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Fresh,
unripened cheeses:
These are cheeses which do not undergo a maturing process and include
Cottage, Cream and Ricotta. In taste they are the mildest, least flavoursome
of all cheeses. They are usually not salted.
Double
and Triple cremes:
These cheeses have been heavily enriched with cream during their manufacturing
process. The double cremes have a fat content of 60 per cent, and the
triple cremes a 75 per cent fat content. This makes them all exceptionally
rich, creamy and luscious. Some of them do not undergo a ripening process,
so they can also be classed as unripened cheeses. Petit Suisse is a
case in point. Although it is not ripened, its fat content can vary
between 60 and 75 per cent. Other double and triple cremes are cured
for about three weeks before marketing and develop a very thin, downy
rind. These include Boursault, Brillat-Savarin and Excelsior. Others
such as Blue Castello and Bavarian Blue have a blue veining. While double
and triple cremes can vary in flavour and style, they have in common
a degree of richness and creaminess not present in other cheeses.
Bland
and buttery:
Into this category can be placed a great variety of essentially mild
tasting, stable, all-purpose table cheeses. These cheeses are unpronounced
in flavour and aroma which is not to say that they are without distinction.
The range is considerable and includes the Samsoe group, Edam, Gouda,
Bel Paese and Fontina. Such cheeses are usually firm and supple-textured,
easily sliceable and make excellent lunch, breakfast or sandwich snacks.
Many are of sufficient quality to be served at end of meals.
Swiss-style
cheeses:
The most famous of these is Emmentaler with its tough outer rind, distinctive
holes or 'eyes' and characteristic mild, sweetish, nutty flavour. Relatives
of Emmentaler include Appenzell, Gruyere, Royalp, Sbrinz and Raclette.
Swiss-style cheeses usually have tough hard rinds and interiors dotted
with holes. These holes are caused by expansion of gas within the cheese
curd during the ripening period.
Cheddar-style
cheeses:
Cheddar is one of the most popular and widely copied cheeses in the
world. Cheeses that are 'cheddared' undergo a step in the making process
which involves them being cut into pieces and stacked and turned at
the bottom of the cheese vat for a period. The archetypal Cheddar cheese
is firmtextured, yellow in colour with a clean, mellow taste which develops
a sharp and tangy bite the further it matures. English cheeses such
as Gloucester, Cheshire, Leicester, Lancashire, Derby, Wensleydale and
Caerphilly all belong to the Cheddar family. Even Stilton, a blue vein,
is Cheddar based. America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand all make
varieties of Cheddar in varying degrees of strength. Vermont is one
of the best-known American types and the Canadian Cheddars, made from
unpasteurised milk, are highly rated. Cantal is a French Cheddar-style
cheese and Kashkaval is a distant Greek relative made from sheep's milk.
Extra-hard
cheeses:
The majority of these cheeses are the Italian Grana style. They have
an exceptionally hard, brittle texture which makes them suitable for
grating and are known for their exquisitely sharp, piquant flavour.
Cheeses of this type can be matured for up to three years. Parmesan
is the best known of the group but the Swiss Sbrinz and Sapsago cheeses
also fit into the category. Saanen, also Swiss, is sometimes matured
for seven years. Young versions of some grating cheeses are used as
table cheeses.
Monastery
cheeses:
Cheeses in this group are often linked historically in that they have
monastic origins. Such cheeses as Port Salut, Saint Paulin, the various
forms of Trappist cheese made throughout the world, Esrom and Havarti
have similarities of taste, although varying degrees of strength of
flavour and aroma. Several mountain cheeses, such as Beaumont and Reblochon,
are also classified as monastery type cheeses. The majority of monastery
cheeses are of the washed rind variety.
Blue
veins:
These cheeses are characterized by their internal veining of blue, blue-black
or green, and their pungent aromas and tangy flavours. All blue-vein
cheeses are internally ripened after being inoculated with a Penicillium
spore. They are usually classed as soft cheeses but can be crumbly in
texture. Some, however, are exceptionally soft, even to the point of
spreadability. Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola are considered the
three best blue veins in the world.
