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Cheese

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   Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep, and
   other mammals. It has historically been the most economically important
   component of the dairy industry, as it can be stored and transported
   more easily than fresh milk. Cheese is made by curdling milk using some
   combination of rennet (or rennet substitutes) and acidification.
   Bacteria acidify the milk and play a role in defining the texture and
   flavor of most cheeses. Some cheeses also feature molds, either on the
   outer rind or throughout.

   There are hundreds of types of cheese produced all over the world.
   Different styles and flavours of cheese are the result of using milk
   from various mammals or with different butterfat contents, employing
   particular species of bacteria and molds, and varying the length of
   aging and other processing treatments. Other factors include animal
   diet and the addition of flavoring agents such as herbs, spices, or
   wood smoke. Whether the milk is pasteurized may also affect the flavor.
   The yellow to red coloring of many cheeses is a result of adding
   annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked as part of
   various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.

   For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids such as vinegar
   or lemon juice. Most cheeses, however, are acidified to a lesser degree
   by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid, followed by the
   addition of rennet to complete the curdling. Rennet is an enzyme
   mixture traditionally obtained from the stomach lining of young cattle,
   but now also laboratory produced. Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are
   available; most are produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor
   miehei, but others have been extracted from various species of the
   Cynara thistle family.

   The word cheese is derived from the Middle English chese, from the Old
   English cīese or cēse, itself derived from the Latin caseus.

History

   Cheese is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history. There
   is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheesemaking originated,
   either in Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East, but the practice had
   spread within Europe prior to Roman times and had become a
   sophisticated enterprise by the time the Roman Empire came into being.
   As Rome's influence receded, distinct local cheesemaking techniques
   emerged. This diversity reached its peak in the early industrial age
   and has declined somewhat since then due to mechanization and economic
   factors.

   Cheese has served as a hedge against famine and is a good travel food.
   It is valuable for its portability, long life, and high content of fat,
   protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is lighter , more compact, and
   has a longer shelf life than the milk from which it is made.
   Cheesemakers can place themselves near the centre of a dairy region and
   benefit from fresher milk, lower milk prices, and lower shipping costs.
   The substantial storage life of cheese lets a cheesemaker sell when
   prices are high or when money is needed.

Origins

   The exact origins of cheesemaking are debated or unknown, and estimates
   range from around 8000 BCE (when sheep were domesticated) to around
   3000 BCE. Credit for the discovery most likely goes to nomadic Turkic
   tribes in Central Asia, around the same time that they developed
   yogurt, or to people in the Middle East. A common tale about the
   discovery of cheese tells of an Arab nomad carrying milk across the
   desert in a container made from an animal's stomach, only to discover
   the milk had been separated into curd and whey by the rennet from the
   stomach.

   Folktales aside, cheese likely began as a way of preserving soured and
   curdled milk through pressing and salting, with rennet introduced
   later— perhaps when someone noticed that cheese made in an animal
   stomach produced more solid and better-textured curds. The earliest
   archaeological evidence of cheesemaking has been found in Egyptian tomb
   murals, dating to about 2300 BCE. The earliest cheeses would likely
   have been quite sour and salty, similar in texture to rustic cottage
   cheese or feta.

   From the Middle East, basic cheesemaking found its way into Europe,
   where cooler climates meant less aggressive salting was needed for
   preservation. With moderate salt and acidity, the cheese became a
   suitable environment for a variety of beneficial microbes and molds,
   which are what give aged cheeses their pronounced and interesting
   flavours.

Ancient Greece/ Rome

   Ancient Greek mythology credited Aristaeus with the discovery of
   cheese. Homer's Odyssey ( 8th century BCE) describes the Cyclops making
   and storing sheep's and goats' milk cheese. From Samuel Butler's
   translation:

          We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went
          inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks
          were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than
          his pens could hold...
          When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats,
          all in due course, and then let each of them have her own young.
          He curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers.

