What used to be a traditional craft, handed down through generations, is now more of a science. Brewers can produce exactly the same quality of beer time after time because they use equipment that controls the environment where the yeast are growing. They also know that different strains of yeast, which are a type of fungus, need different living conditions. If the temperature is right, bacteria in milk will make the proteins set into clumps, or curds. The liquid whey can then be strained off and pressed out of the cheese, leaving a solid lump.
Different bacteria produce different textures and flavours of curd.
Cheesemakers nowadays usually pasteurise the milk first, to kill off unwanted bacteria, and then introduce the special cheese bacterium to get a consistent quality of Cheddar, for example. New Zealand is at the opposite end of the Earth to the little town of Cheddar in England, but its cheesemakers can manufacture the famous cheese because they use the same bacterium. Blue cheese is full of mould living in the cracks between the curds. This page was created 17 December 97 using Microsoft FrontPage 97 Virginia M Purchon. All rights reserved.