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![]() Hard Cheese with Eyes Besides Organoleptic
and Functional Requirements, Cheeses Need to Look Perfect Too
Volume 126, No. 35, Friday, March
1 2002 |
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The alpine cheeses of Europe have been a great gift to all who enjoy
cheese. Few consumers can appreciate how difficult it has been for
the traditional cheese maker to perfect his art and the subtleties
involved in the manufacture of such cheese. Add to that the good luck
that comes when certain elements used combine to produce an incredible
cheese, the great family of cheeses that are generically referred to
as, Swiss Cheese. For this chapter I don’t wish to consider rindless
Swiss, but just the cheeses from which they evolved.
There are some fundamental reasons why Swiss cheese is special and
is possibly the most difficult cheese to manufacture consistently.
In addition to its organoleptic and functional requirements it has
the added dimension of needing to look good, as close to perfect as
is possible. Swiss cheese eyes are synonymous with quality, imperfect
eyes may tell a tale of poor curd handling, a foreign bacteria or unsuitable
milk.
Traditional Swiss cheese was made in the mountains in France, Switzerland,
Germany and Austria and includes names such as Emmental, Comte and
Gruyere. These cheeses were made in the summer and eaten during the
long winter, often used in fondue style preparation. The process evolved
primitively but as with all things modern, it has become more of a
small factory process as practiced today. In the mountains feed was
only available during the summer so small herds of cows could be taken
up and would milk well on the native pasture. Visualize a cheese maker
with his copper vat out in the open cooking his cheese curds, (but
more likely in a hut); the cheese would be made in the small building,
stored on racks, salted and turned and then carried down the mountains
for further storage and maturation.
The cheeses were large, as large as 180 pounds each, with very even
thickness; the diameter may vary from cheese to cheese. These large
wheels would under the right conditions develop the most wonderful
eyes and flavor, but like all cheese is eaten when young lacked character.
Emmental is more likely to be eaten young and Gruyere when it is older,
in excess of one year yields a high quality product. But why is it
so special?
Again imagine the cows are milked by hand into wooden buckets, the
milk is transferred to a large copper pan or vat situated over a wood
fire. Rennet or a rennet paste is added to the milk, it is coagulated
and cut finely into rice grain particles, the curds and whey are then
gently heated to approximately 121oF, higher for Gruyere and varieties
without or less eyes. The curds and whey would be stirred by hand throughout
the heating process and after the heating had ceased until the cheese
had the right feel. At no time did the cheese maker add a lactic culture
or an eye forming culture. The natural lactic bacteria in the environment
were enough to provide fermentation of lactose to lactic acid, the
cheese maker then chose to heat his cheese to a higher temperature
than he might have in a valley setting. This proved to be a selective
process, eliminating the mesophilic (typical Cheddar) bacteria and
promoting the thermophillic bacteria which would withstand the high
cook temperature. Also resilient to the high cook temperature were
the Propioni bacteria that were in the milk, almost certainly from
the coat/skin of the milking cow. The cheese maker obviously adopted
this high heat process because he was getting better results. A big
part of the reason for the high cook may have been the need to make
a cheese with less moisture.
He would then lift the cheese out of the vessel in a cloth and place
it into a simple wooden band type mold sitting on a wooden surface.
The cheese would then be pressed lightly overnight, the overnight condition
permitting the slow cooling and acidification of the curd. Next day
the cheese would be placed on a shelf and rubbed with salt, just enough
to maintain a good rind. With luck the eye forming bacteria would grow
and eyes would be formed.
From the cheese maker’s point of view it must have been easier
once he had a small factory, with stable conditions. Traditional style
Emmental and Gruyere will progress through as many as three different
temperatures during ripening, at some point the highest temperature
will promote eye development. Finally a cooler temperature will provide
a stable holding temperature. Humidity is also a variable that can
lead to a greatly enhanced and more complex flavor development. The
surface flora that provides beneficial development would all have come
from elements of the local environment.
How frustrating it must have been to not hear the hollow thump when
a cheese was tapped with the cheese trier handle. Or the horror of
too many eyes or a blow hole beneath the surface. There is a lot going
on in a good Swiss style cheese no matter which version we speak of.
Swiss cheese makers are among the best trained today and most knowledgeable
about the cheesemaking process they perform. They have developed some
uniquely useful tools to aid in the assessment of quality and we are
grateful for their contribution.
Savor your next taste of 15 month Gruyere and give thought to the many
interactive processes that brought this cheese to your table. •
Neville McNaughton, president of Cheez Sorce, St. Louis, MO, has many years of experience manufacturing dairy products in both New Zealand and US. He has been a judge at several cheese competitions. Neville will be writing a regular column in Cheese Reporter and will take any questions regarding cheese manufacture. You can reach him at CheezSorce@sbcglobal.net. jumhoefer@wischeesemakersassn. org
Other Neville McNaughton Columns |
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Other Cheese Reporter Guest Columnists |
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