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Introduction

Cheese is a food made from milk. Making cheese is a good way to preserve fresh milk, which quickly spoils. Like milk, cheese contains many nutrients, including protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins.

Hundreds of different cheeses are produced and eaten all over the world. Each one has a unique flavor, texture, and appearance.

How Cheese Is Made

Cheese can be made from raw milk of any kind. Dairy cattle provide the milk for many common types of cheese. The milk of sheep, goats, reindeer, llamas, yaks, buffaloes, and even horses is also used.

In most types of cheese making, the milk is pasteurized first. This means that it is treated with heat to kill harmful bacteria. Next, helpful bacteria, called a starter culture, may be added to the milk. This bacteria helps the milk to ferment, or break down. An enzyme called rennet also may be added. Rennet helps the milk to coagulate, or thicken into clumps. Different combinations of these substances are used to produce different kinds of cheese.

As the milk breaks down, it separates into two parts: curds and whey. The curds are solid clumps. The whey is liquid. Once the curds have fully formed, some of the whey is drained away. The curds are then cut into smaller pieces and gently cooked. The heat causes the curds to shrink. Salt is added to help dry and preserve the curds.

Some cheeses are ready to eat after this stage. They are called unripened, or fresh cheeses. Examples include cottage cheese, cream cheese, and some types of mozzarella.

Other cheeses are processed further. The cooked curds are pressed into molds. More whey may be removed at this time to create harder cheese. Then the pressed cheese is left in a cool place to ripen, or age. It can take weeks or even months before the cheese is ready. Brie ripens for about one month. Sharp cheddar ages for a year or more.

Where Cheese Is Made

People learned how to turn milk into cheese at least 3,000 years ago, probably in the Middle East. Today the United States produces more cheese than any other country. Several European countries also produce large quantities of cheese. Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands are big exporters of cheese. Other important cheese producers include Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and Egypt. Smaller amounts of cheese are made in factories and on farms around the globe.

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Did You Know?

Blue cheese is made by adding mold spores to the milk or the curds.

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