   By Roman times, cheese was an everyday food and cheesemaking a mature
   art, not very different from what it is today. Columella's De Re
   Rustica (circa 65 CE) details a cheesemaking process involving rennet
   coagulation, pressing of the curd, salting, and aging. Pliny's Natural
   History (77 CE) devotes a chapter (XI, 97) to describing the diversity
   of cheeses enjoyed by Romans of the early Empire. He stated that the
   best cheeses came from the villages near N?mes, but did not keep long
   and had to be eaten fresh. Cheeses of the Alps and Apennines were as
   remarkable for their variety then as now. A Ligurian cheese was noted
   for being made mostly from sheep's milk, and some cheeses produced
   nearby were stated to weigh as much as a thousand pounds each. Goats'
   milk cheese was a recent taste in Rome, improved over the "medicinal
   taste" of Gaul's similar cheeses by smoking. Of cheeses from overseas,
   Pliny preferred those of Bithynia in Asia Minor.

Post-classical Europe

   Rome spread a uniform set of cheesemaking techniques throughout much of
   Europe, and introduced cheesemaking to areas without a previous history
   of it. As Rome declined and long-distance trade collapsed, cheese in
   Europe diversified further, with various locales developing their own
   distinctive cheesemaking traditions and products. France and Italy are
   the nations with the most diversity in locally made cheeses— today with
   approximately 400 each. (A French proverb holds there is a different
   French cheese for every day of the year, and Charles de Gaulle once
   asked "how can you govern a country in which there are 246 kinds of
   cheese?") Still, the advancement of the cheese art in Europe was slow
   during the centuries after Rome's fall. Many of the cheeses we know
   best today were first recorded in the late Middle Ages or after—
   cheeses like cheddar around 1500 CE, Parmesan in 1597, Gouda in 1697,
   and Camembert in 1791.

   In 1546, John Heywood wrote in Proverbes that "the moon is made of a
   greene cheese." (Greene refers here not to the colour, as many now
   think, but to being new or unaged.) Variations on this sentiment were
   long repeated. Although some people assumed that this was a serious
   belief in the era before space exploration, it is more likely that
   Heywood was indulging in nonsense.

Modern era

   Until its modern spread along with European culture, cheese was nearly
   unheard of in oriental cultures, uninvented in the pre-columbian
   Americas, and of only limited use in sub-mediterranean Africa, mainly
   being widespread and popular only in Europe and areas influenced
   strongly by its cultures. But with the spread, first of European
   imperialism, and later of Euro-American culture and food, cheese has
   gradually become known and increasingly popular worldwide, though still
   rarely considered a part of local ethnic cuisine.
   St Pat Goat's Milk Cheese Enlarge
   St Pat Goat's Milk Cheese

   The first factory for the industrial production of cheese opened in
   Switzerland in 1815, but it was in the United States where large-scale
   production first found real success. Credit usually goes to Jesse
   Williams, a dairy farmer from Rome, New York, who in 1851 started
   making cheese in an assembly-line fashion using the milk from
   neighboring farms. Within decades hundreds of such dairy associations
   existed.

   The 1860s saw the beginnings of mass-produced rennet, and by the turn
   of the century scientists were producing pure microbial cultures.
   Before then, bacteria in cheesemaking had come from the environment or
   from recycling an earlier batch's whey; the pure cultures meant a more
   standardized cheese could be produced.

   Factory-made cheese overtook traditional cheesemaking in the World War
   II era, and factories have been the source of most cheese in America
   and Europe ever since. Today, Americans buy more processed cheese than
   "real", factory-made or not.

World production and consumption

   Worldwide, cheese is a major agricultural product. According to the
   Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, over 18
   million metric tons of cheese were produced worldwide in 2004. This is
   more than the yearly production of coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa
   beans and tobacco combined. The largest producer of cheese is the
   United States, accounting for 30 percent of world production, followed
   by Germany and France.
          Top Cheese Producers - 2004
   (1,000 Metric Tons)
   Flag of United States  United States 4,327
   Flag of Germany  Germany             1,929
   Flag of France  France               1,827
   Flag of Italy  Italy                 1,102
   Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands       672
   Flag of Poland  Poland                 535
   Flag of Brazil  Brazil                 470
   Flag of Egypt  Egypt                   450
   Flag of Australia  Australia           373
   Flag of Argentina  Argentina           370

