Qual., &c. Cheese has been objected to as an article of diet, but without sufficient reason, since it is, when of good quality, eminently nutritious, wholesome, and digestible. Like all other food, cheese digests more readily when well masticated, and the neglect of this precaution is one reason why it frequently disagrees with delicate stomachs. It is rendered more agreeable to many palates by toasting it, but becomes less digestible by that operation. The basis of cheese is casein or coagulated curd, a protein substance; it therefore cannot fail to prove nutritious, provided it is properly digested. Cheese-curd, carefully freed from water and milk by expression, and the addition of salt, is a mixture of casein and butter. It contains all the phosphate of lime and part of the phosphate of soda of the milk. (Liebig.) When taken as a condiment, especially when rich and old, it powerfully promotes the secretion of the saliva and gastric juice, and thereby aids the stomach in performing its proper functions. Rotten cheese is very unwholesome.
We give below the composition of some of the principal varieties of cheese:—
| Cheddar. | Double Gloucester. | Skim. | |
| Water | 36·64 | 35·61 | 43·64 |
| Casein | 23·38 | 21·76 | 45·64 |
| Fatty matter | 35·44 | 38·16 | 5·76 |
| Mineral matter | 4·54 | 4·47 | 4·96 |
| ——— | ——— | ——— | |
| 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 | |
| Stilton. | Cotherstone. | ||
| Water | 32·18 | 38·28 | |
| Butter | 37·36 | 30·89 | |
| Casein | 24·31 | 23·93 | |
| Milk, sugar, and extractive matters | 2·22 | 3·70 | |
| Mineral matter | 3·93 | 3·20 | |
| ——— | ——— | ||
| 100·00 | 100·00 | ||
| Gruyère. | Ordinary Dutch. | ||
| Water | 40·00 | 36·10 | |
| Casein | 31·50 | 29·40 | |
| Fatty matter | 24·00 | 27·50 | |
| Salts | 3·00 | ·90 | |
| Non-nitrogenous organic matter and loss | 1·50 | 6·10 | |
| ——— | ——— | ||
| 100·00 | 100·00 |
Concluding Remarks.—It is surprising that cheese is not more frequently made an article of domestic manufacture, especially by housewives resident in the country. The operations of cheese-making are all exceedingly simple, and not laborious, and will, in most cases, amply repay the outlay for the milk. Besides, cheese is not unfrequently coloured with stains and pigments which are injurious, and even poisonous, the risk of taking which is not encountered when it is made at home. Several persons have nearly lost their lives from eating cheese coloured with annotta, for instance. This substance, though harmless in itself, is frequently adulterated with red lead, so that the cheesemonger may very innocently introduce a poison, when he only intends to improve the colour of his goods.
When a whole cheese is cut, and the consumption small, it is generally found to become unpleasantly dry, and to lose flavour before it is consumed. This is best prevented by cutting a sufficient quantity for a few days’ consumption from the cheese, and keeping the remainder in a cool place, rather damp than dry, spreading a thin film of butter over the fresh surface, and covering it with a cloth or pan to keep off the dirt. This removes the objection existing in small families against purchasing a whole cheese at a time. The common practice of buying small quantities of cheese should be avoided, as not only a higher price is paid for any given quality, but there is little likelihood of obtaining exactly the same flavour twice running. Should cheese become too dry to be agreeable, it may be used
for stewing, or for making grated cheese or Welsh rare-bits.
Cheese, Ap′ple. The pomace or ground apples from the cider press.
Cheese, Dam′son. Prep. From damsons boiled with a little water, the pulp passed through a sieve, and then boiled with about one fourth the weight of sugar, until the mixture solidifies on cooling; it is next poured into small tin moulds previously dusted out with sugar. Cherry cheese, gooseberry cheese, plum cheese, &c., are prepared in the same way, using the respective kinds of fruit. They are all very agreeable candies or confections.
Cheese, Facti′tious Roque′fort. Prep. (Roulle.) The gluten of wheat is kneaded with a little salt, and a small portion of a solution of starch, and made up into cheeses. It is said that this mixture soon acquires the taste, smell, and unctuosity of cheese, and when kept a certain time is not to be distinguished from the celebrated Roquefort cheese, of which it possesses all the peculiar pungency. By slightly varying the process other kinds of cheese may be imitated.
Cheese, Legumin. The Chinese prepare an actual cheese from peas, called “tao-foo,” which they sell in the streets of Canton. The paste from steeped ground peas is boiled, which causes the starch to dissolve with the casein; after straining the liquid, it is coagulated by a solution of gypsum; this coagulum is worked up like sour milk, salted, and pressed into moulds.