Cheese can be found all over the world over, from the local corner store to specialty gourmet shops. Sampling a wide variety of artisan and manufactured cheese, you begin to experience the wide varieties and tastes found in the world of cheese. As you become more informed about the process in which cheese is made, you will begin to enjoy this treat even more.
The world of cheese making has been around for thousands of years, as both an early form of nourishment and a method of preserving milk supplies. The process itself though has changed little in the centuries since man first discovered how to change milk into cheese. Through-out the world over 2000 varieties of cheese has been identified, ranging from your basic supermarket verities to you specialty Artisan cheese’s. Cheese is simply a nutritious food made primarily from curd or the semisolid substance created when milk curdles or coagulates. This process of milk curdling occurs naturally when milk is not used or stored right away. Non refrigerated milk will began to sour and form an acid curd, which begins to release a watery fluid known as whey. Leaving behind a semisolid curd or fresh cheese.
Artisan Cheese Making
Artisan cheese is a term used to commonly define specialty cheeses. These cheeses are generally produced in small batches, by hand, and often using traditional processing and aging techniques. Farmstead cheese is another term used to define artisan cheese produced on a farm using only the milk produced from the farmers herd or flock. In recent years Artisan cheese-making has become popular again with the increase in cheese co-ops, specialty stores and farmer’s markets. Today there are thousands of different varieties of cheese produced all over the world. Most of us though are only familiar with a few types of cheese and can probably only name five to ten varieties.
