INDIAN CHEDDAR & MOZZARELLA CHEESE:FUTURE STARTUP IN INDIA
Compiled & Edited by-
G.Rajesh Kannan, Director, Koonoor Dairy & Agro Product Pvt.Ltd, Ooty, TN.&
DR RAJESH KUMAR SINGH ,JAMSHEDPUR,JHARKHAND, INDIA, 9431309542,rajeshsinghvet@gmail.com
Except for the popular Indian variety of cottage cheese – Paneer, India is not traditionally a ‘cheese nation.’ Cheese was more or less kept for sandwiches, or to create dishes that would go along as evening dishes or accompaniments to cocktails. The Western world introduced us to cheese. Now, the mainstream use of cheese and cheese spreads has increased in the urban areas. Cheese is used as cheese blocks, grated cheese and cheese spreads. With the growing saturation of cheese consumption in the West and the encouraging successes in other ‘non-cheese’ Asian countries like Japan and China; overseas cheese producers are eyeing the Indian market for its huge promise. There are 3,000 cheese varieties globally. India’s stores and delis offer about 40 varieties.
Cheese types popular in India
Cheese can basically be broadly classified into hard cheese, soft cheese and very hard cheese. The kinds of cheese that are available today in India include:
Cheddar:
Cheddar is a kind of hard cheese that is relatively more famous than other hard cheese types. Cheddar can be mild or sharp flavoured and can be smooth or dry, depending on the age of the cheese. It can be anything from just a month old to even two years old. Cheddar cheese is normally used for cooking purposes and as ingredients for soups and sauces. Cheese is also used for grating and melting. Spices are added to cheddar to improve its taste.
Mozzarella cheese is of two types (a) low-moisture (45-54% moisture) part skim Mozzarella (referred to as pizza cheese) and (b) full-fat Mozzarella cheese (high moisture – up to 60%). These are common in the marketplace. The high demand for Mozzarella cheese is owing to its emergence as an integral part of pizzas. Even though this cheese is often substituted with other cheese when making pizza, nothing can make a pizza look, feel and taste – like mozzarella cheese can. Pizza cheese creates a stringy (stretch) look when a hot pizza is pulled apart or cut. Mozzarella made from buffalo milk has a richer concentration of proteins, minerals, nutrients as compared to cow milk cheese.
Emmental Cheese:
Emmental is a type of Swiss cheese made from whole cow’s milk. Emmental is a firm cheese with a pale yellow colour and possesses a buttery, mildly sharp, slightly nutty taste. Emmental features the characteristic holes or ‘eyes’ typical of Swiss cheese. The holes in such cheese are formed by gas bubbles (carbon dioxide) released by the bacteria (starter culture). Since the cheese melts very well, it is frequently used in sauces and grilled sandwiches. Emmental is one of the two main cheeses (along with Gruyère) in the traditional fondue recipe.
Processed Cheese and Cheese Spreads:
Pasteurised processed cheese (maximum 47% moisture) is prepared by grinding, blending, and heating one or more natural cheeses (of different stage of ripening) together in presence of emulsifying salts (sodium salts of citrates or phosphates) to all achieve uniformity and prolonged keeping quality. Pasteurised processed cheese products usually have good melting properties. Cheese spread is similar to pasteurised processed cheese food except that an edible stabiliser is added and the moisture permitted is greater (i.e. maximum 60%) than for processed cheese. This allows for smooth spreading at refrigeration temperature.
Cheese market in India
The organised cheese industry in India is at best in its nascent stage, accounting for < 1% of total dairy products production and largely limited to urban consumption. Though cheese was first marketed under the brand name ‘Amul’ in the late 1970s, it attained an identity of its own only as late as 1990s. The cheese industry growth rate is estimated at about 10-12% per year in terms of volume and 16-17% per year in value terms. Current household cheese penetration is 5%, with about 50% of consumption being limited to cities. Mumbai and Delhi together capture half of the cheese market. Within cheese products, around 60% of the market is dominated by processed cheese, 30% by cheese spreads and the remaining 10% by flavoured and specialty cheeses.
