Processed cheese.

It turns out that a manufacturer can make processed cheese from everything that, as they say, comes to hand: the standards for this product in our country are the most processed ...
Sausage Cheese
One of Nabokov's literary heroes one morning decided to make a joke and fed his young lady with a paste made from garbage. She, not noticing anything, ate a sandwich with gusto. Perhaps you and I find ourselves in a similar situation, spreading store-bought processed cheese on bread.

reference
Processed cheese is a dairy product that is produced from melting cheeses, rennet cheeses, cottage cheese, butter and other dairy products with the addition of spices and fillers by melting the cheese mass at a temperature of 75-95 ° C. Invented by Swiss Walter Gerber in 1911.

Spoiled hard cheeses, cheese waste, cheese mass, flavorings, palm oil, colorings and preservatives are all safely used as raw materials for our favorite processed cheese. Yes, even knead the sausage cuttings into it - it's not forbidden! The manufacturer has the right to choose whether to work according to GOST or according to his own specifications.

Pay attention to the composition of processed cheeses - there are dyes, and flavorings, and stabilizers, and all kinds of E. There is no need to expect benefits from such a product. Still, is it possible to find quality processed cheese today?

Is it space quality?
“Alas, processed cheese is traditionally made from cheese production waste,” says Aleksey Kovalkov, a nutritionist. But almost 50 years ago, the famous Druzhba cheese was developed specifically for the Soviet expedition to Mars. It was they who were supposed to have breakfast for astronauts far from Earth. The flight did not take place, but the work of food technologists did not disappear - the cheese was launched into mass production, and the inhabitants of the Land of the Soviets loved it very much. And all because it was made from high-quality and useful components. Today "Druzhba" is produced by several Russian factories. But the familiar name is no guarantee of quality. In any case, when buying processed cheese, carefully study the information on the package.

Real cheese, made from milk, says “cheese”. Manufacturers who dilute milk with vegetable oils and other additives write “processed cheese product”.

In addition, the composition of high-quality cheese should not contain anything other than salty cheeses, skimmed milk powder, sour cream and salt melters (phosphates). “The longer and more complex the composition, the worse the product,” Pietro Mazza, an Italian cheese maker, owner of a private cheese factory in the Tver region, told AIF.

It is also worth giving preference to a product made according to GOST, and not according to TU. In GOST, the list of substances permitted for the production of processed cheese is rather short. And TU only untie the hands of unscrupulous cheesemakers.

Master4ef

Macaroni and cheese, fried cheese, pizza, cheeseburgers ... is there cheese everywhere? Yes exactly. Sometimes, however, some cheeses can be a little smelly. Ever smell gourmet cheese that makes you turn up your nose?

How is cheese made?

All cheeses are made in basically the same way: milk is curdled so that it is separated into curd and whey. Curd, hard white lumps, and whey are thin, watery liquid. One of the most basic combinations of curd and whey is curd.

To make cheese, milk is first heated to kill any harmful bacteria. After the milk has cooled, it is placed in large containers. Cultures of special bacteria are then added. These bacteria break down the sugar in milk (called lactose) into lactic acid.

After the starter culture, rennet is added. Abomasum contains an enzyme that produces protein (called casein) and promotes coagulation. As a consequence, the milk is separated into solids (curd) and liquid (whey).

After the hard curd is formed, it is cut into smaller pieces to release more whey. The mixture is then heated in a syneresis process to obtain even more whey.

The whey is then drained, leaving only the curd mass. The curd is now ready for the next step called cheddarization. Salt is often added at this point to improve flavor and remove additional moisture.

The salted curd mass is pressed into blocks over time and cooled until they form hard heads. The prepared cheese chunks are then stored for several weeks to several months to allow them to ripen and be ready to eat.

Different types of cheese are produced using different starters or special additives that slightly vary the stages of cheese production. For example, Mozzarella cheese is kneaded like a dough to get the original elastic texture.

Which cheeses are smelly and why?

So why do some cheeses stink while others have almost no smell at all?

1. The secret lies in the leaven used to make cheese. The bacteria that make up the sourdough help shape the cheese's flavor, texture and also smell.

For example, some bacteria give the cheese a mushroom flavor and a particularly smelly odor. Examples include cheeses such as Brie and Camembert.

2. Other factors that can make cheeses especially smelly are time and moisture. Some cheeses are aged for many months. Additional artificial aging often enhances the flavor of the cheese.

The crusts (edges of the blocks) of cheeses are sometimes deliberately moistened while they are ripening to maintain a certain moisture level. Depending on the liquid used - cognac, port, beer or salt water - the cheese can develop a certain taste and smell.

