The Oxford companion to cheese

894 Pages·2017·57.246 MB·English

by  Donnelly, Catherine W

THE OXFORD COMPANION TO CHEESE
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR IN CHIEF Catherine Donnelly
Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont,
and Editor of Cheese and Microbes
AREA EDITORS Montserrat Almena-Aliste
Cheese Technologist and Sensory Consultant, and Director of
Animal Product Development at FoodScience Corporation
Kate Arding
Operations Manager, Talbott & Arding Cheese and Provisions
Edward Behr
Editor, The Art of Eating magazine, and Author, The Food and Wine
of France: Eating and Drinking from Champagne to Provence
Ursula Heinzelmann
Food and Wine Writer and Author of Beyond Bratwurst: A History of
Food in Germany
Paul S. Kindstedt
Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, and
Author of Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in
Western Civilization
May Leach
Q. A. and New Product Development Manager (Retired), Cabot
Creamery
Giuseppe Licitra
Professor, Animal and Food Sciences, University of Catania
Sylvie Lortal
Research Director, French National Institute for Agricultural
Research (INRA)
Heather Paxson
Professor of Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and Author of The Life of Cheese: Crafting Food and Value in America
Bronwen Percival
Buyer and Quality Assurance Manager, Neal’s Yard Dairy, and
Co-founder, MicrobialFoods.org
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Donnelly, Catherine W., editor.
Title: The Oxford companion to cheese / edited by Catherine Donnelly.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016034026 | ISBN 9780199330881 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Cheese–Encyclopedias.
Classification: LCC SF270.2 .O94 2016 | DDC 637/.303—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016034026
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Introduction ix
Topical Outline of Entries xiii
The Oxford Companion to Cheese 1
APPENDIX Cheese Museums 787
Directory of Contributors 791
Index 805

