THE CAMEMBERT TYPE OF SOFT CHEESE. 45 
softer, frequently so soft as to be readily spread upon bread 
like butter. But in addition to this there are other striking dif- 
ferences between the soft and hard cheeses. The soft cheeses 
are smaller than most of the hard cheeses. ‘They do not keep 
well. Above all, their flavor is quite different and is usually 
much stronger. It isa well recognized fact that while cheese 
is a valuable food because of the large amount of protein it 
contains, nevertheless it owes its chief popularity to its flavor. 
Flavors are known to be physiologically necessary to the proper 
digestion and assimilation of foods. Hence the value of highly 
flavored foods which give relish to those coarser and less flavored, 
can hardly be overestimated. The soft cheeses, with their 
strong flavors, so thoroughly enjoyed by some people, have, 
therefore, a value decidedly their own. 
The primary difference between the hard and soft cheeses is 
due to different methods of manipulation of the curdled milk. 
In the hard cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss, American, Edam, etc. ) 
the milk is curdled rather rapidly and the curdled mass subse- 
quently cut into small pieces to allow much of the whey to 
separate from the curd. Sometimes the curdled mass is heated 
still further to separate curd and whey. After this the curd is 
placed in frames and subjected to a high pressure that forces 
out more of the whey, leaving a very hard mass of tolerably 
dry curd. Such a curd ripens slowly and is not ready for 
market for some months, and even when perfectly ripe it pre- 
serves its form and never becomes very soft. 
The soft cheeses (Camembert, Brie, Isigny, Limburger, 
Backstein, Neufchatel, Cream cheeses), although each is made 
in.a-special manner, all agree in one point. The whey is never 
fully drained from them. The curdled milk is commonly ladled 
into forms and allowed to drain naturally. They are not sub- 
jected to pressure or heat and they therefore contain a larger 
per cent. of water at the start than the hard cheeses. As a 
consequence of their high water content and soft texture va- 
“rious micro-organisms find in them favorable conditions for 
growth and enzyme action also occurs more readily than in 
hard cheeses. The action of these two groups of fermentation 
agents ripens the cheeses rapidly and develops high flavors. 
* The cheeses are ready for the table in a few weeks instead of 
months, and when ripened have not only strong flavors but 