   The biggest exporter of cheese, by monetary value, is France; the
   second, Germany (although it is first by quantity). Among the top ten
   exporters, only Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Australia
   have a cheese production that is mainly export oriented: respectively
   95 percent, 90 percent, 72 percent, and 65 percent of their cheese
   production is exported. Only 30 percent of French production, the
   world's largest exporter, is exported. The United States, the biggest
   world producer of cheese, is a marginal exporter, as most of its
   production is for the domestic market.
   Top Cheese Exporters (Whole Cow Milk only) - 2004
   (value in '000 US $)
   Flag of France  France 2,658,441
   Flag of Germany  Germany 2,416,973
   Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 2,099,353
   Flag of Italy  Italy 1,253,580
   Flag of Denmark  Denmark 1,122,761
   Flag of Australia  Australia 643,575
   Flag of New Zealand  New Zealand 631,963
   Flag of Belgium  Belgium 567,590
   Flag of Republic of Ireland  Ireland 445,240
   Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom 374,156

   Germany is the largest importer of cheese. UK and Italy are the second-
   and third-largest importers.
       Top Cheese Consumers - 2003
   (kilograms per person)
   Flag of Greece  Greece           27.3
   Flag of France  France             24
   Flag of Italy  Italy             22.9
   Flag of Switzerland  Switzerland 20.6
   Flag of Germany  Germany         20.2
   Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 19.9
   Flag of Austria  Austria         19.5
   Flag of Sweden  Sweden           17.9

   Greece is the world's largest ( per capita) consumer of cheese, with
   27.3 kg eaten by the average Greek. ( Feta accounts for three-quarters
   of this consumption.) France is the second biggest consumer of cheese,
   with 24 kg by inhabitant. Emmental (used mainly as a cooking
   ingredient) and Camembert are the most common cheeses in France Italy
   is the third biggest consumer by person with 22.9 kg. In the U.S., the
   consumption of cheese is quickly increasing and has nearly tripled
   between 1970 and 2003. The consumption per person has reached, in 2003,
   14.1 kg (31 pounds). Mozzarella is America's favorite cheese and
   accounts for nearly a third of its consumption.

Cultural attitudes

   A cheese seller in a French market
   Enlarge
   A cheese seller in a French market

   Cheese is rarely found in East Asian dishes, as dairy products in
   general are rare. However, East Asian sentiment against cheese is not
   universal. Cheese made from yaks' (chhurpi) or mares' milk is common on
   the Asian steppes; the national dish of Bhutan, ema datsi, is made from
   homemade cheese and hot peppers; and cheese is used in India, where
   paneer curries are popular. Even in China, cheese consumption is
   increasing, with annual sales more than doubling from 1996 to 2003 (to
   a still small 30 million U.S. dollars a year). Certain kinds of Chinese
   preserved bean curd are sometimes misleadingly referred to in English
   as "Chinese cheese", due to their texture and strong flavor.

   Strict followers of the dietary laws of Judaism and Islam must avoid
   cheeses made with rennet from animals not slaughtered in a manner
   adhering to kosher or halal laws. Both faiths allow cheese made with
   vegetable-based rennet or with rennet made from animals that were
   processed in a kosher or halal manner. Many less-orthodox Jews also
   believe that rennet undergoes enough processing to change its nature
   entirely, and do not consider it to ever violate kosher law. (See
   Cheese and kashrut.) As cheese is a dairy food under kosher rules it
   cannot be eaten in the same meal with any meat.

   Many vegetarians avoid any cheese made from animal-based rennet. Most
   widely available vegetarian cheeses are made using rennet produced by
   fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei. Vegans and other
   dairy-avoiding vegetarians do not eat real cheese at all, but some
   vegetable-based substitute cheeses (usually soy-based) are available.

   Even in cultures with long cheese traditions, it is not unusual to find
   people who perceive cheese — especially pungent-smelling or
   mold-bearing varieties such as Limburger or Roquefort — as
   unappetizing, unpalatable, or disgusting. Food-science writer Harold
   McGee proposes that cheese is such an acquired taste because it is
   produced through a process of controlled spoilage and many of the odor
   and flavor molecules in an aged cheese are the same found in rotten
   foods. McGee notes "An aversion to the odour of decay has the obvious
   biological value of steering us away from possible food poisoning, so
   it's no wonder that an animal food that gives off whiffs of shoes and
   soil and the stable takes some getting used to."