If you are wondering what smelly cheeses are in the world, there are several that are especially famous for their spicy flavors:

• Vieux Boulogne It is known for its specific aroma because it is moistened with beer during the aging process.
• Another cheese - Epuas de Bourgogne- it stinks so much that it was banned from public transport in France, in the homeland of the delicacy!
• Perhaps the most famous smelly cheese Limburger... Some people think that Limburger cheese smells like feet, and that statement makes sense. The bacteria used to make Limburg cheese, Brevibacterium, are also responsible for the smell of the human body!

Did you know that the famous Druzhba cheese was created 40 years ago especially for an expedition to Mars? The mission to Mars was canceled, but the "Druzhba" cheese remained. Since then, he has changed a lot. Real cheese is hard to find today. And in stores and in markets they sell not quite cheese. According to experts, a third of what is on the shelves is a cheese product. It looks like cheese only outwardly. We found out what cheese and motor oil have in common, how big the holes should be in the cheese and why it cries. And most importantly, we learned how to choose a tasty, healthy and natural product in the store.

Hard cheese. 0.2 to four centimeters. Holes of this size should be in the correct cheese. They appear in it for a reason. During fermentation, carbon dioxide is released from the cheese. It's like a quality indicator. If there are holes, then the cheese is good. There is only one "but". Some manufacturers artificially make holes in the cheese. Our correspondent got a job at a cheese factory and found out how technologists do it.
Cheese or not cheese? That is the question. Cheese is a living product. It is made from sour milk. A week - two for the milk to sour and collect in grains. Then the raw material is salted, filtered, and sent to ripening. Neither more nor less - six to nine months. It takes a long time, and time is money. Therefore, manufacturers are speeding up the process with chemicals. Vegetable or mineral oils are added to the cheese. It turns out not cheese, but a cheese product.
We will arrange a raid on shops and markets - we will buy cheeses and hand them over for analysis ... to the Department of Zoology of Moscow State University. Laboratory mice were looking for the real cheese. We put several pieces of cheese in the cage for each mouse. And three days later we looked at which cheese the mice ate and which one they left untouched.
Two pieces of cheese that look almost the same. We will buy one in the market from Baba Masha, she made it herself. The second is in a factory-made store. Both pieces were placed under the spotlights and left for a week. Cheese without chemicals soured and covered with mold. The cheese from the store just dried out a little. We went to the manufacturer and asked why their cheese doesn't go bad.
Ten kids from a kindergarten in the city of Monchegorsk were hospitalized with severe poisoning. The kindergarten chef made cheese butter for the children. The cheese contains staphylococcus bacteria. The chef bought cheese at a nearby store. The cheese looked fresh. But it turns out that modern cheese hardly spoils. In addition, masking the delay is a trifling matter. Our correspondent worked in the cheese section of an ordinary supermarket. Removing mold and repackaging is a daily job for sellers. The experts explained how you can tell if cheese is expired, even if it looks fresh.
The fish rots from the head, and the cheese spoils from the crust. Red spots all over the body, severe cough, chills. With such complaints Marina turned to the local doctor. Three sandwiches with cheese made me sick. Listeria bacteria provoked allergies. Lovers of a cheese crust, be on your guard - you are at risk, it must be cut off.
Processed cheeses. Manufacturers love them very much. Because you can make processed cheese from almost anything. Cheese waste, cheese mass, flavors, colors and preservatives are what processed cheese is often made of today.
We bought cheese leftovers from the factory, mixed them with food chemicals and made "real processed cheese". We sent our cheese for tasting. Nobody could tell it from real cream cheese. We registered the recipe for our processed cheese "from what God sends" with Rospotrebnadzor.
What are the secrets of cheese, how to choose the right product - without accelerators, dyes and preservatives. What are the signs to understand that the cheese has already gone bad and what kind of cheese to put in the mousetrap. Cheese makers, employees of testing laboratories and astronauts talk.
Producers: Andrey Sychev, Oleg Volnov.
Director: Sergei Kurzanov.
Scriptwriter: Olga Gataullina.

