CHESHIRE

is made from whole milk. It resembles Cheddar but is of stronger flavor. In England, Cheshire cheese weigh up to as high as 150 or 200 pounds, but in this country they range from 20 to 70 pounds, generally in cylindrical shape. From eight to ten months is required for ripening.

COLHOMMIER: a small Brie cheese, five to six inches in diameter and one inch in thickness, weighing about one pound.

COTTAGE, also called "Dutch Cheese" and "Smier-Kase": a sour milk cheese extensively made and consumed here, sold both in bulk and wrapped in tin-foil. The curd is broken up and held at about 100 degree Fahr. until sufficiently firm, the whey next being drained off and the curd placed under moderate pressure for some time. If to be held long, it is packed in tubs and placed in cold storage to prevent ripening. For eating, it is generally moistened with milk or cream.

COTTENHAM: a rich English cheese, in flavor and consistence quite similar to Stilton, but flatter and broader in shape.

CREAM: is made in several ways, the two chief varieties of American manufacture being (1) sweet cream thickened with rennet or by souring, drained and salted; and (2) cream curdled with rennet, broken up to allow part of the whey to escape, then mixed or worked almost to a paste, molded into pieces weighing two to four ounces, wrapped in parchment paper and tin-foil and placed on the market fresh (without any curing). The second style is manufactured here on a very large scale.

There are also a number of French Cream and "Double Cream" cheeses, of which Neufchatel and Gervais are the best known examples.

DEVONSHIRE CREAM: is, essentially, cooked cream. The cream is allowed to rise on the milk for several hours, then the milk and cream (still together) are scalded and set aside to permit the cream layer to harden. The latter is then put in small molds and set on straw mats to drain. It is ready for market without further preparation as soon as it is hard enough to retain its shape.

D'ISIGNY: a soft, creamy American cheese, bearing a close resemblance to imported Brie, but made by a process similar to that for Camembert and put up in Camembert shape, though a little larger--about 1 1/2 inches thick and 6 inches across, wrapped in paper and weighing about a pound.

DORSET: resembles Stilton in character and manufacture. It takes its name from Dorsetshire, England.

DOUBLE GLOUCESTER. SEE GLOUCESTER

DUNLOP: a rich, white and buttery cheese, resembling cheddar, made in round forms of from thirty to sixty pounds. It was formerly the national cheese of Scotland, but has been practically superseded in that country by Cheddar.

DUTCH CHEESE: a general name for Edam, Gouda and Cottage Cheese

EDAM: a highly salted, red, round cannonball cheese, made in Edam, Holland, and its vicinity, principally on farms. The curd is pressed in molds--sometimes of metal, but usually of wood, cup shaped and round bottomed, with similar shaped tops to complete the spherical form--going next for a few days to "salting" cups of similar shape. In the curing room, the cheeses are placed on shelves with holes in them to prevent them rolling off, and are turned and rubbed each day. At the end of a month they are washed, dried and rubbed with flaxseed oil till they shine and are then ready to be loaded into carts--which are generally dragged by dogs to the market town.

The red color of the outside skin is obtained by carmine or a weak solution of litmus and Berlin red.

The shells of Edam or Pineapple cheese are useful for serving macaroni. Heat the shell in a moderate oven and pour in the (cooked) macaroni. If the macaroni is to be browned, set the filled shell in the oven again--this will, however, destroy the shell after three or four times.

EMMENTHALER (commonly called Swiss Cheese, or Schweitzer): a rennet cheese made from whole milk, of mild rather sweet flavor and generally distinguished by holes or "eyes" of various sizes and frequency. It was originally made in Emmenthal, Switzerland, and that country is still a large exporter in spite of the fact that similar cheese is now manufactured in nearly every country. The French product is known, both in France and by export, as Gruyere. That made here is known as "Domestic Swiss".

The cheeses are often very large--from 60 to 220 pounds each, sometimes in blocks about twenty-eight inches or so long and eight inches square, but generally circular, the larger ranging up to four feet in diameter and six inches in thickness.

The genuine Emmenthaler, when exported, is never less than four months old. It keeps, under favorable conditions, for many years. It should be nutty in taste, and rather dry, but tender. The "holes" or "eyes," though generally characteristic, are not necessary to its quality, for many good Swiss cheeses are "blind," as dealers describe them.

ENGLISH DAIRY: a very hard cheese, prepared in about the same way as Cheddar, but cooked for a longer time. It is made quite extensively here, principally for culinary purposes.

GEDORT: a Norwegian cheese, small in size and solid in form, wrapped in foil.

GERVAIS: a French cheese made from a mixture of whole milk and cream. It is very lightly cured and is generally consumed fresh.

GLOUCESTER ("Single" and "double"): is mild, somewhat buttery and not friable. It comes in large, round, flat forms. "Single Gloucester" is made from milk deprived of part of its cream. "Double Gloucester" contains all the cream.

