Italian Cheese 



25 



Curing Room in a Roquefort Cheese Factory 



milk. The curd is cooked slowly under constant stirring to a tem- 

 perature up towards 140° when the whey should be perceptibly acid. 

 The curd is then allowed to settle in the round kettle and when 

 fairly firm it is lifted up in a cloth, the same as in Swiss cheese 

 making. The mold is also much the same as the Swiss and the curd 

 is but slightly pressed. In the course of the day the cheese is turned 

 once or twice and put into fresh cloth. The next day it is put into 

 the curing room when it is rubbed with salt. In a few months the 

 cheese is cured and is then scraped and polished with linseed oil. 

 Sometimes it is kept in storage two or three years in a dark room at 

 a temperature of 63° F. The composition averages: 32% water, 

 21% fat, 41% nitrogenous matters and 6% ash. 

 Caccio Cavallo is made in Southern Italy of a form almost like 

 a beet root. The milk is set with rennet at about 95° F. and after 

 the curd has been broken up the whey is dipped off and 

 heated to boiling when it is poured back on the curd. 

 The mass is then allowed to ferment eight to four- 

 teen hours according to the temperature of the air. The 

 quality of the cheese depends largely on this fermenta- 

 tion. The fermented curd is cut into pieces and sub- 

 merged in boiling water and is then kneaded and 

 formed into the desired shape. 



