SOFT AND FANCY CHEESE-MAKING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1095, 24 February 1893, Page 7

SOFT AND FANCY CHEESE-MAKING.

Almost every country in Europe sends it quota of cheeses to England, but the best come from France, and we propose to deal with three varieties of cheese made there, and which are in demand in our markets. These three cheeses are Camembert, a refined and ripened cheese, the flavour of which depends on the various fungi which are peculiar to it, and which must be obtained before the right flavour can be ensured; Pont l’Eveque, a drained and rather firm cheese ; and Gervais, a cream cheese which requires about three days to manufacture.

The main points in the production of fancy cheeses of this class is to have perfectly sweet and fresh milk or cream to deal with, as without this a good article cannot be made. Next a small quantity of rennet should be used and the curd cut and ladled out before acidity develops, as as an excess of acidity causes hardness and excessive drainage, which must be avoided by all means. Most fancy cheeses are salted from the outside, hence the necessity of using fresh milk, so that too much acidity will not have developed before the time for salting comes, which, of course, cannot be done until the cheeses have drained somewhat.

Probably some may say that the correct flavour and right condition caunot be obtained in this country, but is peculiar to the districts abroad where they have been made for generations. This assertion, however, will not hold good, as I have made many varieties of so-called foreign cheeses and sent them to London salesmen, who assure mo that they are equal in every respect to those made abroad. The main thing is to follow the particular system of manufacture in use in any locality famous for a certain makeof these cheeses, particulars of which are now well known, though our friends across the Channel have guarded their secrets pretty closely up the present. There are, of course, a variety of soft cheeses made in England, but these are rough to the taste, sour flavour, inconvenient to pack, and really having no distinct characteristics, being only raw curd and not comparable with the French makes. Amongst these we do not include pure cream cheeses, which, as a rule, are excellently made in this country. The advantages of soft cheese mak ing possesses over butter-making, for example, are, that a much larger profit for the milk used can be made; the cheeses are mostly in demand when butter is cheap and unprofitable to make ; a very small outlay for plant is required ; and anyone possessing a room that can be kept about 60deg Fahr., an upstairs room having good ventilation, and a cellar such as are common to most farmhouses, will be able with a little instruction to produce a creditable article.

Camembert being no doubt the best and most saleable cheese, we will take its manufacture first. It requires about five gallons of good new milk to make one dozen cheeses, and the curd is made at twice, half of the milk being set in the morning and the other half in the evening. The temperature of the milk used ranges between 80deg to 84deg Fahr, depend-

ing on whether the day is hot or cold, and rennet is used in sufficient quantity to cause a fairly firm coagulation in three hours, The rennet is always measured with a cubic centimetre pipette, which is much better than the ordinary method of measuring, as small and exact quantities have to bo used. Let us suppose that it is required to make one dozen cheeses. Twenty-five-pounds of morning’s milk would be required, and if the natural heat is in the milk so much the better. The temperature is raised or lowered to, say, 82deg Fahr, the milk being set in wooden tubs to concerve the heat. We add to this milk two cubic centimetres of Hansen’s rennet, mixed with a little water, and stir occasionally the first half-hour. In about three hours the curd will be ready to ladle out into the moulds, which are perforated tin cylinders five inches high and as many broad. These moulds are placed on straw mats, which assist drainage, and give to the cheese a nice surface. In ladling out care must be taken not to break or smash the curd, or loss of fat will result. In the evening the same quantity of mill? is taken, and treated in exactly the same way, except that perhaps a little more rennet would be required, the evening’s milk being richer. By the time the evening curd is ready, that madeinthe morningwill havesunk considerablv, which enables us to fill in tho other curd, having previously broken up the top of the first curd so that the two will join properly. By the evening of the second day the cheeses will have settled, and be sufficiently firm to turn on to fresh mats, when they are slightly salted on the upper surface and left for twelve hours, being then turned and Baited on the other surface and sides, and the moulds removed. The cheeses remain in the makingroom for four days, when they are placed on shelves covered with straw, in a room where wa can get currents of air, which ensures partial drying. While here they become- covered with a fine white fungus or mould peculiar to Camembert, and which is absolutely necessary in order to obtain tho proper flavour, as the mycelium of this fungus strikes down into the cheese and causes changes in its substance equivalent to ripening. If a half-ripe Camembert is cut in two, the peculiar effect of the fungus can be seen, as wo have, as far aB tho Yoots of the mould have penetrated, a yellowish creamy substance, while the the centre will bo neither more or less than unripe curd. After the cheeses have been in the drying room about a week a fine blue mould will make its appearance, which is an indication that they are ready to be removed to the cellar or eave to perfect ripening. This cellar should be cool (about 50 Fahr) and dark, with very little ventilation and a fairly moist air, and and provided with shelves covered with straw, on which the cheeses are placed. Turning is done each day, and in the course of three or four weeks they will bo ripe, which condition is known by their assuming a reddish tint, and the body of the cheese on pressing being soft and yielding. A ripe Camembert weighs about eleven ounces; they are sent to market in packages of six, wrapped in straw, which keeps the cheeses in shape, also prev ntiDg dryness.—Farm, Field and Fireside.