CHEESE, a species of solid food, prepared from curdled milk cleared of the whey, and afterwards dried for use. As this article constitutes a material part of domestic consumption, we find in almost every country, one or more places celebrated for the superior quality of their cheese. Hence, we propose to enumerate the principal sorts of this manufacture, both at home and abroad; introducing also an account of the mode in which they are prepared.
I. Stilton Cheese is produced in the town of that name, in the county of Huntingdon; and from its peculiar richness, and flavour, is sometimes called English Parmesan. The process of making it is as follows: the night's cream is put to the morning's milk, with the rennet; when the curd is come, it is not broken, as is usually done with other cheese, but taken out whole, and put into a sieve, in order to drain gradually. While draining, it is pressed till it becomes firm and dry; when it is placed in a wooden hoop, or box, made to fit it, as it is so extremely rich, that without this precaution, it would be apt to separate. It is afterwards kept on dry boards, and turned daily, with cloth binders round it, which are tightened as occasion requires. After being taken out of the hoop, the cheese is closely bound with cloths, which are changed every day, till it acquires sufficient firmness to support itself: when these cloths are removed, each cheese is rubbed over daily, for two or three months, with a brush; and, if the weather be damp, or moist, twice a-day: the tops and bottoms are treated in a similar manner every day, even before the cloths are taken off.
Stilton cheese is sometimes made in nets, resembling cabbage-nets; but these are neither so good, nor so richly flavoured, as those prepared in the manner before described.
Although the Stilton farmers are in much repute for their cleanliness, they take but little pains with the rennet; as they, in general, cut small pieces from the vell, or maw, that are put into the milk; and, being gently agitated with the hand, break, or turn it, so that the curd is easily obtained. We venture, however, to say, that their valuable cheese might be improved, and few broken ones occur, if they would prepare the rennet in the manner adopted in the west of England; namely, by keeping the vell, maw, or rennet-bag (as it is differently called), perfectly sweet and fresh; for, if it be in the least degree tainted, the cheese will never acquire a fine flavour. When the vell, or maw, is fit for the purpose, a strong solution of salt should be made, with two quarts of soft, sweet, water, into which are to be introduced sweet briar, rose leaves, and flowers, cinnamon, mace, cloves, and, in short, almost every kind of spice and aromatics, that can be procured. The whole must boil gently, till the liquor is reduced to three pints, and care should be taken that it be not smoked. The spices should next be strained clean, and the liquid, when milk warm, poured upon the vell, or maw. A lemon may then be sliced into it, and the whole stand at rest for a day or two; after which it should be again strained, and bottled. Thus, if well corked, it will keep good for twelve months, or longer, possess a fine aromatic odour, and impart an agreeable flavour to the cheese.
II. Cheshire Cheese is prepared in the following way: The evening's milk is not touched till the next morning, when the cream is taken off, and put to warm in a brass pan, heated with boiling water: one-third part of that milk is heated in a similar manner. The cows being milked early in the morning, the new milk, and that of the preceding night, thus prepared, are poured into a large tub, together with the cream. A piece of rennet, kept in luke-warm water, since the preceding evening, is put into the tub, in order to coagulate the milk; with which, if the cheese is intended to be coloured, a small quantity of arnotto (or of an infusion of marigolds, or carrots), is rubbed fine and mixed; the whole is stirred together, and, being covered up warm, allowed to stand about half an hour, or till it is coagulated; when it is first turned over with a bowl, to separate the whey from the curds, and broken soon after into very small particles: the whey being separated, by standing some time, is taken from the curd, which sinks to the bottom, and is then collected into a part of the tub, provided with a slip, or loose board, to cross the diameter of the bottom, for the sole purpose of effecting this separation; on which a board is placed, weighing from 60, to 120 pounds, in order to press out the whey. As soon as it acquires a greater degree of solidity, it is cut into slices, and turned over several times, to extract all the whey, and again pressed with weights: these operations may consume about an hour and a half. It is then taken from the tub, and broken very small by the hand, salted, and put into a cheese vat, the depth of which is enlarged by a tin hoop fitted to