Types of cheese

   No one categorization scheme can capture all the diversity of the
   world's cheeses. Some common systems used are:
     * Length of aging.
     * Texture (hard or soft); this is correlated to the moisture content:
       the more moist a cheese, the softer. This classification is common
       in the US, but is inaccurate: many types of cheese are made in
       softer or firmer variations.
     * Methods of making: pressed or unpressed curd, heated or unheated
       curd, mold growth, etc.
     * Fat content.
     * Kind of milk (cow's milk, goat's milk cheese, etc.)

   A cheese platter with many types of cheese.
   Enlarge
   A cheese platter with many types of cheese.

Fresh Cheeses

   For these simplest cheeses, milk is curdled and drained, with little
   other processing. Examples include cottage cheese, Romanian Caş,
   Neufchâtel (the model for American-style cream cheese), and fresh
   goat's milk chèvre. Such cheeses are soft and spreadable, with a mild
   taste. Fresh cheeses without additional preservatives can spoil in a
   matter of days.

   Whey cheeses are fresh cheeses made from the whey discarded while
   producing other cheeses. Provencal Brousse, Corsican Brocciu, Italian
   Ricotta, Romanian Urda and Norwegian Geitost are examples. Brocciu is
   mostly eaten fresh, and is as such a major ingredient in Corsican
   cuisine, but it can be aged too.

   Traditional Mozzarella also falls into the fresh cheese category. Fresh
   curds are stretched and kneaded in hot water to form a ball of
   Mozzarella, which in southern Italy is usually eaten within a few hours
   of being made. Other firm fresh cheeses include paneer and queso
   fresco.

Texture

   A Gouda cheese market
   Enlarge
   A Gouda cheese market

   Categorizing cheeses by firmness is a common but inexact practice. The
   lines between "soft", "semi-soft", "semi-hard", and "hard" are
   arbitrary, and many types of cheese are made in softer or firmer
   variations. Harder cheeses have a lower moisture content than softer
   cheeses. They are generally packed into molds under more pressure and
   aged for a longer time.

   The familiar cheddar is one of a family of semi-hard or hard cheeses
   (including Cheshire and Gloucester) whose curd is cut, gently heated,
   piled, and stirred before being pressed into forms. Colby and Monterey
   Jack are similar but milder cheeses; their curd is rinsed before it is
   pressed, washing away some acidity and calcium. A similar curd-washing
   takes place when making the Dutch cheeses Edam and Gouda.

   Swiss-style cheeses like Emmental and Gruyère are generally quite firm.
   The same bacteria that give Emmental its holes contribute to their
   aromatic and sharp flavours. The hardest cheeses — "grating cheeses"
   such as Parmesan, Pecorino, and Romano — are quite firmly packed into
   large forms and aged for months or years.

Methods

Use of mold

   Soft-ripened cheeses such as Brie and Camembert are made by allowing
   white Penicillium candida or P. camemberti mold to grow on the outside
   of a soft cheese for a few days or weeks. The mold forms a white crust
   and contributes to the smooth, runny, or gooey textures and more
   intense flavours of these aged cheeses. Goats' milk cheeses are often
   treated in a similar manner, sometimes with white molds (Chèvre-Boîte)
   and sometimes with blue.

   Blue-mold cheeses like Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Stilton are produced
   by inoculating loosely pressed curds with Penicillium roqueforti or
   Penicillium glaucum molds. The mold grows within the cheese as it ages.
   These cheeses have distinct blue veins and, often, assertive flavours.
   Their texture can be soft or firm.

Washing

   Washed-rind cheeses are periodically bathed in a saltwater brine as
   they age, making their surfaces amenable to a class of bacteria (the
   reddish-orange "smear bacteria") which impart pungent odors and
   distinctive flavours. Washed-rind cheeses can be soft ( Limburger),
   semi-hard ( Munster), or hard ( Appenzeller).

   Processed cheese is made from traditional cheese and emulsifying salts,
   often with the addition of milk, more salt, preservatives, and food
   coloring. It is inexpensive, consistent, and melts smoothly. This is
   the most-consumed category of cheese in the United States. The most
   familiar processed cheese may be pre-sliced mild yellow American Cheese
   or Velveeta. Many other varieties exist, including Easy Cheese, a Kraft
   Foods brand sold in a spray can.