Cheese Is a product made from natural milk, lactic acid bacteria and salt. Each head must be matured for at least three months under special conditions. This is how real cheese is made.
Private cheese dairy in the Tver region. Cheese is made here according to traditional recipes. The owner of the cheese dairy is Italian Pietro Mazza. He is a hereditary cheese maker. Knows thousands of recipes for making real cheese. It can tell by the shape of the hole where the cheese was made and how long it was on the counter.
To find out if the cheese made at Pietro's dairy differs from the one sold in the store, a simple test is carried out: two pieces of cheese are left on the table and they look at what happens to them after a few days.
Two days later, the Italian cheese was moldy, and the cheese bought in the store just dried up. The secret is simple: often what is sold in the store is not really cheese.
To get one kilogram of cheese you need 11 liters of milk. A liter of the cheapest milk costs 20 rubles. It turns out that in order to make a kilogram of cheese, you need to buy milk for 220 rubles. Meanwhile, in stores, cheese is sold for 200-400 rubles, and yet it still needs to be cooked. Are manufacturers working at a loss?
What kind of milk is cheese made from and is it there at all? To find out, we buy 12 samples of Gouda cheese from different manufacturers. We cut each piece into two halves. One goes to a tasting: laboratory mice will be looking for the most delicious cheese. We take the second piece to the laboratory. Experts will determine what this cheese is made of.
The first stage is tasting. White mice will eat cheese. They are used to check medicines, cosmetics and perfumes. Mice eat three times a day, they love cheese more than anything else. We hang 12 samples of Gouda cheese in the cage, each piece weighs 18 grams. The animals sniff and taste every bite. It took only 5 minutes, and for the eighth sample, Valio's Gouda cheese, a queue lined up. A little more, and a fight began, an hour later, horns and legs were left from the cheese. Other examples are less popular: mice eat, but without fanaticism. After 3 hours, we ate Gouda cheese of the Hermio company, Gouda of the Ankor trademark, Golden Gouda cheese from Holland and Gouda of the German factory Bayerland, as well as three more unnamed samples bought on the market. In total, rodents bit off a piece from the Gouda cheeses of the Kvartal and Romashkino brands. Only one sample remained intact - this is Gouda Premium cheese, produced by the Starodubskiye Syry company from Bryansk.
With the question why the mice rejected this cheese, we turned to the laboratory. All 12 samples were studied by experts, they were looking for harmful substances and mold, they determined what the cheese was made of. It turned out that Gouda Premium cheese, which the mice did not like, according to experts, is not cheese at all - vegetable oil was found in it. Up to 30 percent of milk fat is replaced with palm oil.
Palm oil is added to cheese to save money - it is several times cheaper than milk. According to nutritionists, this is one of the most harmful vegetable oils - it is poorly absorbed by the body. In addition, a palm oil product cannot be called cheese, it is a cheese product. The label must state that it contains palm oil. But on the packaging "Gouda Premium" - not a word about it. By the way, the rest of the samples were made from natural milk. So it's not that hard to buy good cheese in the store.
Why God knows what they sell under the guise of cheese? With this question, we turned to the producers at the Starodubskiye Syry plant. They pretended to hear about palm oil for the first time.
There is a very simple way to determine whether you bought cheese or cheese product.