The per capita consumption of cheese in India is poor (i.e. 2.4 kg/annum) as compared to over 20 kg/annum in the United States. The urban population accounts for major cheese consumption in India. Taken together, the four metropolitan cities viz., Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata consume over 60% of the total cheese sold in India. In supermarkets it is easy to find tinned cheese and cheese cubes which are salted and ready-to-eat; cheese spread as a spreadable delicacy; cheese singles (slice) which are used as stuffing for sandwiches; pizza cheese used as topping on pizzas and so on.
The Indian cheese market is dominated by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets Amul products and Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt. Ltd., using the brand name ‘Britannia Milkman.’ Amul owns about 65% of the cheese market; Britannia has ~25% share. Amul sells Gouda and Emmental cheese too. Other conspicuous players are Dabon International Pvt. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the French dairy company Bongrain SA, and other regional brands like Mother Dairy and Vijaya. These companies have just 10% market share. The remainder 5% of the market is taken by imported cheese brands, retailed in specialty stores.
Amul has introduced a low calorie cheese called ‘slim cheese,’ targeted at calorie-conscious people. Top players of branded cheese manufacturing in India include Amul, Britannia, Le Bon, and Mother Dairy. There are Vita and Vijaya who have a small share in the Indian cheese market. The Australian cheese processor, Kraft, has made an inroad into the Indian market followed by Remia of Holland. Initially, the imported brands of cheese were patronised by expatriates, but, now some Indians have started taking a fancy for these brands.
According to Health Food Store, an upmarket retail outlet in Calcutta’s Park Street, demand for exotic cheese variants has grown. Today, the store sells around 15 kg a day, spread over 50 varieties, supplied by small producers in Delhi, Haryana and Kodaikanal. The trend is catching on in other metros too. OTB Farm Products, Mumbai, has a display of cheese that could have a European gastronome salivating. Delhi’s Modern Bazaar does brisk business in Jeera and Paprika cheese. Pune’s German Bakery sells about 20 kg of cheese every morning in several forms; from cheesecake to hard, mature yak cheese from Kalimpong. ABC Farms, Pune, produces close to 3 tonne a month to satisfy an estimated total demand of 33 tonne a month for natural cheese. ABC Farm produces about 70 varieties of natural cheese that includes Pecorino goat cheese, alcohol cheese, Port wine cheese, a vodka and cumin cheese, smoked ham cheese. From ABC Farms, Pune, and Tudor at Ooty, it is possible to find smoked Edam ball, gooey Mozzarella, smelly Gorgonzola, and even Quark, a kind of fluid paneer that finds favour with dieticians.
Camberzola, a very sharp cheese (combining traits of Camembert and Gorgonzola cheese), are available at exclusive outlets priced at Rs 600/kg. Demand for Edam and Gouda, both cheese of Dutch origin have increased; priced at Rs 280 and Rs 400 per kg respectively. Taking a major slice of the cheesecake is the Italian Mozzarella. Mozzarella cheese costs between Rs 180 and Rs 240 per kg. Cheddar cheese is offered for Rs 170 per kg, while the price of Camember hovers between Rs 500 and Rs 600 per kg. Connoisseurs of cheese are going in for Nepalese Yak cheese – hard, smelly cheese that is ripened in caves.
The demand for natural cheese as opposed to the processed variety is rising and its production in the unorganised sector is 400-500 tonne annually. The processed cheese market which contributes about 2,000 tonne a year is dominated by Amul with a 75% share. The rest is divided between Verka and Vijaya.
Cheese Market in India
The cheese market in India exhibited a CAGR of around 25.5% during 2011-2018. India is currently the world’s largest producer of milk owing to which the cheese market holds significant growth potential. With the rising influence of western cuisines and inflating disposable incomes, consumers are now shifting from paneer towards cheese, thereby increasing its demand in the country. In addition to this, manufacturers are introducing a number of flavored cheese products including pepper, garlic, red chili flakes, and oregano pickle, which cater to the different tastes and preferences of consumers in India.