FOREWORD
When my brother Andy and I started Jasper Hill ticulars of history and the place and people that
Farm in Greensboro, Vermont, in 2003 it was with produced it in a way that few other products can
the intent of satisfying three deep-seated needs: mean- match. Cheese is a form of capital, a store that in-
ingful work, in a place that we love, with people we creases in value over time and is the founding capi-
love. Beyond the nourishment of the body, cheese tal of a few European banking systems. Sunshine,
has provided a fount of meaning for us and for many banked in the form of cheese, held in darkness until
who have come from near and far to participate in that light captured in summer is revealed in the
building something of significance in the Northeast form of a thousand aromas, textures, and flavors.
Kingdom of Vermont. We are a bright spot of hope And cheese is alive! It is one of the only truly
on a landscape that is battered by global market forces living foods we consume. Every bite of cheese con-
in its efforts to produce a commodity there is al- tains over 10 billion living microbes. The biochem-
ready too much of: milk. As cheesemakers we gen- ical cascade of ripening is just beginning to be un-
erate value not just in our ability to transform milk derstood. The diversity of volatile aromas and the
into money, but in our ability to reconnect consum- range of sensory attributes across the dizzying spec-
ers with a landscape through our work. There is a trum of products we call cheese is truly mind-boggling.
yearning for connection to the Land and to Place, The recent advent of molecular biology, whole-
and cheese is uniquely able to bridge this divide and genome sequencing technologies, and microbiome
to connect consumers to the landscape we distill research makes this an incredibly exciting time to
every time we make a batch of cheese. In this way be a cheesemaker.
our customers have become co-creators and partici- But these technologies have also made pathogen
pants in a virtuous cycle that is transforming our detection easier than ever and while cheese has an
community by bringing young people back into exemplary history of safety, traditional practices
town, keeping kids in our schools and cows on the and artisan and farmstead-scale production live in
land, and we in turn offer the opportunity for con- the shadow of an uncertain regulatory future. The
nection through a sensory experience to something complexity of the microbial ecology of raw milk
profoundly deeper than just a piece of cheese. and cheese along with the industrialization of the
Cheese is primordial. It has spurred and fed human global food supply has created a regulatory para-
civilization from the Fertile Crescent and the incep- digm that struggles to appreciate and comprehend
tion of agriculture through the building of empire the value that traditional cheesemaking has in the
and beyond the Industrial Revolution. In its sim- creation of social and economic good. Many tradi-
plest form cheesemaking is the aggregation and tional European cheeses are in decline or have dis-
preservation of protein; in its highest form cheese- appeared. It is ironic that the United States is leading
making is alchemy. With only four ingredients but a the resurgence of artisan cheese and is the fastest
thousand iterations, every cheese embodies the par- growing market for specialty cheese on the planet.
viii • Foreword
Can we Americans be the saviors of French terroir? lective history. A broad alliance of scientists, aca-
Or will our efforts to reveal our own terroir be stillborn demics, cheesemakers, cheesemongers, consumers
because of insurmountable regulatory hurdles? and enthusiasts has emerged to confront regulators
I used to believe that the greatest threat to our busi- and hold them accountable as we move into rulemak-
ness was a microbiological threat, but have learned ing under FSMA. It is a community response and a
the microbiological risk can be managed. I now be- reminder of why I really love cheese. The People.
lieve that the biggest risk to the cheeses that are the The Oxford Companion to Cheese is a testament to
foundation of our business is a regulatory risk. The the passion and an embodiment of the willingness
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the big- of so many to participate and share their particular
gest change to food regulation we are likely to see experience and special knowledge. Three hundred
in our lifetimes. It represents an opportunity and twenty-five authors from 35 countries penned 855
a hazard for cheesemakers. Twice in the past two entries in what must be one of the greatest collabo-
years regulators have been forced to walk back on rations of any cheese book ever. Among the 325
the implementation of rules that would have sig- contributors to this great book are many I count as
nificantly damaged existing foreign and domestic friends and many whom I admire and have yet to
businesses and limited traditional practices without meet. It is the people I have the privilege to interact
providing a public health benefit. Regulators were with because of cheese on a daily basis or as part
caught off guard by the immediate, passionate, and of my broader work that gives me hope and know-
decisive response from cheesemakers, retailers, con- ledge that the next thousand years of cheesemaking
sumers, politicians, and the media. It has been as- will be even more interesting and rewarding for
tounding to watch and participate in the defense of humankind than the last.
the cheeses and practices that are the link to our col-
Mateo Kehler
INTRODUCTION
Cheese is a paradox, a remarkably complex food that that oil does not separate from the cheese mass. As
begins as one simple and humble ingredient: milk. a result cheeses used as ingredients often contain
When coupled with equally simple ingredients— products that help them behave consistently. There
bacteria, salt, enzymes—and manipulated under the are many wonderful cheese products that have cre-
right temperatures and conditions, a transforma- ated great demand for milk and milk-derived ingre-
tion occurs, resulting in a vast array of products of dients, such as milk protein concentrates. Whey,
differing shapes, sizes, and colors, with a panoply once considered a byproduct of cheesemaking, is
of flavors, tastes, and textures. These are the great now valued industrially as an important source of
cheeses of the world. But there is nothing simple highly functional proteins, immunoglobulins, and
about cheesemaking. The hours are long and the lactoferrin.
labor backbreaking. Great care is required to lov- There is another world of cheese, one that shares
ingly tend the animals and landscapes that produce rich cultural roots and traditions with varieties that
high-quality milk for cheesemaking. Once milk is col- have been manufactured in Europe for centuries.
lected, many hours, days, and months are required These age-old cheese traditions are now being em-
to complete the stages of cheesemaking and aging braced by US artisan cheese producers and, as a result,
needed to produce great cheese. So much can go over the last thirty years a bona fide cheese culture
wrong. But when things go right, the result is over has emerged within the United States. The cheeses
fourteen hundred named cheese varieties enjoyed produced in the United States now rival the very
throughout the world. best produced throughout the world. These cheeses
In approaching this book, it was necessary to ex- vary in consistency, depending on what starter cul-
plore the multitude of ways in which we interact ture was used, the aging conditions, the pastures or
with cheese. For many, our experience with cheese forages on which the animals were raised, and the
is limited to cheese as an ingredient—wonderful animals used to produce the milk, ranging from sheep
mozzarella topping a hot pizza, shredded cheese in to goats to cows to water buffalo. These cheeses are
tacos or on nachos or other Mexican foods, cream living, breathing entities. They have in some cases a
cheese on a bagel, Cheddar cheese in comfort foods very short shelf life. Like fine wines, artisan cheeses
such as macaroni and cheese, or cheese melted on have terroir, a connection to place. It is the search
top of that iconic Quebecois dish, poutine. Given for uniqueness and often inconsistency that makes
consumer demand for fast food and prepared meals, consumers crave these products.
the processed food industry is a major user of In 1985 the American Cheese Society, founded
cheese as an ingredient throughout the world. The by Cornell professor Frank Kosikowski, judged 89
requirements in the processed food industry dictate cheeses entered by 30 cheesemakers at its annual
that cheese function as a perfectly predictable in- meeting. In 2015 the ACS held its annual meeting
gredient—that it melt with consistency, brown in a in Providence, Rhode Island, where 1,799 cheeses
predictable manner, appear as a perfect emulsion so made by 267 producers were entered in competition.