Food and nutrition.pdf

236 Cheese(or milled) for a long period of time, taking the sharp edges off the cutcurd 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 ~heeses achieve their final shape when the curds are pressedinto a mold or form. The harder the cheese, the more pressure is applied.The pressure drives out moisture-the molds are designed to allow waterto escape-and unifies the curds into a single solid body.AgingA newborn cheese is usually salty yet bland in flavour and, for hardervarieties, rubbery in texture. These qualities are sometimes enjoyedcheesecurds are eaten on their own - but normally cheeses are left to restunder carefully controlled conditions. This aging period (also calledripening, or, fromthe French, affinage) can last from a few days to severalyears. As a cheese ages, microbes and enzymes transform Its texture andintensify its flavour. This transformation is largely a result of thebreakdown of casein proteins and milkfat into a complex mix of aminoacids, amines, and fatty acids.Some cheeses have additional bacteria or molds intentionallyintroduced to them before or during aging. In traditional cheesemaking,these microbes might be already present in the air of the aging room; theyare simply allowed to settle and grow on the stored cheeses. More oftentoday, prepared cultures are used, giving more consistent results andputting fewer constraints on the environment where the cheese ages. Thesecheeses include soft ripened cheeses such as Brie and Camembert, bluecheeses such as Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and rind-washed cheesessuch as Limburger.Health and NutritionIn general, cheese supplies a great deal of calcium, protein, andphosphorus. A 30-gram (1.1 oz) serving of Cheddar cheese contains about7 grams (0.25 oz) of protein and 200 milligrams of calcium. Nutritionally,cheese is essentially concentrated milk: it takes about 200 grams (7.1 oz)of milk to provide that much protein, and 150 grams (5.3 oz) to equal thecalcium.Cheese potentially shares milk's nutritional disadvantages as well.The Centre for Science in the Public Interest describes cheese as America'snumber one source of saturated fat, adding that the average Americanate 30lb (14 kg) of cheese in the year 2000, up from 11lb (5 kg) in 1970.Their recommendation is to limit full-fat cheese consumption to 2 oz (57 g)a week. Whether cheese's highly saturated fat actually leads to an