TASTES: Fresh Mozzarella

By Erica and Kara

After our last FACTS post on mozzarella, we thought it would only be appropriate if we tasted a mozzarella as well. We hope you appreciate our consistency.

Background: We purchased this fresh mozzarella from the Jenifer Street Market. It came in a container of brine with no information on the label (except, of course, the price). Where is it from? Who made it? We do not know. We can only assume it was made from cow's milk.

But, if you want to know more about mozzarella in general, see the previous FACTS post about this glorious cheese.

The Taste: We did not have as much to say about this cheese, as it is much simpler than the cheeses we usually taste. Since mozzarella is so fresh (it is best eaten the day it is made), there is no time for bacteria to grow and flavor the cheese. It tastes--as we say in our video many, many times--like milk. If milk were a solid, it would be mozzarella. Actually, mozzarella essentially is milk as a solid, so this analogy is not an analogy at all.

As for the texture, we noticed that the outer layer was stringy, much like string cheese, which is indeed a lower moisture, more processed form of mozzarella. The inside was more firm and had a grainier texture. Because the cheese is so simple, we also discussed why we think mozzarella is usually paired with tomato and basil. Watch the video to hear what we have to say!

FACTS: mmmmm...Mozzarella

By Erica

Although we've mainly focused on strong, pungent cheese on C:A J, we also have love for milder cheeses. My favorite mild cheese is fresh mozzarella. The string cheese type, processed mozzarella is alright, but I love the cloud-white, tennis-ball-shaped mozzarella that melts in your mouth.

There are many subspecies of mozzarella, but they are all made by cutting up and spinning cheese curds. High in moisture, mozzarella is tastiest the day it's made; it can be kept up to a week if stored in a brine. The string cheese mozzarella (or the shredded mozzarella sold by Kraft etc... it's all the same) is very low in moisture and usually made with skim milk. The fresh, high moisture mozzarella can be made with cows milk and is then called mozzarella fior de latte. My favorite type of mozzarella, mozzarella di bufala, is made from the milk of water buffalo.

Mozzarella is relatively easy to make, too! Dr. Frankhauser's Cheese Page, a fantastic resource for those who are interested in making cheese, has detailed instructions for making your own, complete with pictures. The basic steps are extracting the cheese curds (saving the whey to make ricotta), pouring hot water over the curds and spinning them into a nicely shaped ball, then dropping the ball into cold water to harden it a bit. There are a few more steps, so I've found a lovely youtube video (below) that shows the whole process. It's pretty neat to watch, so move your cursor down and press play!

LINKS: L. Lactis is official!

By Erica

The journey of L. Lactis has come to a triumphant close....

In a story that was picked up by The New York Times, a bill to make Lactococcus Lactis Wisconsin's state microbe was passed yesterday. L. Lactis is one of the strains of bacteria that helps turn milk into cheese.

The proposal had one dissenter, who Democratic Representative Gary Hebl said was "clearly lactose intolerant." The bill passed Thursday evening with a vote of 56 to 41.

I hope our readers celebrate with some cheese!

LINKS: State Microbe UPDATE

By Erica

A while back, we posted about the nomination of Lactococcus lactis, the bacteria that helps turn milk into cheese, for the title of State Microbe of Wisconsin.

The bill that will decide the fate of L. lactis goes up for a vote tomorrow (Thursday)!

We will keep you posted...

FACTS: Thermalization

By Kara

Recently, a friend recounted an experience she had in New York, in which she was presented with cheese labeled "thermalized cow." It took us a few minutes to work through our immediate confusion about this label: what would it take to "thermalize" a cow? (Try as I might, I couldn't find any images of cows in long underwear to post here, but those are the sorts of ideas that were running through our minds during this conversation.) We eventually figured out that "thermalized" probably referred to the milk of cows, rather than to some poor bovine individual. But even with the object of thermalization made clear, we were left with the question of what the process of thermalization is, and what sort of end result my friend consumed.

Thermalization, it turns out, is a process simliar to pasteurization: in short, a way to kill off some of the potentially harmful microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, etc.) found in raw milk straight from the animal.