Cut a piece of cheese and leave it on the table for a few hours. If drops appear on it or it becomes wet to the touch, it means that it contains vegetable oils - this is not cheese, but a cheese product.
Three to four months at a temperature of plus five to seven degrees is the maximum shelf life of the cheese. If the head is cut into pieces and wrapped in a film, it can be stored for no more than ten days, otherwise dangerous bacteria - E. coli, staphylococcus aureus, or even bacteria that cause botulism can grow in it.
Two months unconscious on an artificial respiration apparatus, four months in intensive care, injections, droppers, blood transfusions. The fact that Tatyana Ternovaya survived is called a miracle by the doctors. It's hard to believe that the reason for everything is the most ordinary piece of cheese.
It all started suddenly. Tatiana ran home at lunchtime, drank a cup of coffee, ate a cheese sandwich. Then I returned to work, sat down at the table, turned on the computer. The image on the screen blurred, my eyes ached, my head was spinning. I was just overtired, Tatiana decided. At the end of the working day, she already barely got up from the table, somehow got home and literally collapsed into bed. In the morning, Tatyana could only open her eyes and call her husband - her arms and legs did not move.
Nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain, high fever, paralysis, shortness of breath. These are the symptoms of many infectious diseases. The doctors could not make a diagnosis for several days, and Tatyana was getting worse and worse. Doctors tried to find out what Tatiana was doing before she felt unwell. But she just couldn't speak. Then they gave her a notebook and a pen, she wrote one word on the sheet: "Cheese". Tatyana's husband found the remains of the cheese at home and handed them over to the laboratory. The product contains bacteria that cause botulism. Only after that, doctors were able to make the correct diagnosis.
Botulism is an acute infectious disease, the first signs are blurred vision, nausea, muscle weakness. Botulism gradually destroys the nervous system, without treatment it leads to death in 70% of cases.
Doctors injected Tatiana with an anti-botulism serum, but the disease has gone too far. Only two months later, Tatyana was able to breathe on her own, after three - she began to pronounce the first words.
Why is the botulism bacterium in the cheese? This Tatiana began to find out when she was discharged from the hospital. An inspection was carried out in the store where the dangerous cheese was sold and in the production. It turned out that bacteria appeared in the cheese due to improper storage. Then Tatyana filed a lawsuit against the store and won the case. The court recovered in favor of the plaintiff compensation for moral damage in the amount of 45 thousand rubles, as well as medical expenses in the amount of 11 thousand rubles. The decision in cassation was not appealed and entered into legal force.
The film crew arrived at the store where Tatiana bought the ill-fated piece of cheese and asked the sellers to show them where the food was stored. But they refused to talk to the correspondents. Moreover, the sellers believe that Tatiana herself is to blame for the infection: "You see, the cheese is bad? Don't eat."
That is, in other words, the buyers themselves should distinguish the expired son, and not annoy the sellers. In fact, this skill can really come in handy.
Press down on a piece of cheese. If liquid leaks out of it, the cheese is expired. This method does not work only for soft cheeses such as feta cheese.
How does expired cheese end up on store shelves? To find out, the correspondent got a job in the dairy department of one of the Moscow supermarkets. The first day of work, before the start of the shift, the correspondent is instructed. Colleagues explain: only fresh cheese should be on the shelves, otherwise it will be poorly bought. True, today the cheese was not delivered, there are pieces with an expiring expiration in the windows - it needs to be made fresh. If mold appears on a piece of cheese, unscrupulous sellers carefully cut it off with a knife. And if the piece is dry, rub it with sunflower oil to make it look like new. Buyers are unlikely to distinguish it from fresh.
The film crew turned a moldy piece of cheese into a fresh one. This cheese was then shown to the customers in the store and asked to say whether they would buy it or not. Everyone was sure that the cheese was fresh. Unscrupulous sellers take advantage of our carelessness. In the store where the reporter settled, an hour later the counter was filled with fresh cheese - each piece was labeled with a new packaging date.
It turns out that cheese is a reusable product, it is repackaged 5-6 times. This means that it is not stored for 10 days as expected, but for almost two months. During this time, anything can start in it. The product will be thrown away if only it is covered with mold. If the cheese has completely lost its presentation, it will be cut into pieces, packed and put in the most conspicuous place.
The footage, taken by a hidden camera, was shown to the store employees. They refused to comment. The management of the supermarket chain explained the incident in an official letter. In their opinion, ordinary sellers are to blame for everything, the management and management of the store have nothing to do with this. We were promised to investigate the situation and fire the guilty. But for us, buyers, in general, it does not matter who is to blame, the seller or the management of the company. In either case, if you eat expired cheese, the result will be the same. Therefore, you need to be careful in the store.
Ask the seller to cut a piece of cheese from the head in front of you - this way you have more chances to buy fresh cheese. Pieces cut and packaged in the supermarket in advance can be expired.
Red and mustachioed cockroach, common Prusak. This creature ended up in a piece of cheese that Marina Evseenko bought in a store. Marina carried a piece of cheese with a cockroach back to the store. But they could not say how the insect got into the cheese. They also refused to return the money for the cheese. Then Marina turned to the police. It turned out that the cheese she bought was fake. It was sold in many Moscow supermarkets, and it was produced in an abandoned bathhouse near Moscow. During the day, employees cooked cheese in rusty tubs; at night, this building turned into a hostel. Rats, mice and cockroaches were running around the bathhouse, mold was already appearing on the finished product.
Fraudsters glued labels of well-known manufacturers to finished products. The police gave the cheese samples for examination, experts found dangerous bacteria in them, and, as a bonus, cockroaches, flies and even a mouse's tail. Ten tons of finished products were seized and destroyed. True, the investigators did not find the owners of the underground workshop - perhaps they continue to cook cheese in another bath now.
Soft and homemade cheeses- they are faked most often because they are easier to prepare. Hard cheese ripens for months, soft cheese for a week. Milk turns sour and is collected in grains, they are salted, filtered and dried. Soft cheese is ready. It is sold in markets and stores, very often without packaging and labels - just packaged in bags. It is a success because it is a natural cheese, without chemicals and dyes, made from good homemade milk. This product was bought by the workers of the kindergarten "Solnyshko". For breakfast, the kids were fed sandwiches with cheese and sent for a walk.
Rather, the children felt bad. Vomiting, abdominal pain and high fever - with these symptoms, the children were brought to the hospital in the city of Kaspiysk. There were not enough places, the kids were lying on gurneys in the corridors. By the evening, 44 children were in the hospital, everyone who was in kindergarten that day. Parents were not allowed to the hospital, the department was quarantined. Mom and Dad spent the whole night in the emergency department, only in the morning the doctors announced a preliminary diagnosis and let the parents into the wards. According to doctors, the children fell ill with salmonellosis.
Salmonellosis is an acute infection, accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions. It can cause serious complications, in rare cases it can lead to death.
The prosecutor's office and Rospotrebnadzor took up the case of the mass poisoning of children, an inspection was carried out in the kindergarten, all the products in the kitchen were sent for analysis. Experts have found salmonella in soft cheese. The kindergarten workers bought cheese with salmonella at the market. The police did not find suppliers of dangerous products, there was a lock on the tent where the cheese was sold. But it turned out that other traders of soft cheese do not have any documents for the product - it is not known where the cheese was made, whether it can be eaten and what bacteria it contains.
If you buy soft cheese on the market, ask the seller to show the product documents. He should have such a hygienic report dated today. If this document is not available, it is better not to buy cheese.
Processed cheeses.Now on the shelves there are dozens of different types of processed cheese - with ham, with mushrooms, with onions, with dill, with chocolate. For any manufacturer, processed cheese is just a gold mine. The cost of cheese is only 2 rubles, because processed cheese can be made from almost anything. There is currently no national standard for melting cheeses. The only requirement for processed cheese is safety. And what exactly it will be made of and what additives it will contain is not spelled out anywhere. This is what manufacturers use.
The film crew decided to check if it was possible to make cheese from anything and sell it. For this purpose, the company created its own brand of processed cheese - it will be called "Free Cheese". As you know, he is only in a mousetrap. Waste from cheese production, flavor identical to natural under the name "Cheese", flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate and melting salts. This will constitute "Free Cheese". To completely bring the situation to the point of absurdity, the cheese was dyed blue with food coloring.
To sell "Free Cheese", it must be registered, so the packaging and the recipe for the cheese of our own invention were shown to Rosstandart specialists and asked if they would be allowed to sell it in stores? According to experts, permission could well have been obtained, because the composition of the product is honestly indicated on the package.
It turns out that the blue "Free Cheese" could well be accredited and officially sold. We go to the store and arrange an advertising campaign: we will sell cheese at a discount. After 10 minutes, a queue forms at our counter. "Free Cheese" is a success, with customers particularly fond of its delicate turquoise color. No one thinks about where free cheese usually comes, and does not read the composition on the package. We stopped our customers, asked them to read the composition. But even after that, many did not want to part with Free Cheese.
You can distinguish real processed cheese from free cheese when purchasing. To do this, it is enough to carefully read what is written on the label.
If there is a GOST badge on the processed cheese label, then, most likely, the cheese was made from high-quality raw materials. The manufacturer can add almost anything to the cheese made according to TU.
The most famous processed cheese -cheese "Friendship".It was created 40 years ago specifically for an expedition to Mars. Every morning, approaching the Red Planet, the astronauts were supposed to have breakfast with this cheese. But the mission to Mars was canceled, and he remained on Earth. During its life on earth, "Druzhba" cheese has changed a lot - now it is made by several manufacturers. Habitat decided to find the processed cheese, which is still worthy of flying into space. Students of the sommelier school will try the cheese. The independent sommelier school trains future connoisseurs of wines, cheeses and gourmet snacks. They have, as they say, a nose like a dog - they can tell by the smell what the cheese is made of.
Three Druzhba cheeses are participating in the tasting: number one is made at the Karat factory, number two is produced by Rostagroexport, and number three is Druzhba of the Omsk Processed Cheese Factory. The task of the experts is to determine what kind of cheese they are trying and choose the most delicious among them. The taste familiar from childhood was recognized only in the "Druzhba" cheese of the Rostagroexport company - this cheese liked the future sommeliers the most. The tasters also liked the curd of the "Karat" company, however, in their opinion, it is not very similar to "Druzhba". The most unfriendly, according to experts, was "Druzhba" of the Omsk Processed Cheese Factory. Future sommeliers would not take this cheese into space.
