The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-03
THE MAKING OF CHEESE.
All Foreign Varieties Are Initiated In
This Country.
PHILADELPHIA Times.


This Country.
Philadelphia Times.
About this season of the year those who
keenly enjoy the pleasures or the Iaple
ask anxiously, after the salad mas peeh
munched if the Camembert is OF TINS sea-
sons Importation and thoroughly ripe, or
whether the Roqueforte has a heart OF
damp green mold, and. II none OF THESE
conditions obtain. the query Is made as
to whether or not the cheese or Brle Is
OF foreign growth and in soItened STATE.
These are important inquiries 10 .hs man "a,
who knows how to dine Anu YET ne III
tie dreams that nowadays he rarely gives
an apex to his gastronomlc Ieast VIII
ourdled cream of foreign max; rnnra-
sents an enormous and fast increasing IN
dustry. During the hve years preceu.te
1850 there were received ana sou az ', nf
cheese, valued at about s3o,o0O,oOo. O1 TINS
enormous quantity nearly S,VVJ,Wo pachaSeS,
or about 400, U00, 900 pounds. were Sent 10
England Next TO New York city Montreal
is the greatest cheese market on the amer
lean continent, the transactions at the Two
places being almost equal. chicago Is aIso
a cheese mart of no inconsiderable impor-
tance but most of the products Oh tnlS
character handled there come from WIS
cOnsin The cheese most traded ln SO Tar
as this country is concerned. Is known rs
Chedder which is a new-worid adaptation
of old English product: rms rs Is the the
plain yellow caSen seen under the Dig
glass globes or in the wire-netteo poXeS
on the counters of grocery stores IN It's
best developed form 1t Is the basis ol ,ne
ers however, do not confine themselves
entirely to the manufacture OF Cneduer
They now produce in large quan oantnr; S
of those soft cheeSes when Tor centuries
have borne a foreign birthmark. On eX-
cellent authority it is stated tnat at Ieas.
so per cent of the cheeses Mnlch pea Ill ,de
either in the States OF New ork OF w iScU S.s
sin. IT is almost impossible to tell the oil,
ference between the imported arucie anu
he N imit4tlOn.
A well-known cheese buyer, an expert
in speaking on this subject yesterday
spoke most entertainingly. 60, :.
II do not understand, said he, why IL
is that Americans, as a rule. prefer and
will pay a higher price for table cheese
when they believe 1t TO be imported. Inc
fact is that soft cheeses, by which is
meant cheeses made wholly OF cream, are
better for the American table than the
same cheese made in the localities from
which they derive their various names The
reason for this is that such cheese does
not improve to any extent with age ana the
attendant delay in its shipment from en- nu
rather than adds to its value. rake rogue
forte for instance. 1t is prepared from
ewes or goats milk, OF winch the quah;y
is just as good in America as it is in
France. After 1t has attained the curdled
state it Is pressed into shape by hanu III
is then placed in cool caverns S LOT "n nGa
allowed to remain until it becomes covered
with thick coating of green mold. mis-
until at the end of two or three months the
mold assumes a reddish hue, which indi-
Gates that the cheese is ripe and ready Tor
use. The sooner it is used after TINS con-
dition has been reached the better, and the
additional ten days or two weeks needed
to ship it from Europe detracts from It's
value. Brie cheese may POSSIBLY De con-
sidered an exception, as 1T pleases some
palates in its old state more than In It's
new New Brie manufactured in America
is more palatable and better cheese than
Prize in
the different methods of curing them,
American Brie, as 1t gets Old becomes
dry. hard and taSteless. while the french
Brie softens until it almost resolves itself
into its original creamy state, and In that
condition is considered by many eplcures
far preferable TO any other cheese made.
Neufchatel. d'Isigny, Bricquebec and "a
membert can be and are made In this coun-
try Just as well as they are IN France,
their only inferiority lying In the fact that
they cannot be kept as long as the cneeSeS
of foreign manufacture. But even Amerl-
can limitations can be kept long enough IL
little care is used. They should never be
subjected either TO a very high or n very
low temperature and should be kept in a
damp place. If they become covered with
mold, as is sometimes the case, that can
be easily remedied by washing them in
strong salt water, which restores to a
great extent the original taste and fresh
ness and improves the appearance OF the
cheese.
"As far as Swiss or 'Sweitzer' cheese is
concerned, 1 doubt if per cent. of the
total quantity used in the United States
is made In Europe. Vast quantities OF ii
are sold both in New York and Chicago,
and ii is pronounced by competent judges
as being just as good in every respect as
that made in Switzerland. 1t can be kept
long while, and should be treated very
much as soft cheeses are. The only
cheese that we import to any extent from
Germany is Limburg, or Limburger, and
even in that case by far the largest por-
lion sold here is made in Wisconsin and
New York. 1t doesn't make much differ
ence about the keeping qualities of Linn
burg for it is only reished by those who
are really partial to it when it has reached
that advanced stage of decomposition
which makes IL highly offensive to sensi-
tive nostriIs The average German epicure
does not consider Limburg fit to eat until
ii has become thickly peopled with a small
white worm, which he seems TO relish even
more than he does the cheese. The vari-
cites j have mentioned are about the only
ones that Americans find ii profitable to
make. although there is an excise duty on
all cheeses imported into this country. The
fact is. that in most of the other cheese
producing countries labor is so cheap that
Americans find it difficult to compete with
them. In Holland, for instance. is made
nearly all, in fact. all, of the Edam cheese.
which has so many lovers in this country;
while in Italy there are several varieties,
the most popular of which is probably Cor
gonzola, very popular after-dnner NOR
sci. Italy also furnishes Us with the
Parmesan cheese, so common in its graded
state as the dressing for that toothsome
Italian dish, spaghetti. Scandinavia also
furnishes us with a variety of very palat-
able cheese. but labor is so cheap in those
countries that, in spite of the duty, the
cheese can be sold here at less rate than
the American producer can afford to manu-
facture it,"
The excellence of American limitations
of foreign cheese is so well recognized that
wholesale dealers make no attempt TO OBJ
tain a higher price for the imported arr
ticle than for the domestic. 1t is only
among retailers that such deception is
practiced. a factory at Little Falls, y. Y.
is said to supply large majority of the
frst-class restaurants in New York city
consumers are ever able TO detect the diff
ference. OF cheese in general IL may be
said that. an article of food, its value
is questionable The very best of cheese
is hard TO digest although ii is claimed
that it aids TO the digestion of other food.
a poet has said of ii: