FOOD VALUE OF CHEESE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 473, 3 April 1909, Page 3

FOOD VALUE OF CHEESE.

AN INTERESTING LECTURE. In a lantern lecture at Bradford on "Dairying and Cheesemaking," Mr. J. J. Whittaker, president of the Bradford Produce Merchants' Association, said that, with all the improvements in machinery and the advances in chemistry, it had not yet been .possiblo to get milk without tho cow. Discussing the question of tho flavour of the butters, he pointed out that his experience was. that the best butter was made in the old-fashioned barrel churns, for, though it took longer/the globules of butter-fat' in the milk were brought into contact most smoothly, and the flavour was most delioious when the natural globules were broken only on the tongue. The now machinery was more expeditious, but being more violent in its action, produced, he believed, inferior butter. Turning to cheese-making, Mr. AYhittaker said that, in comparison. wtih the easy process of butter-making, tho production of cheese was difficult and intricate. There wore so many conditions which required to be watched , and guarded against that the greatest skill on the part of the dairymaid was requisite. With the aid of many excellent pictures the lecturer described the production of an early ripening curd , cheese such as was most in favour in the Bradford district. There was, the lecturer remarked, a -curious and inexplicable difference between the cheeses of different dairies. Among tho farmers under his control there were some makers whoso cheeses were fit to oat seven days after being made, and which, indeed, were better than at a later period. With others it required from a month to six weeks to mature, or even longer. It was very bad etiquette for a buyer to examine more than two cheeses in the cheese room, and, indeed, if he did insist on doing so, ho would probably be promptly shown off the premises by the farmer's wife.' His ' own practice (the lecturer added) was to examine the oldest and the youngest cheeses in the room, and aided by his knowledge of tho pedigree of the' dairy, ho formed his judg- , ment of the value of the bulk of tho cheese. In conclusion, Mr. Whittaker drew special attention to the high value of cheese as a food. This' was a matter which ought to be known to every grocer and ought to bo impressed by. him on his customers.- At his requost, his friend, the city and West Riding analyst (Mr. F. W. Richardson), had prepared a tabular statement which compared the food values of various groceries. This showed in grains to tho ounce (an ounce containing 437.5 grains) the nitrogen —which represented the flesh-forming properties of the food—and the carbon—which represented the heat-giving properties of the food. The table.was as follows:— Nitrogen Carbon ■ (Flesh- (Heatforming). giving). Uncooked meat ... 14.3 55 ■ Cooked meat ... 19.3 110 ■ Fat pork ... .... 6.9 189 Dried bacon . 6.2 • 265, White fish , ... 12.6 48 Poultry .... ... 14.7- .57 Bread ... 5.5 116 \ Wheat flour • ... . 7.7 . 166 • Barley meal ... 8.9 173 ■ Rice ... ... .-3.5 175 Oatmeal .... ... 8.8 168. . Maize ... , .... , 7.0 ■ 169 Arrowroot ... 0.6'. *' J 162>4 Peas . ... . ... 15.4 ", "156,? Potatoes 1.4 ~,45 Butter 0.7 299 Eggs 9.4 ' 68 : Cheese ... ... 1 21.0 161 Milk ... ... 2.8 30 Cream 1.9 100 Sugar — 178 Porter ... ... 0.06 17 Herrings, Mr. Whittaker continued, seemed to be agreed to be the cheapest food which existed; to" its''.-nutritive value, but cheese at Bd. per lb. was the next cheapest. This was to say that, at that price, a person for a shilling got more actual feeding stuff than in any other form. Peas were also a very nutritive food, though lie, as a cheese factor, was less concerned to emphasise that fact. (Laughter.)