Kathy Krueger age 16, of Dekalb, I11., for her question:
HOW MANY KINDS OF CHEESE ARE THERE?
Cheese is a solid or semisolid food product prepared from the milk of cows, ewes, goats or other mammals. More than 2,000 varieties of cheese are known today.
Most cheese today is made of cows milk.
Cheese has been made since prehistoric times. Because it is relatively easy to make and can be preserved for fairly long periods, cheese is an important item in the diet of almost all peoples in every part of the world.
The principal solid constituent of milk is casein, a protein. When raw or pasteurized milk is allowed to stand in a warm place, it sours and the casein is precipitated by the action of lactic acid bacteria. In the case of pasteurized milk, in which these harmless bacteria have been killed, an acid "starter" must be added.
The thick precipitate, or curd, is separated from the thin, watery residue known as whey. This was the earliest method of producing cheese and it is still used to make pot cheese and cottage cheese, although curd prepared with rennett which acts to speed the separation process is preferred today.
The next steps in the making of cheese are salting (for flavor and eventually to aid in curing) and pressing (to shape the cheese and eliminate more whey).
The curd is then ready for curing and is stored under temperature ¬and humidity controlled conditions for varying lengths of time. Some cheese, such as cream or cottage cheese, is not cured.
In general, the longer the curing or aging process, the more pronounced the flavor of the finished product.
All cheeses are divided into two basic categories: natural and process. The latter are blends of several kinds of natural cheeses with the addition of emulsifiers.
The butterfat content of cheese that is, the amount remaining in the cheese solids after all moisture has been removed varies according to whether the cheese has been made with whole milk, skim or part skim milk, or enriched milk.
Skim milk cheese has a butterfat content of 0.5 percent or less. Average cheeses, such as Cheddar, Gouda or Camembert, have a fat content of from 45 to 50 percent. Double and triple cream cheeses have 60 to 75 percent butterfat
In addition to fat content, cheeses can be categorized by consistency, or moisture content. Thus, there are hard grating cheeses, ripened longer and with sharp flavor (such as Parmesan), hard cheeses (such as Cheddar), semi soft cheeses (such as Roquefort or Limburger) and soft cheeses (such as Camembert or cottage cheese.)
The first truly American cheeses were brick cheese, invented in Wisconsin in 1877, and Liderkranz, produced in New York in 1892.
About 1 billion tons of cheese is made each year in the United States today, with 37 percent coming from Wisconsin, 13 percent from Minnesota and 8 percent from New York.