CHEESE is made from the curd formed by mixing rennet with milk, the quality of the cheese depending on that of the milk used on the occasion. Various pro cesses'are recommended, but to detail them would be a voluminous task ; we shall, however, state, in as few words as the subject will admit, how cheese is usually made. The milk being previ ously warmed, is turned, by the mixture of rennet, into an apparently solid mass. This being cut across with a brass knife, (for iron is supposed by many to give a bad flavour,) occasions the eurd to sepa rate from the whey ; the latter is given to pigs, or is sold as a beverage, while the former is put into a press made the the purpose, and all the whey is com pletely separated, falling through holes in the bottom of the press ; while the curd is kept in by a coarse kind of cloth made principally for that purpose. The curd must be repeatedly cut into minute squares, and be as, often subjected to the press. When mixed for the last time, salt is added : and if any colour is to be given, a small quantity of annatto, or other colouring matter, is put in ; though this is sometimes done in the early stages of the manufacture. Many put in sage leaves, or mix plain and various-coloured curds together, according to fancy ; the goodness of the cheese will, however, al ways depend on the richness of the milk. When the cheese has been kept a proper time in the mould and will bearhandling, it is taken out, and put on a shelf; care fully turning it every day, so that it may be dried alike ; it is next rubbed with green nettles, Sz.c. and by some with salt,
under the opinion that these help to ripen it. EVery county has some favourite re cipe for the operation, and all alike claim the palm of pre-eminence : we may, per haps, be correct in saying, that in each there ure both excellent and execrable cheeses made. Cheshire, Gloucester, Wiltshire, and Stilton, seem to be the most approved, while, on the other hand, that made in Suffolk, being usually from skimmed or flitted and, conse quently, deprived of all the butyrous part, is considered proverbially poor.
As an article of diet, cheese cannot, on the whole, be accounted nourishing : that which is old, crumbling, and rich, is as suredly a powerful aid to digestion, and has been given with great success in cases where children have ate incautiously of crude fruits ; but such as is dry, and of a sour taste, may be justly ranked among the minor poisons. The rennet which is used for turning the milk is nothing more than the stomach of a young calf, or of a pig, in which the gastric juices are pre served, by means of a handful or two of salt. A very small quantity of this pre paration will suffice to many gallons of milk ; and as the rennet-bag, as it is called, may be emptied, it may be once or twice replenished, though the liquor will not be so strong. Some dry the rennet-bag, after having been thus used, and throw a piece in to turn the milk.
See MILK.