Now each manufacturer can produce cheese according to technical specifications. This makes it possible to use cheap cheeses or add flavors instead of expensive cheeses for melting. To find the real "Friendship", you need to read the composition. Initially, the composition of the "Druzhba" cheese consisted of the following components: semi-hard fatty cheeses, skimmed cheeses, skimmed milk powder, sour cream and melting salts - phosphates, which affect the consistency of the final product.
Cottage cheese.Like cheese, it is a product made of natural milk and bacteria. It used to be called cheese too. It is not for nothing that the word "syrnik" has survived in the Russian language to this day. Marina Aleksandrovna decided to lose a couple of kilograms for the holidays. In a magazine, she read about the curd diet - nutritionists recommend it to those who want to lose weight. Instead of dinner - 200 grams of natural cottage cheese. Marina Aleksandrovna began to buy natural cottage cheese in the nearest store. Three months later, it turned out that she had gained 4 kilograms. Then Marina Aleksandrovna went on an even stricter diet - she started eating cottage cheese instead of lunch and dinner. But the effect turned out to be the opposite: in two months - plus another 5 kilograms. In total, as a result of the curd diet, the pensioner recovered by almost 10 kilograms. According to the doctors, this case is unique: Marina Aleksandrovna is the only person who managed to get fat from cottage cheese.
To find out what this unique cottage cheese is, the film crew, together with Marina Aleksandrovna, went to the store. The cottage cheese, from which they get fat, was handed over for examination to the laboratory. The analysis showed that this is not cottage cheese, but the so-called curd product - it consists of palm oil, enzymes and a small amount of milk. Experts did not find any beneficial bacteria in it. All three samples from the store contained some degree of palm oil - 50 to 100 percent replacement. Cheap vegetable oils, which are in the curd product, are deposited in the body. You eat the so-called curd and get better. In addition, moisture-retaining agents were found in bulk in cottage cheese. Humectants are a class of food additives that keep food from drying out. In the curd, they retain water, thereby increasing the weight of the product. It's easy to check if there are excess chemicals in the curd.
Put some iodine on the curd. If the product turns blue, then starch has been added to it to increase weight.
To find out why the store sells curd mass under the guise of cottage cheese, the film crew goes to this store with the results of the examination. It turns out that the sellers know that there is not cottage cheese on the counter, but its substitute, but for some reason they still write on the "Curd" label. It turns out that this is a big lie: the salespeople are simply caring for the elderly. They explain that the word "curd" is shorter than "curd product", and therefore, the elderly will have to strain their eyes less.
By law, only a product made from natural milk and bacteria can be called cottage cheese. But manufacturers are tricky, write on the label "Curd" or "Curd mass" and rightfully add vegetable oils to the product. They do not break any laws, because there is no word "Curd" anywhere on the packaging. And the fact that when you buy it seems to you that this is cottage cheese, this is your own business.
If you buy cottage cheese in a package, carefully read what is written on the label - there must be the word "cottage cheese" and the number of beneficial bacteria is indicated.
True, cottage cheese is very often bought by weight. Few people think that under the guise of loose cottage cheese they sell you God knows what. But there is another way to distinguish cottage cheese from a substitute - you need to feed it to your pet. Not a single self-respecting cat will eat a curd product, and she will never refuse curd.
To check what kind of cottage cheese you usually buy by weight, give it to your pet to try. If a cat or dog refuses a treat, then you have a curd product in front of you.
If you don't have a cat or dog, there is another way to distinguish cottage cheese from a substitute.
Before buying, carefully look at the surface of the cottage cheese - there must be small grains on it. If the curd is homogeneous, in front of you, most likely, a curd product. And one more tip: before buying, ask the seller for the expiration date. Remember: real loose cottage cheese is stored for no more than 36 hours. And if the seller answers: "3 days" or more, then there is a curd product on the counter.
The product label says "Curd", which means that the curd must be inside. But can this inscription be trusted? To find out, 10 packages of cottage cheese from different manufacturers handed them over to the laboratory for analysis. Most of all the experts were surprised by the pack with the inscription "Curd" at the Dmitrov Dairy Plant - it consists of 95% vegetable fats, milk in it is only 5%. In packs with the words "Blagoda Curd" and "Traditional Curd" of the "Dairy Business" company there is less vegetable fat - only 65%. Cottage cheese "Prostokvashino", "Svalya", "Okolitsa", "101 grains", "Milava", cottage cheese "Sincerely yours", "House in the village" turned out to be one hundred percent cottage cheese. These manufacturers do not deceive us, they sell what is written on the label.
Simple tips will help you buy real cheese and not get caught in a mousetrap.
- Press on the cheese. If liquid flows out of it, then it is expired. This method does not work only for soft cheeses such as feta cheese.
- Leave the cheese for a few hours at room temperature. If it becomes wet to the touch, it means that it contains vegetable oils - this is not cheese, but a cheese product.
- If there is the word "GOST" on the label with processed cheese, then, most likely, the cheese was made from high-quality raw materials.
- If there are such grains on the cottage cheese, then it is real cottage cheese.
- Put some iodine on the curd. If it turns blue, then starch has been added to it to increase weight.
These tips will help you stay out of the mousetrap and choose real cheese and cottage cheese.

