What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen by Robert L. Wolke
Authors: Robert L. Wolke
Ads: Link
strands.
....
S tring cheese is a novelty form of mozzarella, a soft, white, elastic cheese.
American mozzarella, made from cow’s milk, is a poor relation to the Italian mozzarella ( mozzarella di bufala ) from the region along the shinbone of the Italian boot. Mozzarella di bufala is made from milk of the Asian water buffalo, introduced into Italy in the seventh century—a totally different animal from the American plains “buffalo,” which isn’t a buffalo at all, but a bison. Italian mozzarella di bufala is infinitely more moist, creamy, and delicately flavored than the cow’s-milk product whose native habitat in the United States is on top of a pizza.
In making mozzarella, the milk is coagulated and separated into Little Miss Muffett’s proverbial curds (the protein and fat) and whey (the remaining watery liquid). The curds are then mixed with some hot whey and stretched and kneaded until the mixture becomes smooth and rubbery.
To make string cheese, the curd is melted and heated to 170°F (75°C), then pulled and stretched like taffy, but mainly in a single direction, so that the milk protein (casein) molecules line up and give the cheese a directional structure. The cheese is sold in the form of cigar-shaped rods that can be peeled like a banana into long, fibrous strands that look like, well, string.
Why on earth string cheese exists, I don’t know, except that kids like to play with it. And it can be consumed as a hand-held snack, like a vegetarian Slim Jim.
THE FOODIE’S FICTIONARY:
Whey—a contrary response to “No way!”
CAN YOU SAY “PROCESS”?
I see many kinds of “process cheese” convenience foods in the supermarket. How are they related to traditional cheeses like Cheddar, Swiss, and so on? Do they all contain “real” cheese, and if so, how much?
....
I n addition to the hundreds of classic cheeses developed over more than a thousand years in various parts of the world, we are blessed (?) today with many options for adding cheese flavor, be it natural or artificial, to our snacks and dishes. Dozens of cheesy (often in more ways than one) factory-produced concoctions beckon to us from the market’s refrigerated cases. Almost all of them contain “real” cheese, but their ties to reality can be rather thin.
The primary virtue of these so-called “process” (not “processed”) cheeses is that unlike many classic cheeses they are easily meltable and blendable. That’s because they often contain emulsifying agents and/or have been beaten into smooth submission long before they reach your kitchen.
Classifying them, as you can imagine, can be quite a chore, but the FDA is up to it. Here are the FDA-defined categories in order of diminishing faithfulness to the historic and revered concept of cheese.
• Pasteurized process cheese: A mixture of two or more cheese varieties that have been heated and blended together with an emulsifier and optional ingredients such as water, salt, or coloring, into what the FDA appetizingly calls “a homogeneous plastic mass” with a minimum of 47 percent milk fat. These cheese products may contain added cream or fat, making them more easily meltable, but they must be at least 51 percent actual cheese. Example: Most American cheeses.
• Pasteurized process cheese food (note: not a “cheese” but a “food”): A pasteurized process cheese containing enough added ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, or whey to reduce the percentage of actual cheese in the product to below 51. May contain emulsifiers such as phosphates, citrates, or tartrates, but must contain at least 23 percent milk fat. Example: Land O’Lakes American Singles.
• Pasteurized process cheese spread: A pasteurized process cheese food that may contain a sweetener plus stabilizing and thickening gums such as xanthin or carrageenan. Must contain at least
....
S tring cheese is a novelty form of mozzarella, a soft, white, elastic cheese.
American mozzarella, made from cow’s milk, is a poor relation to the Italian mozzarella ( mozzarella di bufala ) from the region along the shinbone of the Italian boot. Mozzarella di bufala is made from milk of the Asian water buffalo, introduced into Italy in the seventh century—a totally different animal from the American plains “buffalo,” which isn’t a buffalo at all, but a bison. Italian mozzarella di bufala is infinitely more moist, creamy, and delicately flavored than the cow’s-milk product whose native habitat in the United States is on top of a pizza.
In making mozzarella, the milk is coagulated and separated into Little Miss Muffett’s proverbial curds (the protein and fat) and whey (the remaining watery liquid). The curds are then mixed with some hot whey and stretched and kneaded until the mixture becomes smooth and rubbery.
To make string cheese, the curd is melted and heated to 170°F (75°C), then pulled and stretched like taffy, but mainly in a single direction, so that the milk protein (casein) molecules line up and give the cheese a directional structure. The cheese is sold in the form of cigar-shaped rods that can be peeled like a banana into long, fibrous strands that look like, well, string.
Why on earth string cheese exists, I don’t know, except that kids like to play with it. And it can be consumed as a hand-held snack, like a vegetarian Slim Jim.
THE FOODIE’S FICTIONARY:
Whey—a contrary response to “No way!”
CAN YOU SAY “PROCESS”?
I see many kinds of “process cheese” convenience foods in the supermarket. How are they related to traditional cheeses like Cheddar, Swiss, and so on? Do they all contain “real” cheese, and if so, how much?
....
I n addition to the hundreds of classic cheeses developed over more than a thousand years in various parts of the world, we are blessed (?) today with many options for adding cheese flavor, be it natural or artificial, to our snacks and dishes. Dozens of cheesy (often in more ways than one) factory-produced concoctions beckon to us from the market’s refrigerated cases. Almost all of them contain “real” cheese, but their ties to reality can be rather thin.
The primary virtue of these so-called “process” (not “processed”) cheeses is that unlike many classic cheeses they are easily meltable and blendable. That’s because they often contain emulsifying agents and/or have been beaten into smooth submission long before they reach your kitchen.
Classifying them, as you can imagine, can be quite a chore, but the FDA is up to it. Here are the FDA-defined categories in order of diminishing faithfulness to the historic and revered concept of cheese.
• Pasteurized process cheese: A mixture of two or more cheese varieties that have been heated and blended together with an emulsifier and optional ingredients such as water, salt, or coloring, into what the FDA appetizingly calls “a homogeneous plastic mass” with a minimum of 47 percent milk fat. These cheese products may contain added cream or fat, making them more easily meltable, but they must be at least 51 percent actual cheese. Example: Most American cheeses.
• Pasteurized process cheese food (note: not a “cheese” but a “food”): A pasteurized process cheese containing enough added ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, or whey to reduce the percentage of actual cheese in the product to below 51. May contain emulsifiers such as phosphates, citrates, or tartrates, but must contain at least 23 percent milk fat. Example: Land O’Lakes American Singles.
• Pasteurized process cheese spread: A pasteurized process cheese food that may contain a sweetener plus stabilizing and thickening gums such as xanthin or carrageenan. Must contain at least
Similar Books
