Page:The Boston cooking-school cook book.djvu/33

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CHEESE
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heating, and quickly chilling with ice-water. The butter will rise to the top, and may be easily removed.

Where butter cannot be afforded, there are several products on the market which have the same chemical composition as butter, and are equally wholesome. Examples: butterine and oleomargarine.

Buttermilk is liquid remaining after butter "has come." When taken fresh, it makes a wholesome beverage.

CHEESE

COMPOSITION

Protein, 31.23% Water, 30.17%
Fat, 34.39% Mineral matter, 4.31%

Cheese is the solid part of sweet milk obtained by heating milk and coagulating it by means of rennet or an acid. Rennet is an infusion made from prepared inner membrane of the fourth stomach of the calf. The curd is salted and subjected to pressure. Cheese is made from skim milk, milk plus cream, or cream. Cheese is kept for a longer or shorter time, according to the kind, that fermentation or decomposition may take place. This is called ripening. Some cream cheeses are not allowed to ripen. Milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows yields the largest amount of cheese.

Cheese is very valuable food; being rich in protein, it may be used as a substitute for meat. A pound of cheese is equal in protein to two pounds of beef. Cheese in the raw state is difficult of digestion. This is somewhat overcome by cooking and adding a small amount of bicarbonate of soda. A small piece of rich cheese is often eaten to assist digestion.

The various brands of cheese take their names from the places where made. Many foreign ones are now well imitated in this country. The favorite kinds of skim-milk cheese are: Edam, Gruyere, and Parmesan. Parmesan is very hard and used principally for grating. The holes in Gruyere are due to aeration.

The favorite kinds of milk cheese are: Gloucester, Che-