Evening star., 1936-06-03
Simple Tricks May Be Used Insure Success of Creamed Dish
Preventing Separation
Or Curdling Is Possible
IF Rules Are Followed
Cheese Also Difficult to Handle in Cookery;
Requires Very Little Heat
for Good Results.

best vay to prevent 1t Is to stir the milk
as it heats, or beat 1t afterward with
an egg beater. Hot cocoa or chocolate,
for example, Is more inviting II well
beaten before serving.
when 1t comes TO vegetable dishes
containing milk and eggs, both curd-
ling and another kind of protein be-
havior-shrinkage and toughening-
must be prevented. Again the milk Is
thickened. The basis of vegetable
or a fruit souffie-or any soufie-is
white sauce and eggs. To the white
sauce are added first the egg yolks; then
the finely divided vegetable or fruit or
cheese, or other havorings; then the
egg white beaten to foam. Although
thickening of the milk prevents curd-
ling due to any acid that may be pres
ent, cooking at too high a temperature
or too long time causes the proteins
in the mixture to shrink and toughen,
contracting the foamy structure, re-
leasing the air and causing the souffle
to fall.
Sometimes, OF course. curdling Is
dGSlEEQ-dS III lilo ming OOIbd6t CllCDcCs
Sour milk, or milk that has just be-
gun To turn. though not sour 10 the
taste, will curdle If heated. Gentle
heating, up to lukewarm temperature
(about 1o4 degrees Fahrenheit), will
separate the curds of casein from the
whey, and when the whey is strained
of the product is what we call cottage
cheese. Too much heat, however, for
too long q time. makes dry, tough.
and rubbery cheese.
%4&
"CHEESE dishes-made with such
solid cheeses as American ched
dar-are always mixtures of cheese
with something else. Usually the
method is to add the cheese TO
white sauce. which is then combined
with the other ingredients. Or, If
the cheese is dry and hard, like
Parmesan, it is grated and served,
Italian fashion, on a separate dish,
to be sprinkled over soup, or maca-
roni, or vegetables. In other words,
cheese is such a concentrated food
that we cannot take much OF 1t
straight Cooking with cheese, a
milk product. involves the mild pro-
teinS and the cooking problems those
proteins create, Cheese. in fact, should
not be really cooked, but merely heated
enough to melt it Overheating tough
ems and hardens cheese and may
cause a cheese mixture to separate
as witness many a Welsh rabbit.
"All the typical cheese dishes illus
trate these principles. For macaroni
and cheese, and all the vegetable
dishes with cheese, the rules are to
make white sauce, add grated cheese
to this sauce, and heat the mixture
only until the cheese is melted. Com
bine this sauce, now cheese sauce,
with cooked mAcaroni. cooked rice,
cooked potatoes or other vegetable. to
avoid cooking the cheese again. Heat
this mixture through and, If an oven
dish, brown it. But do not heat 1t
longer than necessary for these pur-
poses. else II will separate.
In Welsh rabbits, where cheese
itself is the main ingredient. a double
boiler or a chafng dish is needed to
keep the heat low, and cooking should
stop when the cheese is melted and
the ingredients well blended. When
cheese is combined with eggs, in omelet,
souffle or rabbit, the rule of low tenn
perature and short cooking time ap-
plies to all the proteins and with
added emphsxis.'