Camembert
and Brie types:
These cheeses are known as bloomy or flowery-rind cheeses because of
the light, downy white rind that grows on their surfaces, the result
of their being treated with the Penioillium candidate spore. The interior
paste of this sort of cheese is soft and straw yellow in colour. If
the cheese is at its peak, the paste bulges out from beneath the rind
when the cheese is cut. Tangy, richly delicate and delicious in flavour,
Camembert and Brie are widely copied, but the French versions, of which
there are many, are generally acknowledged as the best and the most
fullflavoured. Other cheeses of this type include Carre de l'Est, Coulommiers
and Chaource.
Goat's
milk cheeses:
Distinctively different in taste to cow's milk cheeses, these cheeses
come in a variety of shapes and sizes such as pyramids, cones and cylinders,
all usually quite small. All have a characteristic barnyard or 'goaty'
quality to their flavour, but whether this is mild or pronounced depends
on how long the cheese has been aged. Some are quite delicate; others
are ferociously pungent and rank. All French goat's milk cheeses are
called Levees and today many are made from a mixture of goat's milk
and cow's or sheep's milk.
Ewe's
milk cheeses:
Like goat's milk cheeses, these cheeses taste quite different to cow's
milk varieties. Their flavour ranges from mild to sharp. Some are noticeably
salty, the result of being matured in brine. Many of the traditional
Greek cheeses fall into this category, Feta being best known. Others,
like Kashkaval and Kasseri, have a noticeable 'sheepy' flavour Qa sourish
tang, distinctive and attractive and, like many goat's milk cheeses,
vaguely 'barnyardy'.
Spiced
or flavoured cheeses:
Many cheeses have their flavours enhanced by the addition of a variety
of herbs and spices. Derby Sage has a greenish hue due to sage being
introduced to the cheese curd during the making process (Vermont Sage
is the American equivalent); Leyden is treated with caraway and cumin
seeds; and Boursin, a triple-creme cheese, is marketed in flavoured
versions ranging from pepper to garlic. Other cheeses may be studded
with walnuts, covered with grape seeds or treated with cloves. The English
are now producing several of their traditional lines flavoured with
beer, wine, cider, port and chives.
Smoked
cheeses:
Smoked cheese is simply a cheese variety, often Cheddar or Emmentaler,
which has been treated and flavoured with smoke. Most of this type of
cheese is processed. It is often made in traditional sausage shapes.
In most cases the smoke flavour is produced by chemicals rather than
by hanging the cheeses over a fire. Smoked cheeses are often additionally
flavoured with ingredients ranging from caraway seeds to a textured
vegetable protein tasting like ham.
Whey
cheeses:
While the great majority of cheeses are made from the curds of the milk,
there are some which are made from the whey. Gjetost, a cheese totally
distinctive in looks and taste, is one. It has milk sugar (lactose)
and cream added to it during the making process and looks like a chunk
of chocolate fudge. Ricotta, already classed as an unripened cheese,
is also made from whey but is basically an Italian version of Cottage
Cheese. It has nothing in common, in either taste or appearance, with
Gjetost except that it is a whey cheese.
Strong-smelling
cheeses:
Probably the best known cheese in this category is Limburger, Belgian
in origin but often thought of as German due to its great popularity
in that country. Cheeses that possess a truly powerful aroma are usually
of the washed-rind variety. For many people the aroma is both the beginning
and the end of the acquaintance. A legendary story about Limburger recounts
the uproar that was created in a small town in Green County, Wisconsin,
when a cartload of ripened Limburgers was left unattended in a main
street. The fact is that cheeses such as Limburger, Maroilles and Livarot
are extremely pungent smelling, not to say rank, and overpowering. In
Limburger's case, its bark is somewhat less than its bite, for the cheese's
taste is not as strong as its smell. Maroilles and Livarot, however,
are both strongsmelling and strong-tasting, as are the German matured
varieties of sour curd cheeses such as Harz and Mainz (the American
version of this style of cheese is known as Hand). Brick and Liederkranz,
the two cheeses that are considered genuine American originals, are
also noted for their distinctive aromas, but unless well aged they are
not overpronounced in taste.
Processed
cheese:
All processed cheese has its ripening process arrested at a given point
by heat treatment. It is usually made from one or two cheese types blended
together and can never develop the individuality of flavour of natural
cheese because the micro-organisms that create such things are effectively
killed off. For many people processed cheeses taste 'plastic' and innocuous
but nevertheless they are enormously popular partly because of their
keeping properties, their economy and their blandness. Today there is
an enormous range of processed cheese on the market, flavoured by a
staggering variety of ingredients which range from salmon to pineapple.
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