Eric Breckoff, M.B.A. David Barrish, M.P.A., CHA October 26, 2007

1. Eric Breckoff, M.B.A.David Barrish, M.P.A., CHAOctober 26, 2007 Creating Memorable College Events

2. Session Objectives

3. Cheese

4. What is Cheese? • Cheese is defined as a food product made from the pressed curd of milk. • Cheese is thought of as a living food because of the “friendly,” living bacteria that are continually changing it. • It is believed that sheep’s and goat’s milk were first used to make cheese, as these were probably the first domesticated animals appropriate for milking.

5. Cheese • Wines, sausages, dried foods, and cheeses are all the results of preservation practices known to ancient peoples, then refined, recorded, and evolved over time • The Bible includes numerous references to cheese • The Romans were the first to mass-produce cheese to be carried on long journeys and used by their armies as a convenient form of concentrated nutrition.

6. Cheese • During the Dark Ages, the tradition of cheese making were preserved and refined by religious houses and monasteries, as were the traditions of wine and spirit making. • Until the early to mid-1800’s, cheese production continued on an individual home or cottage level

7. Cheese Making • The techniques used today to produce cheese have changed little since the times of the Romans and the medieval monasteries, but scientific discoveries have led to better control of the natural processes involved in cheese making.

8. Cheese Making • In the nineteenth century, scientists were able to identify the many bacteria present in the milk, the air, and the caves used for ripening. • By the turn of the century, “pure cultures” were made available and allowed for more uniform results from cheese maker to cheese maker when producing cheese within a single variety.

9. The Cheese-Making Process The basic stages in the modern production are: • Milk and its pretreatment, including homogenizing, pasteurizing, or heating • Acidification of milk, to change the pH level

10. Milk • The type of milk the cheese maker chooses is critical to the development of the cheese. Not only are there different milks, there are also various ways to collect, combine, and treat milk. • Parmigiano Reggiano, is traditionally made by combining the richer milk collected in the evening with the leaner milk of the next day’s first milking.

11. Ripening • Originally cheeses were aged in caves, where conditions were perfect for ripening to take place. • Cheeses may be ripened in leaves, ashes, wax rinds, pr no rind at all. • Some are rubbed or washed. • In some cases, holes are made in the cheeses to allow gases produced by bacteria to escapes; in others, the gases are confined: Swiss cheese.

12. Ripening • Special addition bacteria cultures or molds are introduced in many cheeses by injecting, spraying, or washing them. • Once these steps are done, the rest of the work is left to nature.

13. Cheese Classifications • There are several categories by which they can be referenced. Milk type, country of origin, region, handling, aging, and texture are some of the various classification strategies. • For the sake of discussion, broad groups of cheese that have been loosely categorized according to texture.

14. The basic cheese categories • Fresh • Rind-ripened • Semi-soft • Blue cheeses • Pasta filata • Hard • Very Hard

15. Soft Fresh Cheeses • Soft fresh cheeses are those cheeses that are un-ripened and generally have a fresh, clean, creamy flavor. Examples of soft fresh cheeses are cottage cheese, queso blanco, and cream cheese. • Ricotta cheese, made from recooking whey, actually began in Italy as a by-product of the cheese-making industry. • Mascarpone is a fresh cheese made by curdling heavy cream with acid.

16. Soft Ripened Cheeses • Soft ripened cheeses are those that have typically been sprayed or dusted with a mold and allowed to ripen. Two most popular varieties are probably Brie and Camembert. • Soft ripened cheeses are available in varying degrees of richness. Single, double, and triple cream cheese have 50, 60, 70 percent butterfat, respectively. • Soft ripened cheeses can be served at room temperature as a dessert cheese or as an appetizer.

17. Soft Ripened Cheeses • Soft ripened cheeses should be eaten only when properly ripened. An under-ripe cheese will run when cut, and a cheese ready for eating will “bulge” when cut and barely hold its shape. • Soft ripened cheeses will ripen only until they are cut into. After that they will begin to dry and deteriorate. An overripe cheese can be identified by an ammonia odor. • It still remains a matter of taste as to whether soft ripened cheeses should be eaten with the rind.

18. Semi-Soft Cheeses • Semi-soft cheeses include a wide variety ranging from mild and buttery to very pungent and aromatic. • These include Havarti, Edam, Gouda, Fontina, & Port Salut. • They are allowed to ripen in several ways.

19. Rind-Ripened Cheeses • Wash-rind cheeses are periodically washed with brine, beer, cider, wine, brandy, or oils during the ripening period. • This remoistening encourages bacterial growth, sometimes known as “smear.” Popular examples of this type of cheese include Limburger, intensely pungent, Muenster, Saint Paulin, and Port-Salut.