Health and nutrition

   Cheese selection on market stand in Basel, Switzerland.
   Enlarge
   Cheese selection on market stand in Basel, Switzerland.

   In general, cheese supplies a great deal of calcium, protein, and
   phosphorus. A 30 gram (one ounce) serving of cheddar cheese contains
   about seven grams of protein and 200 milligrams of calcium.
   Nutritionally, cheese is essentially concentrated milk: it takes about
   200 grams (seven ounces) of milk to provide that much protein, and
   150 grams to equal the calcium.

   Cheese shares milk's nutritional disadvantages as well. The Centre for
   Science in the Public Interest describes cheese as America's number one
   source of saturated fat, adding that the average American ate 30 pounds
   (13.6 kg) of cheese in the year 2000, up from 11 pounds (5 kg) in 1970.
   Their recommendation is to limit full-fat cheese consumption to
   two ounces (60 grams) a week. Whether cheese's highly saturated fat
   actually leads to an increased risk of heart disease is called into
   question when considering France and Greece, which lead the world in
   cheese eating (more than 14 ounces (400 grams) a week per person, or
   over 45 pounds (20 kg) a year) yet have relatively low rates of heart
   disease. This seeming discrepancy is called the French Paradox; the
   higher rates of consumption of red wine in these countries is often
   invoked as at least a partial explanation.

   A number of food safety agencies around the world have warned of the
   risks of raw-milk cheeses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states
   that soft raw-milk cheeses can cause "serious infectious diseases
   including listeriosis, brucellosis, salmonellosis and tuberculosis". It
   is U.S. law since 1944 that all raw-milk cheeses (including imports
   since 1951) must be aged at least 60 days. Australia has a wide ban on
   raw-milk cheeses as well, though in recent years exceptions have been
   made for Swiss Gruyère, Emmental and Sbrinz, and for French Roquefort.
   Some say these worries are overblown, pointing out that pasteurization
   of the milk used to make cheese does not ensure its safety in any case.
   This is supported by statistics showing that in Europe (where young
   raw-milk cheeses are still legal in some countries), most
   cheese-related food poisoning incidents were traced to pasteurized
   cheeses. Pregnant women may face an additional risk from cheese; the
   U.S. Centers for Disease Control has warned pregnant women against
   eating soft-ripened cheeses and blue-veined cheeses, due to the
   listeria risk to the unborn baby.

   Some studies claim to show that cheeses including Cheddar, Mozzarella,
   Swiss and American can help to prevent tooth decay. Several mechanisms
   for this protection have been proposed:
     * The calcium, protein, and phosphorus in cheese may act to protect
       tooth enamel.
     * Cheese increases saliva flow, washing away acids and sugars.
     * Cheese may have an antibacterial effect in the mouth.

   Cheese is often avoided by those who are lactose intolerant, but
   ripened cheeses like Cheddar contain only about 5% of the lactose found
   in whole milk, and aged cheeses contain almost none. Some people suffer
   reactions to amines found in cheese, particularly histamine and
   tyramine. Some aged cheeses contain significant concentrations of these
   amines, which can trigger symptoms mimicking an allergic reaction:
   headaches, rashes, and blood pressure elevations.

   It should also perhaps be noted that under certain scientifically
   controlled dietery studies, people whose diets which particularly
   consisted of the high intake of dairy foods had shown that obesity had
   prevailed at a higher rate than of those persons whose diets consisted
   of only vegetable based fats.

Making cheese

Curdling

   The only strictly required step in making any sort of cheese is
   separating the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Usually this is
   done by acidifying the milk and adding rennet. The acidification is
   accomplished directly by the addition of an acid like vinegar in a few
   cases ( paneer, queso fresco), but usually starter bacteria are
   employed instead. These starter bacteria convert milk sugars into
   lactic acid. The same bacteria (and the enzymes they produce) also play
   a large role in the eventual flavor of aged cheeses. Most cheeses are
   made with starter bacteria from the Lactococci, Lactobacilli, or
   Streptococci families. Swiss starter cultures also include
   Propionibacter shermani, which produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles
   during aging, giving Swiss cheese or Emmental its holes.