GORGONZOLA: a rich cream cheese, akin to Roquefort and made in a somewhat similar manner, but milder in flavor and cheaper, produced in the mountain villages of Italy. The clayey outside surface of the whole cheese is a mixture of gypsum, tallow, etc., and is designed to aid in preserving it. Well-made Gorgonzola can be kept in good condition for a year or longer.

GOUDA: a Holland cheese made from whole or partly skimmed milk, coagulated with rennet and colored with saffron. It is pressed in round molds and weighs from ten to forty-five pounds. As marketed, each cheese is contained in a bladder or other covering of animal tissue.

GRATED CHEESE: any hard cheese grated for use with macaroni or other appropriate dishes. See also PARMESAN.

GREEN CHEESE. See SAGE CHEESE.

GRUYERE: the French make of "Swiss Cheese." See EMMENTHALER.

KOSHER: a cheese made especially for Jewish trade. Its manufacture resembles that of Limburger, but it is eaten fresh.

KOSHER GOUDA: made for Jewish trade and bearing a special stamp for identification. It resembles Gouda, but has no bladder covering and is smaller-about 8 1/2 inches in diameter and three inches thick, weighing four to six pounds.

LIMBURGER: was originated in the town of Limburger, Belgium, but little is imported nowadays as that of domestic manufacture is fully equal in quality to the European and is made at a cost of less than half that of the imported article. Literally thousands of tons of Limburger are now produced here every season-principally in the States of New York and Wisconsin and chiefly for consumption by our German-American population.

The process of manufacture in its first stages does not differ from the usual method of cheese making, except that a lower temperature than for most varieties is kept while the curd is forming, the animal heat alone in summer being often high enough. Great care is taken to use pure milk, free from taint, and cleanliness is requisite in every stage of the making. Upon the curd being formed, it is slowly and carefully cut into square pieces the size of dice, careful handling being necessary to avoid breaking the butter globules upon which the richness of the cheese depends. It is next slightly scalded and stirred, and most of the whey drawn off, then, without being salted, it is dipped out in perforated wooden boxes or molds, about five inches square, and left to drain without any pressure being applied. In a few hours the packages are carried into the curing cellar and placed edgeways on shelves, like bricks set to dry. Every day thereafter they are rolled in salt and replaced when they have absorbed enough. They are also turned almost every day, and the slimy moisture which exudes is rubbed evenly over the surface, serving the double purpose of keeping the cheese moist and closing all cracks in which flies might lay their eggs. This outside moisture decomposes while the cheese ripens, and being composed chiefly of albumen, like fresh meats, etc., the same results follow its decomposition, and the "Limburger odor" is developed-which never forsakes it and sticks closer than a brother to all who touch or eat it. After eight or ten weeks it is packed in paper and tin-foil, and is ready for market-in consistence, contents and nourishment the richest cheese that can be made, but to the uninitiated a malicious and premeditated outrage upon the organ of smell!

LIPTAU: a Bohemian cheese, made from goat's milk and usually heightened with red pepper or other condiments. It generally comes in small tin-foil packages, is rather greasy and has a sharp taste.

MENAUTA: a rich soft French cheese, imported generally in small round tins.

NEUFCHATEL: a soft French cream cheese, sold in tin-foil cylinders about three and a half inches long and weighing about five or six ounces.

PARMESAN: a hard Italian variety, used in grated form. It is made from skimmed milk, and hardened by slow heat. The rennet is added to the milk at about 120 degree Fahr., and after about an hour the curdling milk is set on a slow fire and heated to about 150 degree, when the curd separates into small lumps. A few pinches of saffron are thrown in to produce the desired color. About a fortnight later, the outer crust is cut off and the new surface is varnished with linseed oil, one side being painted red. Parmesan cheese is an excellent accompaniment for macaroni and similar pastes and is frequently added to soups, etc.

PINEAPPLE: a hard, highly colored cheese, made in various sizes and so named because the curd is pressed in pineapple shape. The diamond-shaped ridges are caused by the cord nets in which the cheese is hung up to cure. It resembles Cheddar in manufacture except that it is cooked much harder.

PONT L'EVEQUE: a soft French cheese, about 4 1/2 inches square and 1 1/4 inches thick.

PORT DU SALUT: a French cheese, seven to ten inches in diameter, with firm, tough rind but soft homogeneous interior.

POTTED CHEESE: a domestic cheese generally made by grinding well ripened cheese very fine, mixing it with butter, condiments and brandy or other spirits, etc., and putting up in small porcelain jars. See also BRANDIED CHEESE.

PROVOLE: a round or oval Italian cheese, weighing from four to six pounds, and resembling "Caciocavallo." Smaller cheeses, about two pounds each, are styled Provoloni.