the top. The side is then strongly pressed, both by hand, and with a board at the top, well weighted; and wooden skewers are placed round the cheese, at the centre, which are frequently drawn out. It is then shifted out of the vat, a cloth being previously put on the top of it, and reversed on the cloth into another vat, or again into the same, if well scalded, before the cheese be returned to it. The top, or upper part, is next broken by the hand, down to the middle, salted, pressed, weighted, and skewered, as before, till all the whey is extracted. This being done, the cheese is again reversed into another vat, likewise warmed, with a cloth under it, and a tin hoop, or binder, put round the upper edge of the cheese, and within the sides of the vat; the former being previously inclosed in a cloth, and its edges put within the vessel. These various operations are performed from about seven o'clock in the morning till one at noon. The pressing of the cheese requires about eight hours more, as it must be twice turned in the vat, round which thin wire skewers are passed, and shifted occasionally. The next morning it ought to be turned, and pressed again, as likewise at night, and on the succeeding day; about the middle of which it is removed to the salting-room, where the outside is salted, and a cloth binder tied round it. After this process, the cheese is turned twice daily, for six or seven days; then left two or three weeks to dry, during which time, it is once turned, and cleaned every day; and at length deposited in the common cheese-room, on a boarded floor, covered with straw, where it is turned daily, till it acquires sufficient hardness. The room should be of a moderate warmth, but no wind, or draught of air, must be permitted to enter, as this generally cracks the cheese. The outsides, or rinds of them, are sometimes rubbed with butter, or oil, in order to give them a coat.
III. Gloucester Cheese is made of milk immediately from the cow; but which, in summer, is thought too hot, and is, therefore, lowered to the requisite degree of heat, before the rennet is added, by pouring in skim-milk, or, if that will not answer, by the addition of water. As soon as the curd "is come," it is broken with a double cheese knife, and also with the hand, in order to clear it from the whey, which is laded off. The curd, being thus freed from the principal part of the whey, is put into vats, which are set in the press for ten or fifteen minutes, in order to extract all the remaining liquid. It is then turned out of the vats into the cheese tubs again; broken small, and scalded with a pailful of water, lowered with whey, about three parts water to one of whey; and the whole is briskly agitated, the curd and water being equally mixed together. After having stood a few minutes, to let the curd subside, the liquor is poured off; and the former collected into a vat, the surface of which is, when about half full, sprinkled with a little salt, that is worked in among the curd. The vat is then filled up, and the whole mass turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd is put into a cloth, and placed in the press, whence it is carried to the shelves, and turned, generally, once a day, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of compactness, to enable it to undergo the operation of washing.
IV. Wiltshire Cheese. The milk which produces this cheese is run, as it comes from the cow, or as it happens to be lowered, by the small quantity of skim-milk mixed with it. The curd is first broken with the hand and dish, care being taken, in first crushing the curd, to let the whey run off gradually, to prevent its carrying away with it the "fat" of the cowl. For thin cheese, the curd is not broken so fine as in Gloucestershire; for thick cheese, it is crushed still finer; and, for what is called loaves, it is, in a manner, reduced to atoms. The whey is poured off as it rises, and the curd pressed down. The mass of curd is then pared down, three or four times over, in slices about an inch thick, in order to extract all the whey from it, pressed, and scalded in a similar manner to the Gloucester cheese. After separating the whey, the curd is, in some dairies, re-broken, and salted in the cowl; while, in others, it is taken warm out of the liquor, and salted in the vat: thin cheeses being placed, with a small handful of salt, in one layer; thick ones, with two small handfuls, in two layers; loaves, with two handfuls, in three or four layers; the salt being spread, and rubbed uniformly among the curd. Wiltshire cheese is commonly salted twice in the press, where it remains, in proportion to its thickness; thin cheeses, three or four meals; thick ones, four or five; and loaves, five or six.
V. Cottenham Cheese. The superiority of this cheese, both in delicacy and flavour, is not ascribed to any particular management of the dairies, but solely to the fragrant nature of the herbage on the commons.