We can safely say that cheese is a universal product. It can be eaten separately, with bread, added to various dishes, soup is made from cheese and, of course, it is impossible to imagine pizza without it. In terms of its nutritional properties, cheese is practically not inferior to meat, which is why it is an integral part of a vegetarian diet. There are a huge number of different types of cheese, they all differ in fat content, composition and taste. It is the composition of the cheese that determines its appearance, variety and taste. Let's talk about what this popular product is made of. So, to begin with, let's look at what cheese is generally made of.

What cheese is made of

• Milk. Milk is the main and most important ingredient in any cheese. Indeed, even according to legend, cheese appeared when milk was forgotten in one of the caves, and when they arrived, they found the first analogue of cheese. Today cheese is made from milk from cows, goats, sheep, and sometimes from combinations of milk from different animals. Depending on the milk content, the cheese differs in its fat content.
• Leaven. The characteristics of this or that cheese differ in the use of one or another sourdough. It allows the cheese to ripen, giving a special flavor to this product. Today, the most commonly used lactic acid bacteria, and sometimes propionic acid bacteria.
• Rennet element. It is needed to turn milk into cheese. The best option is an enzyme obtained from the stomachs of calves. But quite often it is replaced by various chemical analogs. In addition, calcium chloride - the common table salt we all have - always complements the rennet element.

These are the main ingredients that make up cheese, but more often than not, you won't find a single mention of them on the label. On any of the commercial cheeses, you can read a rather large list in the composition. Let's dwell on them a little:

General composition of cheese

Cheese production is a complex process. Therefore, there is no need to be intimidated when you come across words that are unfamiliar to you on the label. In general, in addition to pasteurized milk, cheese can contain: rennet powder, pepsin (food or beef) - this is an ingredient required for curdling milk. And also some enzyme preparations, here are the most common and allowed according to GOST:

• Table salt. It is obligatory not iodized, not lower than the first grade;
• Annatto extract;
• B-carotene, soluble in water;
• Calcium chloride, necessarily dehydrated, not lower than the first grade;
• Potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate;
• Potassium nitrate grades A, B, C, according to GOST.

It is worth saying that the composition of the cheese may contain various additives with the prefix E. Be sure to check on the Internet for their safety, especially when it comes to processed types of cheese.

Cheese chemical composition and nutritional value

If we talk about such a product as cheese, then we cannot but mention the various useful substances contained in its composition.

• The nutritional value. It is determined by the fat content of the cheese, in other words, its fat content. Each type of cheese has its own fat content, the type of cheese and its taste depend on it. For example, Alpine cheese has a fat content of 25%, and cheese has a fat content of only 14%. Remember that the fatter the cheese, the more nutritious it is.
• Vitamins. Cheese is a vitamin-rich product. Most often, it contains vitamins of groups A, B and D, as well as pathoinic acid.
• Proteins. If you take into account that cheese is made from milk, then, as you understand, it is quite rich in proteins. So, different types of cheese have different amounts of proteins.
• Amino acids. Cheese is rich in various amino acids like no other such as valine, leucine, lysine and phenylalanine. All of them are very beneficial for the normal functioning of our body.

The composition of cheese also includes various useful substances, for example, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium. They are essential for mental and physical exertion. It is because of these elements that cheese is useful for the prevention of cancer, as well as tuberculosis. It should be noted that in this case, we considered only the composition of hard cheeses. Processed cheese is somewhat different in composition from its solid counterpart, it is important to understand that not all processed cheese is equally useful. Let's take a little look at their composition.

Processed cheese: composition

In general, processed cheese is made on the basis of hard cheese, followed by the addition of milk powder, cream and butter. And for better thickening, various chemical melters are added. All processed cheeses can be divided into the following types:

• Chunks of cheeses. They are made from hard cheeses with a fat content of 50-70%. They contain a minimum of chemical additives, and the taste of such a cheese is rich, difficult to distinguish from its hard counterpart.
• Sausage cheeses. They are made from low-fat hard cheeses. Some chemical melters and thickeners can be found in the composition. Caraway is sometimes added.
• Pasty cheeses. These cheeses have a very strong characteristic flavor and are made from medium-fat cheeses.
• Sweet cheeses. In their composition, you can find sugar or its substitutes, coffee or cocoa, honey, various syrups.

Modern manufacturers sometimes add various preservatives and colorants to processed cheese, as well as flavorings to give the cheese a wide variety of flavors. Carefully read the composition of the cheese on the package, if you are in doubt about it, it is better to prefer hard cheese. In addition to processed types, there are soft cream cheeses. The most famous soft cheese is Philadelphia.

Philadelphia cheese: composition

This type of cheese consists of skim milk and milk fat, a concentrate for converting milk into cheese, salt, and various stabilizers - guar gum or xanthan gum. In addition, vitamin A palmitate and sorbic acid are quite commonly used.

Now you know what cheese is made of. Remember that this product can be both beneficial and harmful to your body. If you have an intolerance to dairy products, then you should avoid eating cheese.

