Behold the Power of Cheese

1. Behold the Power of Cheese Jonathan Deutsch CS322 Prof. Austin Lee

2. What makes cheese? • Milk • A “culture” • A “coagulant” • Salt

3. Cheese is Cultured • Instead of going to the theatre to get its culture, cheese has bacteria added to it • Louis Pasteur isolated the Streptococcus lactis bacterium which was used as the first cheese starter culture • Buttermilk bacterium:

4. What’s a coagulant? • A bacteria or enzyme that helps to change “liquid” cheese to a solid state • Originally found in plants • Butterworts, artichokes, etc. • Also found in the fourth stomach of “milk-fed” cows • In 16th Century Scotland, farmers would clean the fourth stomach carefully and hang it to dry for a day, then soak it in a salt solution and add it directly to cheese

5. Salt in cheese? Mmm…mmm… • Amount depends on type of cheese • Hard pressed: • Added to stop acid production from bacteria • Brine-salted cheese: • Cheese is added to a salt/water bath strong enough to float the cheese, causing it to absorb the salt • Soft cheese: • Helps add a rind to cheese

6. Popularity of Cheese • Americans LOVE cheese • In 1906 the average cheese consumption was: • Five pounds per person per year • In 2000 the average cheese consumption was: • THIRTY pounds per person per year

7. Types of Cheeses • English Cheeses • Cheddar – white to pale yellow • Double Gloucester – creamy yellow color • French Cheeses • Brie – “The Queen of the Cheeses” • Camembert – soft, white-mold cheese • Munster – dark yellow, strong flavor • Roquefort – blue-mold

8. Types of Cheeses • German Cheeses • Limburger – smelly, white cheese • Dutch Cheeses • Edam – semisoft-hard cheese • Gouda – like Edam, but sweet and nutty • Italian Cheese • Mozzarella – pure white, made from water buffalo & cow’s milk • Swiss Cheese • Gruyere – smaller holes than typical Swiss cheese, used in fondues

9. What did you learn? What is the name of the bacteria used to culture cheese? Streptococcus lactis What ingredients are used to make cheese? Milk, culture, coagulant, salt How many pounds of cheese does the average America eat? Thirty pounds per year What is the “Queen of the Cheeses”? French Brie

10. Cheese Racing • A game invented in the United Kingdom in answer to this question: • What happens when you throw a piece of individually wrapped cheese on a BBQ grill without removing the plastic? • The Answer: • The plastic apparently does not melt although the cheese does. The plastic wrapper inflates and finally pops, after the cheese inside has completely incinerated.

11. Resources • iGourment.com - Types of Cheese • USDA - American Cheese Consumption • History of Cheese • Cheese Racing • How to Make Cheese

12. BEHOLD THE POWER OF CHEESE!