Cheese Market in India: Drivers
Although cheese is extensively used in fast food items like pasta, pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, tacos, cakes, garlic bread, etc., it is also being included in traditional Indian recipes such as dosa, uttapam and parathas. With the growing working population and their altering food patterns, the fast food industry is experiencing a healthy growth which, in turn, is augmenting the demand for cheese. Apart from this, with an increase in the number of organized retail outlets, numerous global players are now investing in the Indian cheese market. Moreover, several manufacturers are engaging in marketing campaigns through different advertising media like newspapers, televisions and social media platforms to increase awareness among consumers about the benefits of cheese. These factors are anticipated to boost the consumption of cheese in the upcoming years.
Market profile for cheese
The Indian organised cheese market including its variants like processed cheese, mozzarella, cheese spreads, flavoured and spiced cheese is valued at ~ Rs 4.5 billion. Processed cheese at 60% of the overall market is worth Rs 2.7 billion. The next popular variant is cheese spread claiming a share of around 30% of the total processed cheese market. The market is primarily an urban phenomenon and is known to be growing at around 15%. The market for cheese cubes, slices and tins is growing. The market for cheese in India is worth Rs 1,250 crore currently.
GCMMF with the Amul brand continues to be the main operator in the branded cheese market in India. It pioneered the market for processed, branded cheese. Britannia Industries joined the fray in the cheese market in mid-1990s through an arrangement with Dynamix Dairy Industries (DDI). Britannia’s cheese is sold in tins in the form of cubes, and in individually wrapped slices. The network covers some 60,000 dairy outlets equipped with cold cabinets, refrigerators and insulated boxes. Amul covers some 500,000 retail outlets. Britannia has launched new variants of flavoured cheese. The cheese cubes are available in three flavours Masala Mania, Mirchi Poppers and Cream ’n Onion. Amul has a cheese spread in garlic and pepper flavours.
Pune-based Parag Milk Foods, a player in the cheese business, with the brand name Go (for Gowardhan), is selling Cheddar and Mozzarella, and planning to introduce Emmental cheese in the market. All the cheese products of Gowardhan are made in the world-class facility situated at Manchar (near Pune) in state-of-art advanced cheese plant, with staggering capacity of producing 40 MT cheese per day. The assorted cheese products catered to by Gowardhan includes processed cheese and cheese spreads, cheese slices, sandwich slices, pizza cheese, Mozzarella cheese, pizza topping, Cheddar cheese (including Orange Cheddar), Gouda cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, Colby cheese, Emmental cheese, Parmesan cheese, cheese wedges, and Nacho cheese. They cater to Mozzarella cheese in shredded and diced forms too.
French cheese major, Fromageries Bel, has entered the Indian market with La Vache Kirit (popularly known as ‘The Laughing Cow’). The Bel product is being produced at Bel’s facility in Poland exclusively for the Indian market. Fromageries Bel has launched laughing Kirit (creamy cheese in cube form) and Babybel (semi-hard with a wax coating appropriate for sandwiches). Along with ‘Laughing Cow,’ Woerle’s Australian cheese brand, ‘Happy Cow,’ Nestle and Kraft’s brands have started marketing their products in the Indian market.
Himalaya International Ltd, Himachal Pradesh, prepares Mozzarella cheese, exclusively for export. La Ferme Cheese was started to develop a line of handmade farm cheeses for the citizens of Auroville, Pondicherry. The firm adopts traditional methods for cheese making. The team includes professional Indian, Dutch and French cheese-makers who use natural whole cow milk, salts, vegetarian enzymes and seasoning cultures. From fresh cheese including Mozzarella, Feta, Ricotta, to seasoned cheeses like Lofabu, Auroblochon, Parmesan, and Jeera cheese, La Ferme produces about 100 kg of handmade cheese in over 10 varieties daily.
Foreign brands in India include Provolone, Colby, Mozzarella and Parmesan from Italy, Cheddar from Dutch and Gryuere. The US-based Philip Morris, which brought in its Kraft cheese brand earlier, has gained a significant presence in the market. The rest of the market is spread among Verka, Nandini and Vijaya. Dabur claims a product range of 20 varieties of cheese under Le Bon brand. Dabon has a manufacturing facility at Noida with an installed capacity of 12,000 tonne per annum.
