : the 

 curd is crowded into it as much as possible, then 

 the comers of the cloth are gathered up ; upon 

 the top of the cone a board is ])laccd with a weight 

 of 50 pounds. Whilst it is thus in press, iron 

 skewers are placed in the holes of the mould, and 

 are alternately drawn out to let out the whey. 

 When all has run out, the cheese is turned out, 

 crumbled up again and placed in another cloth : 

 the whole is then returned to the form, which 

 must be previously washed in warm whey, 

 and the weight replaced. This process is re- 

 peated as often as any whey can be extracted. 



In this state it is taken from the mould, knead- 

 ed anew, mixing with the paste a handful of salt ; 

 afterwards it is placed in another form similarly 



lined with a cloth, only finer, and surmounted 

 with a smaller circle, to preserve to the cheese 

 the form of a cone ; it is placed under a heavy 

 weight, and the skewers are taken out as before. 

 After all the whey has been extracted by this 

 means, it is left under the press until the next 

 morning. 



Four or five days afterwards, the base of the 

 cheese is enveloped in a fine cloth ; it is placed in 

 an osier wattle, and put half way in brine, and 

 the upper part covered with fine salt. It is then 

 turned once every day, always sailing that part 

 which is out of the brine ; and after three days, it 

 is taken from the wattle, and surrounded by a 

 wooden circle nearly as high as the cheese. It is 

 thus put upon a bed of salt ; it is left there 

 eight days, care being taken to turn it every day 

 and to salt the upper part. 



Finally, the cheese is put into warm water, 

 washed with a brush, and wiped well with a 

 cloth. Two hours after this last process, it is 

 well greased all over with about two ounces of i 

 fresh butter, and then placed in the cheese room, ) 

 which should be dry and hot. 



We cannot further pursue the description of 

 the different processes for the manufacture of 

 cheeses, although there would be still much to say 

 ujiou the subject : but we think what we have 

 said is sufficient to be well understood. 



To resume, we will remark that the fabrication 

 of cheeses, is composed in general, of three 

 principal processes. 



The first consists in curdling the milk ; we 

 have sufficiently explained the means employed 

 to attain this object, and we can add nothing to 

 what we have said. 



The second process is that of separating the 

 curd frotn the whey. This is very important, 

 because it influences considerably the duration 

 and quality of the cheeses. We have seen, that 

 cheeses intended to be eaten fresh are drained but 

 a little : but the short time the cheeses are kept 

 does not allow the whey to turn sour:' and its 

 presence even contributes to give them an agree- 

 able flavor, especially pleasant in summer. 

 Cheeses intended to be kept any time are drain- 

 ed with more care ; and there is no doubt, that 

 their duration would be longer if the press was 

 employed, as is sometimes done in Brie. Fi- 

 nally, when cheeses are to be kept a very long 

 time, it has been seen that it was necessary to 

 free the curd from all the whey, and the more 

 carefully this process is performed, the better it 

 keeps ; thus the pre.ss and the operation of cook- 

 ing are the two ])rincipal means which lead to 

 this end, and we have given sufficient examples 

 of them. But there is still a method we shall 

 point out. It is but a little used in France, al- 

 though it might be so with much advantage : 

 but it is employed in many provinces in Eng- 

 land. This is, washing the curd in warm water, 

 which is renewed until perfectly clear ; then the 

 cuid is well squeezed, to get out the water, and 

 placed under the press. Tiiis process presents many 

 advantages, especially for cheeses which are to 

 be kept a long time. First, the curd is perfi^ctly 

 freed from the whey ; then, whatever may be de- 

 fective in this respect, may be remedied, by the aid 

 of greater or less lieat in the water. Thus when 

 the curd has but little consistency, it is washed in 

 very hot and even boiling water ; when, on the 

 contrary, its consistency is such as is desirable, 

 the water should be only lukewarm. We shall 