20. Dry-Rind Cheeses • Dry-rind cheeses are those that are allowed to form a natural rind during ripening. • Havarti, another popular dry-rind cheese, has a buttery flavor that is often enhanced with herbs or spices such as dill, caraway, and basil.

21. Waxed-Rind Cheeses • Gouda and Edam are semi-soft cheeses that are sealed in wax prior to the aging process. • These cheeses, which get their names from two towns in Holland, have been made for eight hundred years. • Gouda is made form whole milk and tends to be softer and richer than Edam.

22. Blue-Veined Cheeses • Blue or blue-veined cheeses are thought to have been among some of the first cheeses produced. • In the modern production of blue cheeses, needles are used to form holes that allow gases to escape and oxygen to enter to support mold growth within the cheese. • Some of the most famous blue cheeses are the French Roquefort, Italian Gorgonzola, English Stilton, and American Maytag blue.

23. Blue-Veined Cheeses • Roquefort is made strictly from raw sheep’s milk. • One of the things that makes Roquefort unique is the fact that the mold is not grown in a laboratory, as are molds for many other blue cheeses. • Instead, Roquefort mold is developed naturally from rye bread.

24. Blue-Veined Cheeses • Gorgonzola is made from cow’s milk. • Gorgonzola is made with evening milk and the following day’s morning milk. • There are two varieties available: “sweet,” which is aged three months, and “naturale,” which is aged further and has a fuller, more robust flavor.

25. Pasta Filata Cheeses • Pasta filata literally means “spun curds” or “spun paste.” During manufacture, the curds are dipped into hot water and then stretched or spun until the proper consistency and texture is achieved. • They are then kneaded and molded into the desired shapes. • Pasta filata cheeses are group of cheese that are related by the process used in their manufacture, rather than by their texture. • The textures of pasta filata cheeses run the gamut from soft to hard.

26. Pasta Filata Cheeses • The most common cheese of this category is mozzarella. There are two types of mozzarella available: the traditional fresh style, which is available in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the newer American invention of low-moisture mozzarella, which has a longer shelf life than the fresh style.

27. Pasta Filata Cheeses • Provolone is another popular pasta filata cheese that is similarly handled but is made with a different culture. Once the curd is stretched and kneaded, it is rubbed with brine and tied into shape. It is then hung and left to dry in. Provolone is often smoked and/or aged additional character and firmer texture.

28. Hard Cheeses • Cheddars, originating in England,and Swiss-style cheeses are among the most well known. • Cheddar derives its name from the process used in its manufacture. The “cheddaring” process involves turning and stacking the slabs of young cheese to extract more whey and give the cheese its characteristic texture. • The yellow color of some cheddars is achieved through the addition of annatto seed paste and had nothing to do with the flavor.

29. Hard Cheeses • Once the cheddaring process is complete, the cheeses are wrapped in cheesecloth dipped in wax allowed to ripen. Cheddars are categorized by age. • Current Cheddar is aged for thirty days, mild for one to three months, medium for three to six months, sharp for six to nine months, and extra sharp for nine months to five years. • Colby is another truly American cheese that was invented in the town of Colby, Wisconsin, in 1874.

30. Hard Cheeses • Monterey Jack is also an American original produced in the style of Cheddar. • The family of cheese generically referred to as Swiss are also hard cheeses. Are characterized by holes, sometimes called eyes, that range in size from tiny to the size of a quarter. • Some of the more well-known varieties of Swiss cheese include Gruyéer, Emmentaler, Beaufort, and Jarlsberg.

31. Very Hard Cheeses • In Italy, these cheeses are known as grainy cheeses, because of their granular texture. The most popular of these cheeses are Parmesan and Romano. • Very hard cheeses are most often grated or shaved, but they are also traditionally eaten in chunks broken off with a special knife.

32. Very Hard Cheeses • True Parmigiano-Reggiano require it is be aged a minimum of fourteen months, although most are aged for twenty-four months. Stratvechio, or extra aged, is ripened for as much as three years. • Romano cheeses-named for the city of Rome. Pecorino Romano is made with sheep’s milk. Caprino Romano is very sharp goat’s milk version, and vacchino Romano is a mild version made from cow’s milk.

33. Presenting the Cheeses • Cheeses should be allowed to come to room temperature before they are served. • This process, known as aromatization, brings out the fullest flavor of the cheese, so that all its nuances can be enjoyed.

34. Caring for Cheeses • Storage and Handling • It is critical to maintain the highest standards in sanitations during handling activities. Cheese may be a potentially hazardous food, it handled improperly. • If cheeses become unnaturally moldy, it should be discarded.