Premium imported cheese has takers too. According to Anoop Chopra, marketing head, Dairy Craft India Ltd, Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese sells for Rs 1,700 per kg, yet has got a plenty of Indian customers.
Western-style processed cheese is sold by large companies under their brands. The processed cheese market including its variants like processed cheese, cheese spreads, Mozzarella, flavoured and spiced cheese, is estimated to be 10,000 tonne per annum (HS & SL estimates). The four metro cities alone account for > 60 % of the consumption. Mumbai is the largest market, accounting for 30% of cheese sold in the country, followed by Delhi (20%), Kolkata (7%) and Chennai (6%).
One can find tinned cheese and cheese cubes which are salted and ready-to-eat. Cheese spread has been introduced as a bread spread and cheesy delicacy; cheese singles (slice) are used as stuffing for sandwiches.
Leading brands of processed cheese products in India include Amul, Britannia, Vijaya, Verka, Dabur (Le Bon), Vadilal, Kraft, and Nandini. GCMMF has reported that Amul processed cheese volumes grew by 25% during 2008-09.
The processed cheese market is estimated to be growing at about 14% per annum (HS&SL estimates). Aggressive advertising and promotion by dairy companies is expected to push the growth rate. Increasing popularity of pizza shops may also give a boost to processed cheese. Flavoured cheese segment, however, has been declining.
Future scope for cheese products
Increasing consumer preference towards cheesy cuisine, rising disposable income and government initiatives are the major factors contributing to the growth of cheese in the country. The Indian cheese market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 18% during 2015-2020.
The Government of India has made it mandatory for all packaged food items to be affixed with the veg/non-veg symbol (one of BWC’s major achievements) and this applies to imported foods as well. However, importers do tend to affix the green vegetarian symbol on all cheeses and some other non-vegetarian items, either deliberately or due to ignorance. In view of the above facts, it is most important for vegetarians to read the ingredients on labels very carefully. Manufacturers of a couple of quality brands of foreign cheese sold in India state “suitable for vegetarians” on their entire range of cheese packets indicating that animal rennet is not an ingredient, e.g. Pilgrims Choice, imported from the UK.
There is a segment of populace, which is keen on consuming cheese, without bothering about the calories or the sodium content in it. For them, the cheese industry is already coming up with “low-fat, low-salt – dietetic cheeses.” When reducing the fat content, the body and texture of cheese tends to be tough and chewy. Hence, concerted efforts are afoot to increase the moisture content in such ‘low-calorie’ cheese making the product acceptable sensorily. Processed cheese/spread preparation entails use of emulsifying agents (permitted up to maximum of 4% by weight), increasing the sodium as well as ash content (may pose problem to kidneys). Research is continuing to reduce the rate of addition of both NaCl as well as the emulsifying salts in processed cheese manufacture, without any adverse effect on the resultant cheese product.
Cheese has already been promoted as a healthy snack for children, but increasingly it is being promoted for adult consumption as a high protein snack. New eating occasions for cheese have evolved in recent years through indulgent variants, such as the Philadelphia cinnamon spread. which is consumed as a sweet snack and a variety of new cheese brands are being turned into cooking ingredients which further augment the number of occasions during which cheese can be consumed.
Cheese Making: A Brief History
Research suggests that cheese making dates back to the 8th century, beginning in Greece and working its way to Rome and other European countries. According to Ricki Carroll in the book ‘Cheese Making’, “Cheese was a staple in biblical times, along with honey, almonds and wine. Apparently, ancient Greeks had a real affinity for cheese. ‘Aristaios, a son of Apollo was considered the giver of cheese. Homer sang of cheese in the Odyssey and Greek Olympic athletes trained on a diet consisting mostly of cheese.’ When it reached Rome, the Romans added herbs and spices to cheese and also discovered smoked cheese.
