Washed-rind or smear-ripened cheeses are cheeses which are periodically treated with brine or mold-bearing agents. This encourages the growth of certain bacteria on their surface which give them distinctive flavors. There are hard and soft washed-rind cheeses. The softer ones are sometimes distinguished as "smear-ripened". Conversely, the term "washed rind" is sometimes reserved only for the hard ones.
Washed-rind cheeses are periodically cured in a solution of saltwater brine or mold-bearing agents that may include beer, wine, brandy and spices, making their surfaces amenable to a class of bacteria ( Brevibacterium linens , the reddish-orange smear bacteria) that impart pungent odors and distinctive flavors and produce a firm, flavorful rind around the cheese. [1] Washed-rind cheeses can be soft (Limburger), semi-hard, or hard (Appenzeller). The same bacteria can also have some effect on cheeses that are simply ripened in humid conditions, like Camembert. The process requires regular washings, particularly in the early stages of production, making it quite labor-intensive compared to other methods of cheese production.
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In food processing, brining is treating food with brine or coarse salt which preserves and seasons the food while enhancing tenderness and flavor with additions such as herbs, spices, sugar, caramel or vinegar. Meat and fish are typically brined for less than twenty-four hours while vegetables, cheeses and fruit are brined in a much longer process known as pickling. Brining is similar to marination, except that a marinade usually includes a significant amount of acid, such as vinegar or citrus juice. Brining is also similar to curing, which usually involves significantly drying the food, and is done over a much longer time period.
Goat cheese, goat's cheese, or chèvre, is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheese, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
Camembert is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit with a slightly lower butterfat content than brie's typical 60% and 75% by weight.
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.
Appenzeller cheese is a hard cow's-milk cheese produced in the Appenzellerland region of northeast Switzerland, in the two modern-day cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese.
Blue cheese is semi-soft cheese with a sharp, salty flavor. It is made with cultures of the edible mold Penicillium, giving it spots or veins throughout the cheese in shades of blue or green. It carries a distinct smell, either from the mold or from various specially cultivated bacteria such as Brevibacterium linens.
Gubbeen Cheese is a surface ripened, semi-soft, cow's milk cheese with a pink and white rind. The flavours are creamy with mushroom and nutty aftertastes but vary depending on maturity of cheese. Gubbeen Farmhouse Products also produce a Smoked Gubbeen.
Fermented tofu is a Chinese condiment consisting of a form of processed, preserved tofu used in East Asian cuisine. The ingredients typically are soybeans, salt, rice wine and sesame oil or vinegar. In mainland China the product is often freshly distributed. In overseas Chinese communities living in Southeast Asia, commercially packaged versions are often sold in jars containing blocks 2- to 4-cm square by 1 to 2 cm thick soaked in brine with select flavorings.
Brick cheese is a cheese from Wisconsin, U.S., made in brick-shaped form. The color ranges from pale yellow to white, and the cheese has a sweet and mild flavor when young, and matures into a strong, ripe cheese with age. It is a medium-soft cheese.
Époisses, also known as Époisses de Bourgogne, is a legally demarcated cheese made in the village of Époisses and its environs, in the département of Côte-d'Or, about halfway between Dijon and Auxerre, in the former duchy of Burgundy, France, from agricultural processes and resources traditionally found in that region.
Geotrichum candidum is a fungus which is a member of the human microbiome, notably associated with skin, sputum, and faeces where it occurs in 25–30% of specimens. It is common in soil and has been isolated from soil collected around the world, in all continents.
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges 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.
Caprino is an Italian cheese traditionally made from whole or skimmed goat's milk. The name of the cheese derives from the Italian word for goat, capra. With modern methods of production, the cheese is made from cow's milk as well or a combination of both cow's and goat's milks. The two major styles of caprino are fresco (fresh) and stagionato (aged).
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.
Chevrotin is a soft goat milk based cheese produced in the historical region of Savoy, (France). Since 2002 it has had an AOC designation.
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.
Berner Alpkäse is a hard cheese produced in the Alps of the Bernese Oberland and adjacent areas of Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese, and is a spicy, full-fat, raw milk cheese without holes. The cheese is manufactured exclusively with manual labour, usually on a wood fire. An extra-hard variety of Berner Alpkäse, known as Berner Hobelkäse, is aged for at least two years and it is this variety that is most widely available. Both Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse are certified as AOPs in Switzerland.
Limburger is a cheese that originated in the Herve area of the historical Duchy of Limburg, which had its capital in Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the French-speaking Belgian province of Liège. The cheese is especially known for its strong smell caused by the bacterium Brevibacterium linens.
Mondseer, also known as Mondseer schachtelkäse when sold in smaller portions in "small wooden boxes", is an Austrian semi-hard, washed-rind cheese.
