For a number of reasons, there is no single classification of cheese products in the world as such. Among these reasons are the variety of methods for producing the same cheeses from different manufacturers, and the variety of names for the same cheeses made in different countries. The most common and well-known is the French classification – that’s what we used. It should be noted that this classification is rather conditional and some varieties of cheese are generally quite difficult to attribute to any type.
Considering types of cheese, it is correct to start with the basics – from what and how cheeses are made, and gradually approach what is obtained – to different types of cheeses. The final – that is, what kind of cheese will turn out – the result depends on the methods of making cheese.
Cheese is made from the milk of various animals: cow, sheep, goat or buffalo. So, in the manufacture of Italian Mozzarella cheese, black buffalo milk is traditionally used. Today there are many varieties of Mozzarella that are made from cow’s milk. Finnish cheese Ilves is made from reindeer milk, and in Jordan, shepherds use goat, sheep and camel milk along with cow milk to make Laban. In addition to the types of milk, the habitat of animals also plays a decisive role – certain types of cheese can only be made from the milk of local animals. For example, Mountain cheese is made only from the milk of Alpine cows.
An important role in the process of making cheese is played by the features of the further processing of milk.
The technology for making cheese from milk has not changed for thousands of years. In its most general form, the production of cheese is simple: the cheese mass is separated from the whey. To do this, put the milk for a while in a warm place until it turns sour and thickens. This process occurs due to lactic acid bacteria. To speed up the curdling process or affect the taste of the cheese, a so-called starter culture is added to the milk. It can be yogurt, and slightly acidified yesterday’s milk. However, the most important means of fermenting milk in the manufacture of cheese is rennet. The introduction of rennet allows you to get not only a variety of cheese varieties, but also to increase its shelf life.
Rennet is an enzyme found in the stomachs of suckling calves, kids, or lambs. This enzyme helps turn the casein in milk into a solid and make it digestible.
It should be noted that there are also herbal means of coagulation of milk – this is fig juice and starter grass.
However, if everything were so simple… Already in the process of separation (separation of cheese mass from whey) there are many subtleties that affect the final result – the type of cheese obtained. So, for some varieties, milk is heated, while others are cooked at room temperature.
After separating the whey, the cheese mass is subjected to further processing. It is shaped, salted, dried, washed and then aged. The refinement and peculiarity of the taste of each cheese is in the details of this process: some are stuffed with mold fungi, others are pressed or washed in brine. Each cheese has its own special procedure.
It is in the process of processing and aging that each of the types and varieties of cheese acquires its own special taste. There is hardly any cheese that does not age. Exposure in certain cases can take years. So, hard Parmesan cheese needs a fairly long storage. Some cheeses need to be aged only in special rooms – such as real Roquefort, which must “ripen” only in caves, under favorable climatic conditions.
And now it turns out cheese, which is divided into the following types, presented in the table.