In Europe, cheese was made mostly on farms for consumption at home or for local sale. At the time, they lacked a basic understanding of science, at least with regard to cheese, and so the women of Normandy, France found a quick way to make cheese. They coagulated milk with the help of rennet, drained the curd in small molds to form cheese, sprinkled it with salt and then stored it in a damp cellar till the mold grew and developed cheese like characteristics. England too was known for its soft, moisture-based cheeses but through the years, when demand started to go up they shifted to hard, low-moisture cheese that could be transported long distances without spoiling. That’s how they adopted more industrial techniques like cooking at high temperatures to produce drier rinded cheese. This technology soon found its way to America and defined the next 300 years or so of cheese making.
In the US, cheese was mostly made on farms, on a small scale till 1850. In 1851, a father and son set up the first industrial cheese manufacturing plant where they churned out cheddar cheese in large quantities. They produced as much as 45,000 kg of cheddar and all of uniform quality. This format took off instantly and by 1860 there were three big cheese manufacturing plants in the United States.
Seven eighth of milk is made of water and one eighth of it is made of protein, fats and minerals. When milk coagulates, water evaporates and what’s left is milk solids. These solids are what determine the nature of cheese and they can differ with the animal and breed you choose. The taste of cheese depends a lot on the kind of milk that’s used. Goat’s milk makes slightly softer and yellow cheese. It’s delicate so needs to be cooked at a slightly lower temperature than cow’s milk. It also delivers cheese which is lightly pungent and peppery. Sheep’s milk has less water and more milk solids which is why it gives a higher yield. So you don’t need to use as much rennet or salt.
Pasteurized or Not: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of Guardian suggests that to cook cheese at home you try raw and unpasteurized milk as it’s fuller and creamier. But in India, how do you know that it hasn’t been contaminated with pathogens? According to David B. Fankhauser, professor of biology and chemistry (https://biology.clc.uc.edu/) you can add calcium chloride to store-bought milk since it’s pasteurised. That’s because pasteurisation removes calcium from the milk which is required as it aids coagulation and prevents the curd from falling apart on being stirred. Some people also use low-fat milk but it makes a much smaller quantity of cheese and probably not as creamy.
Starter Cultures
Starter cultures are basically carefully selected bacteria that are used to develop acidity in the milk. This acidity in turn encourages the rennet to coagulate the milk. The whole process is known as ripening. Juliet Harbutt says, “Each bacteria in the culture operates within specific parameters: some work slow, some kick in when the level of acidity has increased and some create holes. Some people also make their own starter from the previous day’s milk.”
Rennet
Traditionally, many varieties of cheese were made using rennet, an active ingredient that helps the milk coagulate. In earlier times, rennet was derived from the stomach tissue of a slaughtered calf. But now, most cheese makers use the vegetarian version of rennet which could be made of fig barks or any other plant with coagulating properties. Rennet is used in most kinds of cheese but some fresh cheese like cottage cheese and ricotta can be made without it as well.
Ageing
The toughest part of cheese making is ageing the cheese. Once you’re done boiling, straining and pressing the cheese, it needs to be stored in a warm environment with proper air circulation to age gracefully. How quick or slow it ages depends on the level of humidity in the air, moisture content and salt in the cheese. The type of cheese in question might also age differently in the same environment. For some cheese like cheddar, you also need to create a surface rind to store them in. That’s basically a flavourful mold around the cheese which holds it together while it ages, allowing it to create an almost fluid interior with a solid exterior. Certain kinds of French cheese are stored with a sterilised charcoal powder around them.
Basic Steps of How to Make Cheese
Step 1: Start With Fresh, Warm Milk
The nicer and the fresher the milk you use, the more delicious your cheese will be. To warm the milk, you can either get it still warm from the udder (in which case you need to be on a dairy farm) or you can transfer it from the fridge into a large pot and warm it slowly on the stovetop.
Step 2: Acidify the Milk
There are many ways to make cheese but the first ‘split in the road’ is how you acidify the milk. One way is to dump acid (vinegar or citric acid) right into the milk to get the correct acidity. This process (called direct acidification) leads to cheeses such as ricotta and mascarpone. The other way to acidify the milk is to add cultures, or living bacteria. Given time, warmth and lack of competitor bacteria, these cultures will eat up the lactose in the milk, turning it into lactic acid.
