Parmesan (from the district in the North of Italy between Lodi and Cremona) is a finer cheese than Gruyère. The cows from whose milk it is made are kept in the house nearly all the year round, and fed in summer on cut grass, in winter on hay. The process of making both Gruyère and Parmesan is the same, but the quality of the milk considerably differs. Parmesan is of great size, sometimes reaching 180 lb. and is perhaps, of all cheese imported from abroad, the most useful “all round.” It is the only cheese that can be used grated for soup or macaroni. It is the custom of a good many people to supply grated Parmesan as a dinner cheese, but grated cheese, as compared with whole, suffers a certain deterioration of flavour. However this may be, avoid, if the cheese is served whole, the cutting of either this or Gruyère into thin slices, as the manner of some is. Let the cheese have fair play, and its full flavour, which it will not, unless it be cut, like any other cheese, of a reasonable thickness. Parmesan is of a yellowish-green hue, of firm and hard surface, marked by small holes. The time for ripening it properly is about 3 years. When not wanted for use, it should be kept covered with a cloth slightly steeped in sweet oil. The wholesale price is 1s. 5d. a lb.
Port du Salut.—This cheese is hardly as well-known in England as are the Roquefort and other French cheeses. It is, when fresh, a soft, pasty, mild, most palatable cheese, generally made in round cakes of 5-8 lb. in weight, and stamped with a cross and words showing its place of manufacture.
Roquefort, made in the department of Aveyron, in the south of France, is not only the most highly priced and most highly prized of the cheeses of that country, but a most formidable rival to any of the best cheeses made on the continent, and even to our own more celebrated “fancy” cheeses. It has been likened by some to Stilton; but, beyond a certain similarity of surface texture, the two have not much in common. They are, moreover, made of very different matter, Roquefort being composed of sheep and goats’ milk intermixed. Its peculiar excellence is said to be due to the natural qualities of the cellars wherein it is placed for ripening, and partly also from the manner of milking the sheep in making it. It should be kept until considerable progress of decay has been made. It is of very delicate though rather pungent flavour, and, if it lacks something of the softness and mellowness of the Stilton, will be found equally agreeable with it, at least at the dinner table. For luncheon Stilton has the preference. Its wholesale price per lb. is 1s. 5d.
Schabzieger.—This cheese is of spherical shape, of size somewhat larger than a cricket ball, with a dark thick rind. Its colour is yellow, with green veins. It is of a strong odour, and, unlike Gruyère, of an equally strong and rank taste. There is no doubt of its power to fulfil one purpose of cheese, the annihilation of the taste of anything you may have previously eaten, and for this it will be found to do good and useful service. It is a deservedly popular delicacy. The price of each cheese is about 8d. See also p. [1002].
Supplementary Literature.
John Darton: ‘The Dairyman: a Practical Guide to Cow-keeping, and the Making of Butter and Cheese.’ London. 1872. 1s.
Willis P. Hazard: ‘Butter and Butter-making, with the Best Methods for Producing and Marketing it.’ Philadelphia. 1877.
H. M. Jenkins: ‘Hints on Butter-making.’ London. 1886. 6d.
J. P. Sheldon: ‘Dairy Farming.’ London. 1l. 11s. 6d.
Canon Bagot: ‘Easy Lessons in Dairying.’ London, 1883. 6d.