   Some fresh cheeses are curdled only by acidity, but most cheeses also
   use rennet. Rennet sets the cheese into a strong and rubbery gel
   compared to the fragile curds produced by acidic coagulation alone. It
   also allows curdling at a lower acidity—important because flavor-making
   bacteria are inhibited in high-acidity environments. In general,
   softer, smaller, fresher cheeses are curdled with a greater proportion
   of acid to rennet than harder, larger, longer-aged varieties.

Curd processing

   During industrial production of Emmental cheese, the as-yet-undrained
   curd is broken up by rotating mixers.
   Enlarge
   During industrial production of Emmental cheese, the as-yet-undrained
   curd is broken up by rotating mixers.

   At this point, the cheese has set into a very moist gel. Some soft
   cheeses are now essentially complete: they are drained, salted, and
   packaged. For most of the rest, the curd is cut into small cubes. This
   allows water to drain from the individual pieces of curd.

   Some hard cheeses are then heated to temperatures in the range of
   35°C–55°C (100°F–130°F). This forces more whey from the cut curd. It
   also changes the taste of the finished cheese, affecting both the
   bacterial culture and the milk chemistry. Cheeses that are heated to
   the higher temperatures are usually made with thermophilic starter
   bacteria which survive this step—either lactobacilli or streptococci.

   Salt has a number of roles in cheese besides adding a salty flavor. It
   preserves cheese from spoiling, draws moisture from the curd, and firms
   up a cheese’s texture in an interaction with its proteins. Some cheeses
   are salted from the outside with dry salt or brine washes. Most cheeses
   have the salt mixed directly into the curds.

   A number of other techniques can be employed to influence the cheese's
   final texture and flavor. Some examples:
     * Stretching: ( Mozzarella, Provolone) The curd is stretched and
       kneaded in hot water, developing a stringy, fibrous body.
     * Cheddaring: ( Cheddar, other English cheeses) The cut curd is
       repeatedly piled up, pushing more moisture away. The curd is also
       mixed (or milled) for a long period of time, taking the sharp edges
       off the cut curd pieces and influencing the final product's
       texture.
     * Washing: ( Edam, Gouda, Colby) The curd is washed in warm water,
       lowering its acidity and making for a milder-tasting cheese.

   Most cheeses achieve their final shape when the curds are pressed into
   a mold or form. The harder the cheese, the more pressure is applied.
   The pressure drives out moisture — the molds are designed to allow
   water to escape — and unifies the curds into a single solid body.

Aging

   A newborn cheese is usually salty yet bland in flavor and, for harder
   varieties, rubbery in texture. These qualities are sometimes enjoyed—
   cheese curds are eaten on their own—but usually cheeses are left to
   rest under carefully controlled conditions. This aging period (also
   called ripening, or, from the French, affinage) can last from a few
   days to several years. As a cheese ages, microbes and enzymes transform
   its texture and intensify its flavor. This transformation is largely a
   result of the breakdown of casein proteins and milkfat into a complex
   mix of amino acids, amines, and fatty acids.
   Vacherin du Haut-Doubs cheese, a French cheese with a white Penicillium
   mold rind.
   Enlarge
   Vacherin du Haut-Doubs cheese, a French cheese with a white Penicillium
   mold rind.

   Some cheeses have additional bacteria or molds intentionally introduced
   to them before or during aging. In traditional cheesemaking, these
   microbes might be already present in the air of the aging room; they
   are simply allowed to settle and grow on the stored cheeses. More often
   today, prepared cultures are used, giving more consistent results and
   putting fewer constraints on the environment where the cheese ages.

   For the blue cheeses ( Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola), Penicillium
   mold is introduced to the curd before molding. During aging, the blue
   molds ( P. roqueforti or P. glaucum ) grow in the small fissures in the
   cheese, imparting a sharp flavor and aroma. The same molds are also
   grown on the surface of some aged goat cheeses. The soft cheeses Brie
   and Camembert, among others, get a surface growth of other Penicillium
   species, white-colored P. candidum or P. camemberti. The surface mold
   contributes to the interior texture and flavor of these small cheeses.

   Some cheeses are periodically washed in a saltwater brine during their
   ripening. Not only does the brine carry flavours into the cheese (it
   might be seasoned with spices or wine), but the salty environment may
   nurture the growth of the Brevibacterium linens bacteria, which can
   impart a very pronounced odour ( Limburger) and interesting flavor. The
   same bacteria can also have some impact on cheeses that are simply
   ripened in humid conditions, like Camembert. Large populations of these
   "smear bacteria" show up as a sticky orange-red layer on some
   brine-washed cheeses.

