Cheese hole
[ 2006-03-24 11:45 ]
| Cheese
hole |
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| glance
at Swiss cheese holes |
Notes:
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 Gassy
bacteria are behind all Swiss holed cheese. In order to make
cheese, you need the help of bacteria. Starter cultures containing
bacteria are added to milk, where they create lactic acid, essential
for producing cheese. Various types of bacteria can be used
to make cheese, and some cheeses require several different bacteria
to give them a particular flavor.
Propionibacter shermani is one of the three types of bacteria
used to make Swiss cheese, and it's responsible for the cheese's
distinctive holes. Once P. shermani is added to the cheese
mixture and warmed, bubbles of carbon dioxide form. These
bubbles become holes in the final product. Cheesemakers can
control the size of the holes by changing the acidity, temperature,
and curing time of the mixture. Incidentally, those holes
are technically called "eyes," and the proper Swiss
name for the cheese is Emmentaler (also spelled Emmental or
Emmenthaler).
 Swiss
cheese has been in the news recently because the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) created new guidelines that regulate
the hole size of domestically produced Swiss cheese. The USDA
reduced the standard size of the holes by half because new
cheese-slicing machinery got caught on larger holes. The Swiss
weren't pleased by the revised guidelines and insist that
Emmentaler must have large holes. Considering how iconic those
eyes are, we think they have a good point.
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flavor: 口味 |
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