Fig. 57.—Parmesan cheese kettles.
The general character of the manufacturing process is indicated in the following abstract of one of the methods. Many variations are to be found. The milk for Parmesan is allowed to stand overnight. Some acidity is, therefore, developed in contrast to the absolutely fresh condition of the milk used in Swiss and the acidification developed during the making of Cheddar (Fascetti). It is then skimmed, heated to 72° to 75° F. Rennet is added in amount sufficient to produce firm curd in one hour or slightly less. When the curd is firm, a wood fire is made under the kettle and the curd is broken with a special implement into small particles. After breaking, four grains of powdered sulfur to twenty-two gallons of milk are added. The curd is stirred with a rake. By the time the temperature rises to 77° F., the curd should be in very small pieces. Stirring and heating continue until the temperature reaches 131° F. At this temperature, it stands fifteen minutes, after which it is removed from the fire (or the fire is drawn). Nine-tenths of the whey is then drawn. The cheese-maker then collects the curd into a compact lump under which he slips a cheese cloth. With the aid of an assistant he removes the mass to a perforated vessel for draining. After this the curd goes into large wooden hoops, lined with cloth, which stand upon a slanting draining table until evening. No pressure is used. Before night they are taken to the cellar. The cloths are removed next day. After standing four days, they are salted by covering the upper surface with coarse salt. This is repeated with daily turning for twenty days, then salted on alternate days for another period of twenty days. At the end of the forty days' salting, the cheese is removed from the hoop, scraped, sprinkled with whey and the rind rubbed smooth. A dressing of linseed oil either with or without bone black is applied.
Fig. 58.—A typical cheese-market in France.
The cheeses are kept in special ripening rooms, and rubbed frequently with linseed oil to keep the surfaces free from molds and vermin. Careful grading as to quality of product and consequent response to ripening conditions produce cheeses of many degrees of excellence. Those in which a ripening of three to four years is possible are most highly esteemed.
277. Regianito.—A cheese of the Italian group is now made in Argentina and imported to the United States under the name Regianito.