The Cheese Making Process
Cheese has been a popular food for many centuries and is a food source used by many different cultures. Legend has it that an Arabian trader who placed milk into a pouch made of a sheep's stomach found that after a day's travel the sun's heat and enzymes in the lining of the stomach changed the milk into a white 'curd' of cheese and the thin liquid we call whey.
Today, commercial cheeses are usually made by taking an enzyme from the stomach of a calf and adding it to milk. This enzyme, with the scientific name of rennin, is commonly known as rennet. Rennet causes the casein micelles to coagulate, separating from the whey and forming a semi-solid mass called a 'curd'. Milk curd for cheese can also be produced using a vegetable substitute for rennet, or an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar. The whey that is left over is used as animal feed or in the production of ice cream.
Different strains of microbes, which include both bacteria and fungi, may be incorporated during the process which gives cheeses their different textures and flavours after a period of maturation. Factories produce cheese in very large blocks (or wheels) and keep them cool for a period of time depending on the type of cheese to be produced. Most mild cheeses have been matured for three months while mature cheeses are stored for more than twelve months. Cheese is naturally white and only appears yellow because colouring has been added.
There are hundreds of types of cheese made all around the world, from fresh unripened cheeses, such as cottage, cream cheese and ricotta, are easy to make at home, firm mature yellow cheeses like cheddar or Parmesan, to cheeses with strong and distinctive flavours like Blue vein, Camembert and Brie. Some cheeses are also smoked or flavoured with nuts or herbs.