Cheese Glossary

This ultra-rich, extremely smooth, slightly sweet fresh cheese is called “Italian cream cheese.” However, the distinction is only half correct: While mascarpone is made from the cream of cow’s milk, no cheese starter or rennet is used in its production. Mascarpone is made by draining the moisture from heavy cream using a small amount of citric acid and finely woven cloth. The result is similar to Devon Cream or Clotted Cream. Mascarpone is native to the Lombardy region of Italy, which is also home to the town of Gorgonzola. Incorporated into recipes as an ingredient (tiramisu is one of the most famous), it also makes simple yet luscious desserts, served with fruit and biscuits like gingersnaps and strawberries, or as a topping for fresh berries, poached fruit or compote. Use it to stuff figs, dates or dried apricots (sprinkle with chopped pistachios), or as the filling for cookie sandwiches.

Although some cheeses, once drained, are consumed fresh, others require some time to mature. To do this, they are placed on racks in the hâloir, a cold room which is well ventilated, with humidity of 80%. The cheeses are then regularly turned by hand. The curd slowly develops a rind, which, depending on what bacteria have been used, develops a fine layer of surface mould, which may be white, yellow or brown. The temperature of the air inside the hâloir influences the taste of the cheeses. The cheesemaker monitors their maturation by touch, sight, smell and taste.

Handmade in central Iowa, Maytag Blue was one of the first great American farmstead cheeses. It is ripened in caves dug into the rolling hills of the Iowa countryside, just as Roquefort is ripened in caves (though naturally-occurring) in southwest France. However, Maytag is a cow’s milk cheese, while Roquefort is made from sheep’s milk. Maytag Blue Cheese is made by the same family that produces washing machines. Fritz Maytag, son of Frederick Louis Maytag, founded the Maytag Dairy, and also owns the Anchor Brewing Company. Perhaps not coincidentally, the cheese pairs well with a medium-bodied ale or lager, or a glass of sweet wine.

These are soft cheeses, not pressed, that are salted and covered with the mold spores Pennicillium candidum (white) and Pennicillium glaucum (grey). The spores use the proteins and fats in the cheese to ripen it from the outside, creating a white rind. The mold acts on the proteins in the curds, breaking them down into more basic components, creating a liquid texture, a more complex flavor and an aroma. Examples include Brie, Camembert and goat cheeses.

Legally, in Italy, mozzarella is made from the milk of the water buffalo, and is mozzarella di bufala; cow’s milk mozzarella is known as fior di latte, “the flower of the milk.” Water buffalo, native to Asia, were brought to Italy in the 1400s. Water buffalo’s milk is higher in both fat and protein than cow’s, yielding 1.6 times more cheese. It also lacks the yellow pigment, carotene, found in cow’s milk, so mozzarella di bufala is pure white. Almost all American-made mozzarella is from cow’s milk. Mozzarella is a pasta filata, a spun paste. Like other cheeses, it begins with a rennet-curdled milk.

These cheeses have rinds that self-form during the aging process. Generally, no molds or microflora are added, nor is washing used to create the exterior rinds. Those that do exhibit molds and microflora in their rinds get them naturally from the environment. Most natural rind cheeses are aged for many weeks to develop their flavor as well as the rinds, and many are made from raw milk. Examples include many “tomme” style cheeses such as tomme de Savoie and mimolette, Stilton and Lancashire.

NUTTY
Often referring to hazelnut, a flavor that occurs naturally in some cheeses.