Eating and cooking

   At refrigerator temperatures, the fat in a piece of cheese is as hard
   as unsoftened butter, and its protein structure is stiff as well.
   Flavor and odour compounds are less easily liberated when cold. For
   improvements in flavor and texture, it is widely advised that cheeses
   be allowed to warm up to room temperature before eating. If the cheese
   is further warmed, to 26–32°C (80–90°F), the fats will begin to to
   "sweat out" as they go beyond soft to fully liquid.

   At higher temperatures, most cheeses melt. Rennet-curdled cheeses have
   a gel-like protein matrix that is broken down by heat. When enough
   protein bonds are broken, the cheese itself turns from a solid to a
   viscous liquid. Soft, high-moisture cheeses will melt at around 55°C
   (130°F), while hard, low-moisture cheeses such as Parmesan remain solid
   until they reach about 82°C (180°F). Acid-set cheeses, including
   halloumi, paneer, some whey cheeses and many varieties of fresh goat
   cheese, have a protein structure that remains intact at high
   temperatures. When cooked, these cheeses just get firmer as water
   evaporates.

   Some cheeses, like raclette, melt smoothly; many tend to become stringy
   or suffer from a separation of their fats. Many of these can be coaxed
   into melting smoothly in the presence of acids or starch. Fondue, with
   wine providing the acidity, is a good example of a smoothly-melted
   cheese dish. Elastic stringiness is a quality that is sometimes
   enjoyed, in dishes including pizza and Welsh rabbit. Even a melted
   cheese eventually turns solid again, after enough moisture is cooked
   off. As its temperature continues to rise, cheese will brown and
   eventually burn.

Cheese in language

   Throughout the history of the English language, the word cheese has
   been chese (in Middle English) and cīese or cēse (in Old English).
   Similar words are shared by other West Germanic languages — Frisian
   tsiis, Dutch kaas, German Käse, Old High German chāsi — all of which
   probably come from the reconstructed West-Germanic root *kasjus, which
   in turn is an early borrowing from Latin. The Latin word caseus — from
   which are derived the Spanish queso, Portuguese queijo,
   Malay/Indonesian Language keju (most likely from the corruption of the
   Portuguese word queijo), Romanian caş and Italian cacio — and the
   Celtic root which gives the Irish cáis and the Welsh caws are also
   related. This whole group of words is probably derived from the
   proto-Indo-European root *kwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour".

   When the Romans began to make hard cheeses for their legionaries'
   supplies, a new word started to be used: formaticum, from caseus
   formatus, or "molded cheese". It is from this word that we get the
   French fromage, Italian formaggio, Catalan formatge, Breton fourmaj and
   Provençal furmo. Cheese itself is occasionally employed in a sense that
   means "molded" or "formed". Head cheese uses the word in this sense.

   In modern English slang, something "cheesy" is kitsch, cheap,
   inauthentic, or of poor quality. One can also be "cheesed off"— unhappy
   or annoyed. Such negative connotations might derive from a ripe
   cheese's sometimes-unpleasant odor. Almost certainly the odour explains
   the use of "cutting the cheese" as a euphemism for flatulence, and the
   term "cheesy feet" to mean feet which smell. A more upbeat slang use is
   seen in "the big cheese", an expression referring to the most important
   person in a group, the "big shot" or "head honcho". This use of the
   word probably derived not from the word cheese, but from the Persian or
   Hindi word chiz, meaning a thing.

   A more whimsical bit of American and Canadian slang refers to school
   buses as "cheese wagons", a reference to school bus yellow. Subjects of
   photographs are often encouraged to " say cheese!", as the word
   "cheese" contains the phoneme /i/, a long vowel which requires the lips
   to be stretched in the appearance of a smile. People from Wisconsin and
   the Netherlands, both centers of cheese production, have been called
   cheeseheads. This nickname has been embraced by Wisconsin sports fans —
   especially fans of the Green Bay Packers or Wisconsin Badgers — who are
   now seen in the stands sporting plastic or foam hats in the shape of
   giant cheese wedges.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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