—The improvement of cheeses made in the United States by securing different forms of ferments and utilizing the best method of setting, pressing the curd, and ripening used in other countries is worthy of all encouragement. Unfortunately a disposition has arisen in our country of giving the names of foreign varieties to the domestic articles. Many fancy domestic cheeses are sold under strictly foreign names such as Cheddar, Stilton, Cheshire, Schweitzer, Limburger, Camembert, Brie, Roquefort, etc. In fact there seems to be no limitation upon the adoption of a name already identified with a distinct type and locality. Such a tendency is greatly to be regretted and perhaps it is only necessary to point out to our people the ethical offense which they are committing by such practices to secure their discontinuance. It is, however, a perfectly legitimate undertaking to import the ferments which produce the famous cheeses of the world and utilize them to the fullest extent in cheeses of American origin. This, however, should be done in such a way as to carefully avoid applying the name of the original article to the domestic product. Perhaps it would be no ethical offense or no very great offense to place upon the labels of the cheese products a statement that they are of the same type as the foreign product they imitate. This, however, should be an explanatory phrase and not a part of the label which attracts principal attention. It is far better that a manufacturer should adopt some local name which would become identified with his product, and thus become a valuable trade-mark. The attempt to pass domestic cheese under foreign names is an offense against good ethics and also against the law. It is nothing more nor less than misbranding, and cannot be justified even in the absence of a law forbidding it.
Success with Foreign Ferments.
—Considerable success has attended the introduction of the foreign processes into the United States, together with the ferments which produce the cheeses abroad. The environment, however, cannot be imported and therefore the ferments may rapidly assimilate different properties under changed conditions, and the continued importation of fresh ferments may be necessary to preserve the type of cheese. Some of the principal types of foreign cheeses made in the United States are those which are mentioned above. A particularly excellent study has been made of the process of making a Camembert type of cheese in this country. (Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 71, 1905.) This particular cheese is a type of Camembert which is made at the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station of Connecticut. For these experiments a cheese maker familiar with the Camembert manufacture in France was secured. The method of making the cheese and also of separating the curd and ripening was as nearly as possible like that used in France. The style of the packages was the same, so that from external appearances it would be quite difficult to distinguish them from the genuine Camembert cheese of France. The success attending these experiments shows that it is possible to improve domestic cheeses by scientific effort in the direction of using the proper ferments. These soft cheeses made in Connecticut were of good quality and had something of the flavor and type of the Camembert itself, though it was not difficult for even a novice to distinguish the two varieties from one another.
These studies above referred to have resulted in a marked degree of progress in the knowledge of the real changes which take place in the ripening of cheeses. The officials in charge of the work differ somewhat with the author in respect to the character of the product, claiming that the making of Camembert cheese is not dependent upon uniform conditions obtained only in certain localities but rather on securing the proper cultures and conditions which are possible almost anywhere. The fact of the case is that the cheeses made at the Connecticut station are probably made under much more scientific conditions and much more rigid control than the real Camembert cheese made in France. The success which attended these efforts is only a proof of the statement made above that the introduction of these processes for making fancy cheeses in this country will doubtless result in the development of types of American origin of peculiar flavor and quality. Such cheeses when properly named and not confused with those of foreign origin will become quite as familiar and well known, both at home and abroad. (Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 82, 1906.)
Sage Cheese.
—The consumption of the variety of cheese known as sage cheese is not very large at the present time in the United States and is restricted to certain localities, yet it is rapidly growing in favor. Consumers who are accustomed to it are willing to pay a larger price for it than for ordinary cheese. Sage cheese is made exactly in the same manner as that described for the manufacture of Cheddar. The flavor of sage is imparted in three different ways, first, by adding the sage extract or tea to the milk; second, by adding the extract to the curd before salting; third, by adding the sage leaves to the curd before salting. The latter method is found to be the most satisfactory requiring the least amount of sage to give any definite flavor. Three ounces of sage leaves are found to be sufficient to flavor the curd from 1000 pounds of milk. The stems and impurities of the sage leaves are carefully removed and the leaves ground to a fine powder before mixing with the curd (Michigan Board of Agriculture, 1904).
Principal Cheeses of England.
—The principal English cheeses are Stilton, Cheshire, Cheddar, double and single, Gloucester, Derby, and Leicester. According to Dr. Voelcker, the finest flavored cheese is Cheshire, which differs from any other in being made from milk which is perfectly sweet, and some authors think its peculiar aroma is due to this fact. On the contrary, the more general opinion is that the best cheeses are made from milk slightly sour rather than that which is perfectly sweet.
Cheshire cheese is manufactured by mixing the evening milk, which is kept cool over night, with the morning milk, and then warming the mixture until the temperature is about 90 degrees. The proper quantity of rennet is added and when the cheese is to be extremely yellow also some annotto. After thoroughly mixing, the mass is left for nearly an hour, by which time the coagulation is completed. The next operation is the breaking down or cutting up of the fresh curd, and this is an important process. Upon the care which is exercised in doing this depends in a large measure the richness and quality of the finished product. When properly manipulated the whey which is separated will be of a greenish color and clear, while the proper combination of milk fat and casein which is secured in separating the whey will make a cheese of first class quality. The curd is so dense as to naturally separate from the whey by deposition, and the latter is thus drawn off by a stopcock properly placed in the vat. The curd is then placed upon a cloth stretched over lattice work in order that the separation of the whey may be complete. Finally before passing to the cheese house the curd is treated with eight ounces of salt to twenty pounds of curd. After the cheese is molded it is placed in a warm room for one or two days, and then taken to the press house where it is subjected to the usual pressure. The pressing process is continued by wrapping the cheese in dry cloths and subjecting to new pressure every day for five or six days. The cheese is then removed to the ripening cellar where it is turned two or three times a week. It is ripe and ready for consumption in less than one year. There are a great many variations from this method of making Cheshire cheese, but they all follow the same general plan.