ROQUEFORT: a famous cheese, named after the French village of Roquefort, where great herds of the sheep that supply the milk are pastured on an immense plain of rich velvet-like herbage, which is stringently protected by both law and custom. Remarkable care and skill are employed in its manufacture. The herbage is supplemented by a diet of prepared food; the water supplied to the herds is whitened with barley flour and the yield of milk is stimulated in every possible way, even to beating the udders with the hands after milking.

There are many thousands of these sheep and very picturesque are the milking hours, morning and evening, when the army of pail-bearing maidens hurry over the fields, each in search of a favorite animal.

Every morning, in the farmhouse, the milk is skimmed, strained, warmed almost to the boiling point, emptied into enormous pans, stirred well with willow sticks, a portion of rennet added, and then covered and left to gather into curds-which an hour or so afterwards are cut up into pieces about the size of walnuts. Half a dozen other operations follow, then comes the "moldy bread" process, which produces the special characteristics of Roquefort.

The bread used is made of the finest wheat, or of winter barley, leavened with a large quantity of brewer's yeast, kneaded to excess and thoroughly baked. The crust is removed after standing a day and the crumb is pounded in a mortar and put away in a damp place till it is covered with mold. When it is ripe enough, the new cheeses are thoroughly rubbed with this moldy bread and layers of it are put between the layers of curd so that they may absorb still more of the mold.

After several days' pressing, the cheeses are wrapped in linen and dried, and then taken by the shepherd-dairymen to the village and sold to the owners of the vaults or caves-natural clefts or artificial excavations in the limestone rocks-hard by the town. In these caves, the cheeses are piled up and salted, being frequently rehandled and rubbed so that the salt may thoroughly impregnate them. They are next scraped and pricked with long needles so that the mold may run entirely through them, and then they are again piled up and left till they are perfectly dry, in this process developing a long white mold which is scraped off from time to time.

Very few, even of those who know the cheese well, are acquainted with all the pains taken to please their palates.

The best season in the United States for serving Roquefort is from October to May, but if kept in cool cellars it may be enjoyed all the year. It is generally eaten in small quantities at the end of a dinner. It is especially delightful if rolled with half its bulk of butter, sprinkled liberally with cayenne pepper and spread on toasted biscuits. It is also used to fill the hollow parts of stalks of celery, etc.

SAGE CHEESE: is made by the Cheddar process and in many shapes and sizes. Its distinguishing characteristic is its flavor of sage and its green mottled appearance when cut. The color is obtained either by mixing green sage leaves in the curd before pressing, or by the addition to the main curd of "green curd" obtained by the aid of the juice of green corn-in the latter case, the sage flavor being obtained by the use of sage extract. Parsley, spinach and marigold leaves, bruised and steeped before use, are sometimes employed in place of sage leaves.

SAP SAGO CHEESE: a small, hard green cheese, flavored with the leaves of a kind of clover, made in Switzerland. It is shaped like a truncated cone-four inches high, three inches across at the base and two inches at top. It is chiefly used for grating.

SMIER-KASE. See COTTAGE CHEESE.

STILTON: manufactured in Leicestershire, England, and the richest and finest of English cheeses. It is of a pale color, with veins generally marked by green, or bluish-green, fungus. It is made of raw whole milk to which cream from other milk has been added. It is greatly improved by age, and, to be enjoyed at its best, should not be eaten before it is two years old. A spurious appearance of age is often given it by placing it in a warm damp cellar, or by surrounding it by fermenting dung or straw.

Stilton cheeses are generally twice as high as they are broad, with surfaces brown and crinkled and weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds.

Ripened Stilton cheese is also sold finely ground and put up in jars holding from one to two and a half pounds.

SWISS CHEESE or SCHWEITZER KASE: as understood in this country, is another name for "Emmenthaler" or "Gruyere." In Switzerland, the original place of manufacture, it indicates a minor grade, being made of half-skimmed milk instead of the full cream milk of Emmenthaler.

TROYES: is the name of two varieties of cheese-one known also as "Ervy," a washed cheese with a yellow rind; and the other called "Barberey" and closely resembling Camembert.

VACHERIN. "Vacherin a la main," is a very soft cheese-the rind is hard, but the interior is spread on bread or eaten with a spoon. "Vacherin fondu" is made in about the same way as Emmenthaler, but the cheese after ripening is melted and spiced.

WESTPHALIAN: comes in small balls or rolls of about one pound each. It derives its peculiar flavor from the curd being allowed to become partly putrid before being pressed.

WESTPHALIA SOUR MILK: a hard sour-milk cheese, flavored by the addition of butter and caraway seed or pepper.

WILTSHIRE: resembles poor Cheshire or Gloucester. The outside is generally painted with a mixture of reddle, or red-ocher and whey.