The Opelousas courier., 1890-01-04
r OF CHEESE.

MERITS OF CHEESE.
With a uniform grade of manufacture.
what influences tend to produce varia-
ton in the flavor of eheese2 Since I be-
came a practical manufacturer, says a
writer in the Prairie Farmer, this point
has become more clear to me than form
erly, hence l will attempt a lucid expla-
nation. To begin with, milk is of the
same nature the world over. That
yielded from the panpas of Argentine,
the bush plains of Australia or the greer
cor of England, if subjected alike tc
the cheddar process, win make cheese of
similar texture, although they may dife,
in flavor.
Flavor is a subtle thing. Primarily we
might say that it has its origin in the
secret recesses of plant-life, and as that
plant-life varies, so the havoring of milk
| produced from it varies also. Taking
this for granted, let us examine and COM
pare imported Swiss cheese, and cheese
made By the Swiss process in America.
They are both alike in texture, even to
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the body at irregular intervals. Taste
samples of each, however, and note the
radical difference in point of flavor. The
| American cheese leaves q certain dry,
tasteless sensation on the palate, while
the imported is much more pungent and
appetizing. I believe that goats milk
often enters into the composition of the
| latter, which may. in a measure account
for some of the diversity. But the grass
| that grows in the high attitudes of the
Swiss cantons must necessarily be of a
different quality from that grazed in the
more humid low-lying regions OF Wis
| consin or Ohio. This difference of feed
quality, combined with similar climatic
conditions, and a long sea voyage are the
agents that influence flavor.
Now, take our American cheddar
cheese. You can go into the curiJ5t
room of any factory, and with a trier
bore a sample from every days make out
of a weeks manufacture. An expe-
| rienced man is in charge, and he under
| stands how to make an even fine quality
| grade of cheese master of the art, in
fact. Take these seven samples to the
light and compare them. In hue, in
texture, and in mellowness they are the
same, the skill of the maker being fully
illustrated therein.
Taste of each sample carefully, retain
ing it on the palate long enough to let
| your judgement pass on the flavor. 1t
| will not take a very expert judge to de-
| tect several distinct fsvors in such 8
weeks make of cheese. The cheese hav-
| ing been produced at the hands OF a
trade expert, no diversity of flavor due
to faulty manufacture is present, and the
discrepancy can be laid entirely at the
| door Of natural milk condition. I do
! not mean q condition implying faint, for
| then milk is in a diseased state, but
mean the normal quality of a healthy
| cows milk as yielded from day to day.
AS nature thus controls favor, and it is
| liable to frequently vary, we can there
fore conclude that exact uniformity In
this direction is impossible of attainment.
The distinctions are SO subtle, however,
| that they have no bearing of importance
on the general quality, unless we compare
the productions of different seasons OF
the wear. For example, take hay-made
cheese of best quality. 1t lacks body and
| the favor is fat, compared to that made
On June grass, and wen more 50 when
| placed against the production of August
and September. There is no part OF the
season n which climatic and grazing
conditions are better adapted to the pro-
| duction Of rich, fine favored cheese, than
| the last two months mentioned.
Farmers, mechanics and artisans, those
who esteem cheese as q daily article OF
diet, and who buy it in bulk for family
| use. select full cream, fuI-made stock,
for You winter larder. Sweet and nutty
| of taste when newly cured, it does not
take n that sharp acidity 8 o characteristic
of six-rnonths-old mid-sunmer-made
stock. The little variations that nature
makes in flavor can be got along very
well with, if man makes no mistake n
manufacture.
When the artificial process is adjusted
toa grade-of perfect uniformity, cheese
win have reached the high water marx
Of excellence in every particular.