VI. Suffolk, or Skim-Cheese. The curd used in making this cheese, is "broken up" in the whey, which is poured off, as soon as the former has subsided; the remainder, with the curd, being thrown into a coarse strainer, and exposed for cooling, is then pressed as tightly as possible; after which, it is put into a vat; and set in a press, for a few minutes, to discharge the remaining whey. When all the liquid part is drained off, the curd is taken out, again broken as finely as possible, salted, and returned to the press.—In some large dairies, mills are employed for breaking the curd.—This kind of cheese is much used at sea, as being less liable to be affected by the heat of warm climates, than others.
VII. Chedder Cheese is held in high estimation; but its goodness is attributed chiefly to the land on which the cows feed, as the method of making it is similar to that pursued throughout Somersetshire, and the adjoining counties.
VIII. Lincolnshire Cheese. By adding the cream of one meal's milk, to that which comes immediately from the cow, excellent cream cheese is made in that county. It is gently pressed two or three times, and turned for a few days, previous to its being sent to market. This cheese is usually eaten while new, with salad, radishes, &c.
Having thus given an account of the principal sorts of cheese produced in this country, we shall likewise enumerate some of the most celebrated kinds prepared on the Continent.
1. The Parmesan Cheese is made of the evening's milk, after having been skimmed in the morning, and at noon, and mixed with that of the morning, which has likewise been previously skimmed at noon. The whole is poured into a copper cauldron, resembling an inverted bell, and suspended on the arm of a lever, so as to be moved off and on the fire, at pleasure. In this, the milk is gradually heated to the temperature of about 120 degrees, when it is removed from the fire. As soon as it has subsided, the rennet, in a small bag, is steeped in it; and, being occasionally squeezed, a sufficient quantity of it soon passes into the milk, which is then well stirred, and left to coagulate. In the course of an hour, the coagulation is completed, when the milk is again put over the fire, and raised to a temperature of about 145 degrees: and, while it is heating, the whole mass is briskly agitated, till the curd separates in small lumps. Part of the whey is then taken out, and a hide saffron added to the remainder, in order to colour it. When the curd is thus broken sufficiently small, nearly the whole of the whey is taken out, and two pailfuls of cold water poured in, by which the temperature is lowered, so as to enable the dairy-man to collect the former, by passing a cloth beneath it, and gathering it up at the corners. The curd is then pressed into a frame of wood, resembling a peck-measure without a bottom, placed on a solid table, and covered by a round piece of wood, with a great stone at the top. In the course of the night, it cools, assumes a firm consistence, and the whey drains off. The next day, one side is salted, and on the succeeding day the cheese is turned, and die other side rubbed in a similar manner. This operation is continued for about forty days, when the outer crust of the cheese is pared off, the fresh furface is varnished with linseed oil, the convex side coloured red, and the cheese is fit for use.
2. Green Swiss Cheese appears to possess no other peculiarity than that derived from the fragrant powder of the Common Meliot, or the Trifolium Melilotus officin. L., which, however, imparts to it a strong flavour, rather offensive than agreeable to most persons: hence it is not calculated to become a favourite article in this country, though considerable quantities of Swiss cheese are annually imported for the tables of the luxurious.
3. Dutch Cheese is likewise prepared in the manner generally adopted in Cheshire, with this difference, that the Dutch, instead of rennet, make use of spirit of salt. Hence their cheese not only acquires a sharp saline taste, but is also said to be exempt from the depredations of mites: its rich buttery quality must be ascribed to the luxuriant vegetation in the low countries.
4. Westphalia Cheese. M. Hochheimer, a German author, asserts "that it is preferred in England to the Dutch, Swiss, and even Parmesan cheese." Having had no experience of its taste, we can only give an account of the manner in which it is prepared.