35. Partners & Accompaniments for cheeses • Three types of foods have a natural affinity for cheese: wine or beer, bread and bread variations such as crackers, and fruits. • Wine, particularly tannic wine, offers a perfect counterpoint to the richness of cheese because the acidic quality of wine cuts through the butterfat. • The sweet juiciness of many fruits also pair well with the earthy richness of cheeses. Classic examples include apples and Cheddar or pears and blue cheese.

36. Wine

37. Types of Wines • Still wine • Effervescent wine • Table wine • Aperitif wine • Dessert wine • Port • Fortified wine

38. Introduction • Wine has been an integral part of the human experience for nearly 70 centuries. • Wine is the result of the fermentation of juice from grapes. • Fermentation is a natural process that acts to stabilize grape juice and allow it to be stored as wine for later consumption. • The alcohol in wine that is produced by fermentation also prevents the growth of pathogenic microorganisms.

39. The History of Wine • Wine was first consumed in the areas of Persia (modern day Iran) around 5000 to 6000 BC. • Though the exact nature of the wine is uncertain, it was probably made from dates or other tree fruits native to the region rather than grapes. • Around 3000 BC, winemaking from grapes began with the Egyptians and the Phoenicians producing wines from grapes.

40. The Twentieth Century • Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, wine production and consumption grew at an increasing pace. • In America producers began naming their wines after the grape varieties they were made of (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay) instead of following the common practice of using French geographic names, such as Burgundy or Chablis, to identify their wines.

41. Globalization • In Europe, the lesser known regions of southern France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Hungary, and even the former countries of the Eastern Block are now making wines that are on par with those of some of the best traditional growing regions. • In the United States, New York, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, and Texas are now recognized wine producers. • Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Hungary, and South Africa have also become known for producing wines of excellent value.

42. Grapes Used for Winemaking • Grapes are the preferred fruit for wine production. • Grape juice has all the attributes necessary for fermenting the juice. • The outside of the grape berry is covered with a waxy layer that contains naturally occurring yeast. • The great majority of wine produced in the world is from grapes.

43. Vitis vinifera • There are many indigenous species of grapes worldwide, but the overwhelming majority of wine produced is from the species Vitis vinifera. • This species is native to Asia Minor. • Within the species Vitis vinifera there are over 5,000 named cultivars; only a fraction are grown commercially. • Grapevines can be propagated by using cuttings to form a separate vine that is a clone of the original vine.

44. Terroir • Terroir is the French term to describe all the environmental factors that nature imparts to a given vineyard. • Terroir is a holistic philosophy and relates to all the properties of the soil, topography, and all the climatic conditions. • The concept of terroir is not only having the proper environment to grow grapes but also matching the variety and vineyard management to suit the terroir.

45. Major Grape Varieties • Although there are thousands of varieties of Vitis vinifera that are grown for winemaking, only a few make up the vast majority of production.

46. Barbera • Barbera produces intensely colored, tart wines with moderate tannins. • It is native to the Piedmont region of Italy. • The grape’s tendency to hold on to its acid in warm climates made it popular as a “blender” in wines from warm areas. • Interest in growing premium Italian varietals have led to increased plantings in the coastal growing regions in California.

47. Cabernet Franc • From the Bordeaux and Loire regions of France. • Has small berries and loose to compact clusters. Related to Cabernet Sauvignon, it typically produces wines with less complexity and lighter tannins and color than its relative does. • It is most often used for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in a Bordeaux-style blend.

48. Cabernet Sauvignon • The classic variety of Bordeaux, it is one of the most popular varieties grown worldwide. • It is a late season ripener with loose clusters and thick-skinned berries that make it resistant to rot. • It is known for its excellent color and tannins combined with complex flavor. • In 1997 DNA research determined that Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. • While 100 percent of Cabernet Sauvignons are often made with great success, blending with other Bordeaux varieties makes a more balanced and complex wine.

49. Chardonnay • One of the best known white varieties, Chardonnay comes from the Burgundy and Chablis regions of France. • It is a mid-season ripener allowing it to be grown in cool regions. • A versatile variety can be made in a number of styles. • Chardonnay’s popularity resulted in extensive planting in California throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

50. Chenin Blanc • Chenin Blanc is native to the Loire Valley of France. • It is a prodigious producer and adapts well to a number of different soils and climates. • It is popular throughout the world, although in most areas outside of France it is considered a simple grape and used for making inexpensive wines. • Usually made into a clean, crisp, wine with a minimum of oak aging, it can be made in either sweet or dry styles.