Pasteurization (invented by Louis Pasteur in the 1860s) involves heating milk to very high temperatures (161 degrees F, or in some cases as high as 250 degrees F) for very short amounts of time (from a split second up to 20 seconds, depending on the temperature). This is a very effective method of slowing the many varieties of microbial growth that are dangerous to humans, such as the infamous Listeria (click here for Listeria's own blog!). However, such high temperatures also kill off microorganisms that are beneficial to human health - not to mention cheese tastiness.

Thermalization, by contrast, is a more moderate procedure, in which milk is heated to about 100-160 degrees F for 15-30 seconds: enough to kill many, but not all, micro-intruders (notably not Listeria). Proponents argue that thermalization yields perfectly safe cheese with a strong flavor and a host of health benefits, thanks to the bacteria and enzymes left behind. Opponents of thermalization counter that the risks are too high - and in the US, thermalized cheese is considered "raw," and must be aged at least 60 days in order to be sold legally, according FDA standards. In Europe, thermalization counts as "pasteurization." Those European radicals! It appears that a taste test (though hopefully not a stomach test) is in order... Please notify C.:A.J. if you hear of any cheap flights to France.

Sources:

- Curdnerds.com

- Practicallyedible.com

- Wikipedia.com

FACTS: To wash or not to wash

By Erica

Have you ever wondered what determines what a cheese's rind is like? I always thought it had something to do with bacteria, and it does-- if you let cheese age on a shelf with a certain bacteria strain, the bacteria will grow on the outside of the cheese. The longer you let the cheese age, the thicker the rind will become.

But, of course, it's more complicated than that. If there's anything I've learned about cheese, it's that there's always more to learn about cheese. Another factor that contributes to rind differences (and this I learned from Felix of Capri Cheesery) is whether or not you wash the rind. Washing a rind is just what it sounds like-- as the cheese ages, you periodically bathe the cheese in a liquid, usually a brine or alcohol. This process infuses the cheese with more flavor from the rind and thus causes the cheese to become more pungent. Most softer stinky cheeses have washed rinds. The washed rind, however, remains distinct and more bitter than the cheese.

Here's a buying tip: if you're after a cheese with a thicker rind, look for one that has a distinct boundary between the rind and the cheese-- if there's a gradient of discoloration near the rind, then the bitterness of the rind has infused into the cheese, which is less than desirable.

(Pictured: Taleggio is an example of a washed rind cheese)

FACTS: Kosher for Passover?

By Kara

So you're invited to a Passover seder, and you're a cheesemonger: can you bring your favorite wedge to the seder? This simple question and the "Facts" heading on this post belie the complexities of kosher-for-passover cheeses.

For one thing, cheese is one of the few edible substances not built into the already filling seder meal. More controversial is the presence of our old friend rennet, which is often made from the stomach linings of cows and other animals (see our original rennet post here). Because rennet consists of enzymes harvested from the gut of an animal, rather than consisting of actual animal flesh, it is not considered a "meat product," and is therefore exempt from kosher laws prohibiting the mixing of milk and meat (phew!). However, in order to access this non-meat product, you still have to slaughter the animal host - so in order to get kosher rennet, both the animal involved, and the method of slaughtering, must be certifiably kosher. Different families will be more or less careful about checking on the kosher status of the rennet used in specific cheeses - but around Passover especially, better safe than sorry. There is also the possibility that a cheese has been exposed to environments that are not up to Passover standards, or that the cheesemaker has added vinegar to the product (which must also be certified kosher), or that the mold in your favorite cheese (e.g., if you like a good bleu) has been grown on bread.

There has been a recent push for reliably certified kosher-for-passover cheeses, which sound pretty yummy. (Check out Kosher Blog for some suggestions, especially if you're in the Boston area.) And there is a slew of traditional Passover meals that contain cheese (though it's probably best not to bring these dishes unsolicited).

But in the end, even if you found a delicious hunk of kosher cheddar, you still couldn't serve it with proper crackers. The conclusion: stick with the Manischewitz next year.

Sources:

- Wikipedia: "Kosher foods"

- Askmoses.com: "Why do dairy products require kosher certification for Passover?"

- About.com: "Passover dairy mains"