The Penn's Grove record., 1893-12-22

l - AoGh MAJ T
interesting ANN The sheep
have been bred always fol
their milking quality, and the bulk oil
the cheese is yet made OF this kind oil
milk, but recently, as the demand for 1t
has increased, some cows milk is used,
without any difference materially in the
quality Of the product. 1t is not the
milk, or any special preparation OF it,
upon which the character Of the cheese
depends, but the unique process Of cur
ing in these caves, in which the temper!
allure is precisely the Same every day In
the year; the atmosphere is pure and OF
an Interchangeable moisture, so that the
: special germs whicd cause the fermenta-
Ion a ways act in precisely tae same
way. and thus the cheese never varies IN
quality. So that whether cows or
sneep's or goats milk is used, the cheese
is always Roquefort. .
The mountain on which the village Of
Roquefort, France, is situated, is called
Larzac, and is about twenty-five miles in
length and nearly 5000 feet high. The
soil is chiefly Limestone and the fertility
of it is only moderate. The natural pas
ture is thin, but it is made up by crops
| of clover, saufoin, lucern and mixel
grains, as tares AMI oats, OF rye ana peas.
Tnese mixed crops, under good culture,
yield abundantly, and afford the larger
part of the subsistence of the sheep, of
whicl about 800, 600 are kept to supply
the milk. BY close breeding this race
of sheep has become specially prolific OF
milk, rich in fat and c~aseine, having five
and seven per cent. respectively of these
elements of cheese. 1t is not so sweet as
cows milk.
This cheese is what we call a shalt
lskim," that is, the evenings milk is
skinned after being heated to near
boiling, and set until the morning. The
fresh milk aud the skinned evenin g's
milk are warned up to ninety degrees
and then curdled by the addition of q
large spoonful Of rennet to fifty quarts
or 100 pounds of milk. The heating
and the quantity of rennet used are
varied as the weather may be warm OF
damp, as this has some effect upon the
behavior Of the milk as is we'll known to
cheesemakers. The curd, when suffi.
GENTLY firm, is cut to liberate the wdeY,
which is dipped OF, and the curd is lift
ed into the moulds. These are Of earth
enware, and glazed, cylindrical in form,
and pierced with holes for the drainage
of the whey. They are eight inches 10
diameter and three aud a half deep, thus
making a cheese that weighs five pounds
when fully cured. As the molds are
filled, the curd is iuoculated with a fer
ment made'of dried moldy bread pow
der.d, this being well distributed among
the curd by the fingers as the curd Il
placed in the mold. The curd is
heaped above the edge of the mold
three inches, so that as it shrinks the
cheese will just fill the mold.
A second mold is then filled In the
same way and placed on the first, and
the curd is covered with a plate of lead,
which serves to press it and get rid OF
the excess of moisture from it. When
this has been effected, the cheese will
have shruuk within the limits of It's
mold. The whey drains from the
cheeses into channels cut in the table
upon which they are laid, and Is re.
moved. The apartment 10 which, this
work is done is al outer cave, inclosed
by a wall in front.
Here the cheese stays until it is drained
of the whey, being turned twice a day.
A special part of the process at this stage |
is the warming aud moistening Of the
rooms by mems of vessels filed with
steaming warm water, frequently re.
plenished. About three days completes
the drainage of the cheese, and i. is then
moved to the drying room, which is an
airy, cool aparrmsnt furnished with
tables covered with cloths on which the
cheeses freed from the molds are laid.
They are turaed morning and evening
for two or three days, when they are
taken into the caves for the special treat
ment to which they are subjected, and
which has the effect of giving TO this
raw curd a delicate aud delicious favor
and mellowness.
The caves being formed by the dis.
placement, fracture, and heaping together
of a vast number of rocks, are made up
of an intricate labyrinth of open spaces
aud narrow passages, through which cur.
rents of cold air are continually passing.
These air currents are controlled By
closing up some of the passages, leaving
openings that may be closed or shut as
| the wind outside may make desirable.
| Some Of the spaces are arched over with
masonry, but all are profoundly dark,
and the visitor sees only the little glim.
mering lights Pickering in the darkness
as he passes the open portal of one Of the
caves where the women, dimly seen, are
scraping the mold from the cheeses or
turning them or moistening them, and in
heir curious ways aiding the wonderful
germs at work to effect the slow changes
% the curd.
The temperature Of the caves is kept
at sixty degrees by the use OF the venti.
~ia,ors, ami the moisture is sustained at a
humidity Of forty eight degrees. When
the cheeses are brought into toe caves
they weigh eighteen per eeat. OF the
milk used.
They are now laid on the ground OIL
| clean straw to be gradually cooled doga
TO the temperature Of the cave. They
then go to the aslting room, where they
are rubbed with salt on one face, wnici
is turned to the ground; a second cheese
is sailed In the SAINT way on one face aud
laid on the frat; a third q IL then
sllted and laid on the second one. In
| this way the cave IL filled with cheess5. In
; twenty -four hours the chooses are ssltei
on the other face and reversed aud
placed as before. This frequent reverb
ins is to keep a certain quantity of mois'
ture in the cheese aud develop the
70 xth Of the special fungus which has
oeen sown in the curd. This Is the COM
mon green mold, Pendulum glaucuua.
In forty-eight hours moro the cheeses
become viscous and are rubbed with u
coarse cloth and again pill d as before.