Step 3: Add a Coagulant
The most common coagulant is rennet, the name for an enzyme which causes the proteins in milk to link together. However, the word ‘rennet’ is a bit vague. Rennet can mean a ‘traditional rennet’ which comes from an animal stomach. It can mean a ‘bacterial’ rennet, sometimes also euphemistically called ‘vegetable rennet’ which comes from recombinant bacteria (using DNA from veal calf stomach cells). Or rennet can come from a fungus (‘microbial’ rennet). Using the more general and accurate term ‘coagulant’, we can add in ‘plant’ coagulants which might be sap from a fig tree or a milk thistle.
Mix the coagulant into the liquid milk and wait until a gel forms.
Step 4: Test for Gel Firmness
When you’ve given the rennet enough time to work on the proteins in the milk, the milk will transform from a liquid into a gel. You can test the ‘doneness’ of the gel by pressing (with a clean hand) onto the surface of the milk.
Step 5: Cut the Curd
The next step is now to cut the curd down from a giant blob into smaller cubes or chunks. You can do this with a ‘cheese harp’, with a knife or even with a whisk. The size to which you cut the curds will dramatically effect the amount of moisture retained in your final cheese; the smaller the initial pieces, the drier (and more ageable) the cheese will be. And vice versa.
Step 6: Stir, Cook & Wash the Curd
For the next several minutes or even hour (depending on the recipe), you’ll stir the curds in the vat. Possibly, you’ll turn on the heat and cook the curds while you stir. During this phase, the most important thing that is happening is acid is continuing to develop inside the curd and, from the motion of your stirring, the curds are drying out. The more you cook and the more you stir, the drier your cheese will be.
Washing is the process of removing some of the whey from the vat and replacing it with water. This creates a milder, sweeter, more elastic cheese and cheese paste.
Step 7: Drain the Curds
Finally, it’s time to separate the curds from the whey. You might do this nearly final step by simply dumping the contents of the pot into a colander in a sink. You might wait 10 minutes to let the curds settle to the bottom then press the curds together at the bottom of the pot before bringing them up and out of the pot in chunks. Generally, we work quickly at this point in the process because we want to conserve the heat into the curds, encouraging them to mush back together to form a nice smooth wheel. If we wait too long, the curds get cold and the cheese falls apart.
Step 8: Salt and Age the Cheese
Once the curds have been separated from the whey, you can add salt. Or, you can move the curds into their final forms (or baskets) and press the cheese into a wheel before salting. If a cheese is salted, properly acidified and has the correct amount of moisture inside, it can be aged into something more complex. Or it can be eaten immediately–the same moment it was made.
NB-
100 litres of milk with a fat content of 40 g per litre will produce 96.25 litres of milk containing 26 g per litre of fat, and 3.75 litres of cream with a fat content of 400 g per litre.
Cheese-making
The percentage yield of cheese from milk varies from one type of milk to another, and is very dependent what kind of cheese is being made, how skillful the cheesemaker is (farmstead/artisan level), and under what conditions and and how long it is aged.
But a reasonable figure for semi-hard to hard cheeses is that 100 Kg of milk will result in 10 Kg of cheese — that is, obviously, about a 10% yield. This is a good number for most cow milk cheeses. The yield will be a little lower for less rich in fat and proteins goat milk. And the yield will be a good deal higher (around 15%) for rich sheep milk cheeses.
In the case of making a Gouda-type cheese, yield will be approximately 11 kg of cheese per 100 litres of milk.
According to the balance resulting from the standardization (see above), 96.25 litres of milk for cheese-making will give:
For butter, the yield is as follows. After standardization, 3.75 litres of cream at 400 g per litre are obtained. The total amount of fat content will be therefore: 1 500 g. The butter will have a fat content of 82 percent, and so the butter yield will be:
The breakdown, exclusively for butter and cheese-making, is therefore as follows:
Paneer or Cottage Cheese
Ingredients Of Paneer Or Cottage Cheese
• 1 kg full cream milk
• 2 Tbsp sour lime juice
How to Make Paneer or Cottage Cheese
• 1.Boil the milk, lower heat and add lime juice, stirring till the milk begins to curdle.
• 2.When the whey is clear, stop adding the solution, shut off the heat and leave for about 5 minutes.