After the cream is removed from the milk, when in a sub-acid state, the latter is placed near a fire, spontaneously to coagulate. The curd is then put into a coarse bag, and loaded with ponderous stones to express the whey: in this dry state, it is rubbed between the hands, and crumbled into an empty, clean milk-vat, where it is suffered to remain from three to eight days, accordingly as the cheese is intended to be strong, or mild. This part of the process is called "skinning," or more properly, mellowing; because it undergoes the putrid stage of fermentation, and acquires a coat, or skin, on the top, before it is taken out of the vessel, and kneaded into balls, or cylinders, with the addition of a considerable portion of caraways, salt, and butter; or, occasionally, a small quantity of pounded pepper, and cloves. But, if it be too far advanced in the mellowing process, a third part of fresh curds, likewise crumbled into small pieces, is superadded, to prevent, or correct its putrid tendency. In short, the whole mass requires a powerful hand to form a complete union of parts; for it is very apt to corrupt, when imperfectly kneaded. As the pieces, when moulded, are of small size, not exceeding three or four ounces each, in weight, they soon dry in the open air, and are then fit for use. It is, however, necessary to turn and clean them, as well as to shift their places every day upon a board, in order to promote their maturity. After being nearly dry, they are sometimes (for the palate of epicures) suspended in a wood-fire chimney, by means of a net, for several weeks, or months: and both their taste and flavour, are said to be remarkably improved, whether kept in a dry air, or subjected to the action of smoke.
5. Potatoe-Cheese. There are three varieties of this curious article prepared in Germany: we shall, however, describe only that sort which appears to us the most plausible.—The best mealy potatoes are selected, and half-boiled in steam; as, by bursting, their flavour and efficacy are diminished. When cool, they are peeled, and finely grated, or beat into a pulp with a wooden pestle. Three parts of this soft mass, and two parts of sweet curd, after expressing all its whey, are kneaded together, and allowed to stand two or three days in warm, and four or five days in cold, weather. The mixture is then formed into small pieces, like those of Westphalia cheese, and dried in a similar manner.
But, says M. Hochheimer, if you wish to procure a more delicious pntatoe-cheese, take only one part of potatoes, and three of the curd made of sheep's milk; let the kneaded mass remain three or four days in a vat, to become mellow; then put a stratum of it, one inch high, into a small firkin, strew a few lilac flowers, or caraways and mace, over it; spread a little fresh butter, about the size of a walnut, over these aromatics; then form another layer, repeat the same mode of seasoning the cheese, and proceed in a similar manner to the top of the vessel. When this cheese has been kept for some days, in a dry, airy place, without being exposed to the sun, it is said to excel in taste the best sort made in Holland; and to possess the additional advantage, that it improves with age, and generates no vermin.—We have had no opportunity of ascertaining the truth of this boasted superiority, and candidly submit the process to the decision of our economical readers.
Preservation of Cheese. Among the various productions of the vegetable kingdom, there are perhaps none better calculated for this purpose, than the following: 1. The leaves of the Yellow Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum luteum, L.; 2. The Tutsan, or Park-leaves, Hypericum androsæmum, L.; and 3. The tender branches of the common birch tree, Betula alba, L.—The two first of which, in particular, have from experience been found to possess considerable antiseptic properties. They ought, however, to be employed only when moderately dry, in which state they should be placed upon, or at the fides of the cheese, in an airy situation. The twigs of the birch are especially useful, in preventing the ravages of mites.
Hard and spoiled Cheese may be restored in the following manner: Take four ounces of pearl-ash, pour sweet white wine over it, till the mixture ceases to effervesce. Filtre the solution, dip into it clean linen cloths, cover the cheese with them, and put the whole into a cool place, or dry cellar. Repeat this process every day, at the same time turning the cheese; and, if necessary, continue it for several weeks; thus, the hardest and most insipid cheese has frequently recovered its former flavour.
Although we have devoted much room, and attention, to this important subject, considered in an economical view, we shall be very concise on the physical properties of cheese. This substance, being the coarsest and most viscid part of the milk, is digested with difficulty; and therefore calculated only for the more vigorous stomach of the healthy and laborious. Hence, persons of a delicate organization, as well as the studious and sedentary, ought carefully to abstain from its use: for, when eaten new, for instance cream-cheese, it is apt to disagree, produce rancid eructations, and impair the digestive organs: when old, it has a remarkable tendency to putrify, and taint the breath, even of the healthful. After dinner, a very small quantity of sound, old cheese, may do no injury; but it neither assists the digestion of food, nor produces any additional nutriment, when the vessels already abound with alimentary matter.—Lastly, we advise those who know the value of health, and are enabled to procure more salutary food, never to make a meal upon bread and cheese alone.