Gruyère is a hard Swiss cheese that originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Berne in Switzerland. It is named after the town of Gruyères in Fribourg. In 2001, Gruyère gained the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), which became the appellation d'origine protégée (AOP) as of 2013.
Lactobacillus bulgaricus is the main bacterium used for the production of yogurt. It also plays a crucial role in the ripening of some cheeses, as well as in other processes involving naturally fermented products. It is defined as homofermentive lactic acid bacteria due to lactic acid being the single end product of its carbohydrate digestion. It is also considered a probiotic.
Propionic acid is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula CH
3CH
2CO
2H. It is a liquid with a pungent and unpleasant smell somewhat resembling body odor. The anion CH
3CH
2CO−
2 as well as the salts and esters of propionic acid are known as propionates or propanoates.
Jarlsberg is a mild cheese made from cow's milk, with large, regular eyes, originating from Jarlsberg, Norway. It is produced in Norway, as well as in Ireland and the US state of Ohio, licensed from Norwegian dairy producers. It is classified as a Swiss-type cheese.
Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream. Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neufchâtel. It is more comparable in taste, texture, and production methods to Boursin and mascarpone. Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production.
Cheesemaking is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrated form. Cheesemaking allows the production of the cheese with diverse flavors and consistencies.
Emmental, Emmentaler, or Emmenthal is a yellow, medium-hard cheese that originated in Emmen, Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type cheese.
Propionibacterium is a gram-positive, anaerobic, rod-shaped genus of bacteria named for their unique metabolism: They are able to synthesize propionic acid by using unusual transcarboxylase enzymes.
Clostridium tyrobutyricum is a rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacterium that grows under anaerobic conditions and produces butyric acid, acetic acid and hydrogen gas as the major fermentation products from glucose and xylose.
Cheese is a dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.
Lactobacillus helveticus is a lactic-acid producing, rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus. It is most commonly used in the production of American Swiss cheese and Emmental cheese, but is also sometimes used in making other styles of cheese, such as Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano, provolone, and mozzarella. The primary function of L. helveticus culture is to prevent bitterness and produce nutty flavors in the final cheese. In Emmental cheese production, L. helveticus is used in conjunction with a Propionibacterium culture, which is responsible for developing the holes through production of carbon dioxide gas.
There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most commonly and traditionally used is based on moisture content, which is then further narrowed down by fat content and curing or ripening methods. The criteria may either be used singly or in combination, with no single method being universally used.
Propionibacterium freudenreichii is a gram-positive, non-motile bacterium that plays an important role in the creation of Emmental cheese, and to some extent, Jarlsberg cheese, Leerdammer and Maasdam cheese. Its concentration in Swiss-type cheeses is higher than in any other cheese. Propionibacteria are commonly found in milk and dairy products, though they have also been extracted from soil. P. freudenreichii has a circular chromosome about 2.5 Mb long. When Emmental cheese is being produced, P. freudenreichii ferments lactate to form acetate, propionate, and carbon dioxide
(3 C3H6O3 → 2 C2H5CO2 + C2H3O2 + CO2).
Eyes are the round holes that are a characteristic feature of Swiss-type cheese and some Dutch-type cheeses. The eyes are bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. The gas is produced by various species of bacteria in the cheese.
Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "ripening agents", determines the features that define many different varieties of cheeses, such as taste, texture, and body. The process is "characterized by a series of complex physical, chemical and microbiological changes" that incorporates the agents of "bacteria and enzymes of the milk, lactic culture, rennet, lipases, added moulds or yeasts, and environmental contaminants". The majority of cheese is ripened, except for fresh cheese.
Cultured dextrose is a food additive used to inhibit the growth of undesirable bacteria and mold in food. Often used in place of benzoates and sorbates, it is considered by some consumers to be a more "natural" ingredient, because it is prepared by the fermentation of milk or sugar powders by the probiotic bacteria Propionibacterium freudenreichii and Lactococcus lactis, both of which are extensively used in the production of cheese and other dairy products.
Swiss-type cheeses, also known as Alpine cheeses, are a group of hard or semi-hard cheeses with a distinct character, whose origins lie in the Alps of Europe, although they are now eaten and imitated in most cheesemaking parts of the world. Their distinct character arose from the requirements of cheese made in the summer on high Alpine grasslands, and then transported with the cows down to the valleys in the winter, in the historic culture of Alpine transhumance. Traditionally the cheeses were made in large rounds or "wheels" with a hard rind, and were robust enough for both keeping and transporting.
Switzerland has a strong and ancestral dairy farming and cheesemaking tradition. The breeding of cattle, sheep and goats for milk is attested in the Neolithic period and, since Antiquity, cheese has been exported from the Alpine regions. The rugged nature of the country makes approximately 80% of the agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation, which is therefore mainly exploited for cattle and sheep farming. This mode of exploitation has forged a large part of the Swiss landscape, in the Alps, the Jura and on the Swiss Plateau.
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