1910.] Camembert and Other Soft Cheeses. 



373 



rennet, and all the acid necessary for securing the correct 

 type of cheese is developed before the curd is salted or placed 

 in the hoops or forms in which they are pressed. 



Soft cheeses — though each variety may be made in a 

 special manner — all agree in one particular, namely, that the 

 whey is never fully drained from them. The coagulated 

 milk is usually ladled into forms or metal hoops, and the 

 cheeses allowed to drain naturally. They are not subjected 

 to heat or pressure, and consequently contain a much larger 

 amount of water at the beginning of the ripening stage than 

 do hard cheeses. As a consequence of this soft and moist 

 condition they afford favourable conditions for the growth 

 of various micro-organisms and fungi, and enzyme action 

 occurs more readily than in the pressed or hard varieties of 

 cheese. 



The action of these groups of fermentation agents ripens 

 the cheeses rapidly and develops high flavours, as in the 

 Camembert, Brie, and other varieties. Certain moulds 

 which form readily upon the surface of these cheeses play an 

 all-important part in the ripening process. 



These moulds are aerobic, and the ripening propagates 

 itself from the surface to the interior. The breaking-down 

 or ripening of the curd is due in most cases Jco the production 

 of unorganised ferments or enzymes, but the flavour, tex- 

 ture, and appearance of the curd are different for different 

 varieties of cheese, depending largely upon the methods 

 of treating the curd, the quality of the milk, and the condi- 

 tions in the ripening rooms. 



From the foregoing remarks it will be gathered that the 

 ripening of soft cheeses is due to the presence of certain 

 moulds and bacteria, and it is a fact that the maker never 

 produces a Camembert or Brie cheese of correct texture or 

 flavour unless he is able to grow upon the surface certain, 

 types of moulds. In the ripening of the cheeses the 

 mycelium (or "roots") of these moulds penetrates to a short 

 distance into the surface of the cheese and secretes enzymes, 

 proteid digestive materials which gradually bring about 

 changes of a digestive nature in the raw curd, this action 

 being equivalent to ripening. In the true type of ripened 

 \ soft cheese, such as Camembert, the ripening proceeds from 