Surely everyone has seen cheese, unusual in its appearance, woven into tight braids on store shelves. This national Armenian dish is Chechil smoked cheese. It is especially valuable for the fact that it is made by hand, and its bright taste makes the product an excellent snack for any drink, be it wine or beer.

What it is?

Chechil is a pickled extract cheese, its closest relative is a similar Armenian cheese called Suluguni.

The name "Chechil" literally translates as "tangled", which exactly reflects its main feature - form. A tight rope is formed from the stretched cheese threads and a pigtail is woven. There is this cheese in simpler interpretations - in the form of straws or twisted into a ball.

Chechil's taste is bright, slightly spicy, with pronounced smoky notes. It does not have a pronounced smell that distinguishes it from other varieties of cheese. Compared to Suluguni, it has a stronger stratification and sour milk flavor.

Composition and shelf life

Chechil cheese can be made from the milk of goats, cows or sheep. As a rule, low-fat milk is used for its production, which allows you to make cheese with a fat content of 10%. Due to its low fat content, this cheese is an excellent substitute for higher fat varieties for people who want to lose weight. The calorie content of Chechil is on average 2 times lower than that of classic cheeses, and is about 300-350 kcal. At the same time, this type of cheese contains practically no carbohydrates, but a lot of protein, which makes it an extremely valuable food product.

Chechil contains a large amount of salt (4 to 8%), which, in turn, suggests that excessive consumption of it in food can harm the body. This is especially true for people with problems with diseases of the urinary and cardiovascular system. It should also be borne in mind that salt retains fluid in the body, which can provoke unwanted swelling.

When buying cheese, you should inquire about its composition, since there is now a huge amount of Chechil on store shelves, which is not smoked using the classical method, but is processed with chemical smoke substitutes, dyes and preservatives are also added there. All of these additives make cheese less tasty and healthy, but it will last longer. The maximum shelf life of a quality Chechil is 60 days, and a smoked one is 75 days.

Varieties

The classic form of Chechil cheese is a braid tightly braided from long threads. This shape is patented and created not just for beauty - the weaving allows you to preserve the properties of the cheese and the juiciness of the product.

On sale you can find Chechil in various forms - straw, twisted tourniquet, ball or wreath. For example, thick sticks are most convenient for eating this cheese fried. On store shelves, this form is most often used by the cheese manufacturer Umalat, which has won many positive customer reviews. The "Spaghetti" form is also widespread.

Classic Chechil has a standard color scheme - from white to yellow. The priority is to purchase white cheese, since yellowness may indicate the addition of dyes to the product. As for the smoked Chechil, its color will range from beige to brown. It is also necessary to pay attention to the uniformity of color - with natural smoking, the color of the cheese will be transitional.

If Chechil is of a uniform color, then most likely liquid smoke was used.

How and from what is it prepared?

How is this traditional Armenian cheese made? Chechil cheese is based on milk, which should turn sour in natural conditions. To speed up the process, ferment is often added to milk, for example, an already sour product and rennet, while heating them. After the milk is sour, it is curdled under the influence of temperature. Flakes are formed, which are strips up to 10 cm long. They are taken out of the whey, cut into thin strips and shaped. After that, the cheese braids are sent to special smoking chambers.

How to make at home?

It takes a lot of time and effort to make this cheese, but the result will be worth it.

Ingredients you need to make Chechil:

• milk (it takes about 10 liters of milk to make 1 kg of cheese);
• rennet or pepsin;
• sour milk, whey or sourdough;
• salt.

The milk is left to sour at room temperature, if time is limited, you can add a little sourdough to it (in such conditions, 12 hours will be enough for souring). When the milk is ready, it is put on fire and heated until curdling. At this point, you need to add pepsin or rennet. Thanks to these substances, a clot forms in the saucepan.

The mixture is boiled to a temperature of 50-60 degrees, stirring constantly. The flakes are crushed with a spoon, and gradually by pulling, a long ribbon is formed, which must be removed from the pan when the desired temperature is reached. The tape is placed on a convenient surface and cut into thin strips no more than 5 mm thick. A pigtail is already being formed from these strips. Next, the cheese is placed in cold water for rinsing, and then in brine for salting. The salt concentration in the brine should be around 15%.

After a few days, you can take out Chechil and eat it or smoke it.

During the entire storage period at home, it is better that Chechil is in brine.

You will learn more about how to cook Chechil cheese at home in the following video.

Cheese Pigtail Recipes

If you love Chechil, but want to try something new, then you can easily prepare interesting dishes based on this cheese with your own hands.

Fried Chechil

One of the simplest appetizers is fried Chechil. To do this, the pigtail is untwisted into separate fibers, or you can immediately take a straw.

You should not take smoked cheese, as it will not give in to frying, having a sufficiently dense smoked crust on top.