• 3.Drain curdled milk through a cloth and leave to set for an hour or so.
• 4.They whey left behind is very nutritious and can be used for gravies, rice, lentils.
• 5.Note: In case you live in the West, or somewhere where the milk is very rich, use a less fatty milk, or else the paneer will not hold its shape
- Labneh or Yogurt Cheese
This is a yogurt based cheese spread which needs just three ingredients: yogurt, salt and dry mint.
Method:
- Take some yogurt and smoothen it till it’s uniform.
- Add some salt and whisk. Add the mint.
- Hang this mix in a muslin or cheese cloth and leave for 24 hours.
- When you pull out the cheese after a day it’ll be more like clay and you can roll it out into small balls and leave it in olive oil.
- Home-Made Ricotta———————
This tastes a lot like paneer and is ridiculously easy-to-make. You can use this in salads, on bread or as a stuffing in ravioli. Grab 2 litres of full cream milk, a cooking thermometer, something acidic like vinegar or lime juice and salt. This should give you about one cup of cheese.
Method:
- Heat the milk to somewhere between 80 to 93 degrees Celsius.
- While the milk is being heated, put 1/4th a teaspoon of salt.
- When the milk reaches the right temperature, turn off the heat and add something acidic. 1 tablespoon per lite.
- Immediately, the milk will start to curdle. Lift the clumpy part and put it in a cheese cloth and strain for an hour at least.
How to store cheese in your fridge:
Cheese needs to be stored at a certain temperature and humidity if it has to last longer. So firstly make sure that you wipe the area where you’re going to store your cheese with vinegar, wine or some kind of disinfectant. Then place the packets of cheese and make sure to avoid cross contamination. If the cheese starts to dry, then rub it with olive or coconut oil. You can also place half a glass of water in your cheese box to regulate humidity.
What is the difference between Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese?
Mozzarella cheese and Cheddar cheese are two types of cheese that show differences between them when it comes to the methods of their preparation, their nutrient content and the like. While, Mozzarella cheese is said to have originated from Italy, the Cheddar cheese is said to have originated from a village called Cheddar in the county Somerset in England.
Although, Mozzarella cheese is white in color sometimes it changes to yellow color too, possibly due to the effect of the animal diet involved. On the other hand, Cheddar cheese is yellowish white in color. While, Mozzarella cheese is not hard in its texture, Cheddar cheese is very hard in its texture. On the other hand, Mozzarella cheese is semi-soft in its texture.
Milk is used in the preparation of both the varieties of cheese. While, the milk of the cow is used in the preparation of Cheddar cheese, milk of the water buffalo is used in the making of the Mozzarella cheese. This is one of the main differences between the two types of cheese.
The life of Mozzarella cheese is quite long, in the sense, that generally it can be preserved in the refrigerator for about one month. In some cases it can be preserved for more than 6 months too. On the other hand, Cheddar cheese is said to have the longest life in terms of preservation. You will be amazed to know that it can be preserved sometimes up to 60 months!
Cheddar cheese is produced world-wide when compared to the production of Mozzarella cheese. Cheddar cheese is produced in countries like Australia, Belgium, United States, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden among many other countries. Of course it is quite popular in the United Kingdom.
It is important to know that Mozzarella cheese is widely used in the preparation of pizzas and pastas. On the other hand, Cheddar cheese contains a lot of calcium lactate, and it adds to the hard texture of the cheese. Hence, it is important that Cheddar cheese is packaged carefully when compared to the soft Mozzarella cheese.
Cheddar cheese is packaged mostly in larded cloth or in black wax. It is quite normal that all types of cheese require pasteurization. Cheddar cheese is very frequently pasteurized. On the other hand, Mozzarella cheese is not very frequently pasteurized, but is pasteurized only sometimes. This is another difference between Mozzarella cheese and Cheddar cheese.
Spinning and cutting are used in the preparation of the Mozzarella cheese. Buffalo mozzarella is very popular in Italy. It is made from the domesticated water buffalo milk. Sometimes cow milk is also used in the preparation of Mozzarella cheese. These are the differences between Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese.
