Tikachu's Kitchen

Cheese, cheese, cheese! Unless you’re lactose-intolerant or non-dairy vegetarian, who will deny their obsession towards this wonderful dairy produce? It is the perfect addition to bakery, salad, and pasta-based cuisines. There are hundreds of types of cheese currently available, some of them are considered exotic and can only be manufactured in certain regions, while others are available at the minimart. In my spare time, I present you the basic knowledge of selecting the right type of cheese for the right type of cuisine!

It is easily the most widely used, multi-purpose cheese throughout the world. Cheddar originates from cow’s milk and derives its name from the English village of Cheddar. It is usually pale yellowish and available at minimart in chunks or sheets. Cheddar cheese is usually mild tasting, but some may have sharper, saltier taste depending on the length of its fermentation. It is also one of the cheapest cheese available in the market. It is commonly used as a companion to breads and pastries, cookies and brownies as well as hamburgers.  

Blue cheese is easily recognized by its bluish/greenish mold color. It is a unique cheese due to its original method of manufacturing, which involves storing cow milk and/or goat milk in a moldy cave for months. It is considered the best cheese in the world, and the flavor is tangy and strong. It has some distinctive sub-types depending on their place of origin, such as Gorgonzola from Italty, Roquefort from France and Stilton from English. Blue cheese can be eaten by itself with red wine, crumbled into salad, as a filling for omelettes or as garnish for martini. It can also be melted onto grilled lamb to enhance its flavor.

 

The oldest cheese in the world dated back to the ancient Greece civilization, Feta cheese has a soft, mushy consistency with grainy texture, and is usually made from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is white, a bit sour and strong in aroma, and is available in blocks. Standard feta cheese is aged for two months, and can be eaten natural with olive oil and oregano, as filling for pie or crumbled and mixed into classic Greek Salad dish.

It is probably the most familiar-looking of all cheese due to its popular depiction in cartoons and comic strips. Swiss Cheese is distinguishable by holes produced during its aging, as a result of carbon dioxide bubbles. What most people don’t know is, that those holes are known in the culinary world as ‘eyes’. Although it originated from Switzerland, Swiss Cheese is widely manufactured in England, France and Germany.

Gouda originates from the Netherlands, and was named after the city Gouda. It is made from cultured cow milk heated until the curds separate from the whey, creating a sweeter-tasting cheese. The cheese is then soaked in brine solution to enhance its flavor and dried out for a few days before coated with wax. It has a caramel-like taste and comes in a disc-shaped form, giving it the title ‘golden wheel’. Gouda is used to season hot or cold salad, with casserole, or simply eaten naturally with white wine. The smoked/flavoured version of Gouda Cheese makes a lovely flavor enhancer for burgers and pasta cuisines.

Mozarella is a very popular Italian cheese used on pizzas, bruschettas and pastas alike. It is derived from the Italian verb ‘mozzare’, meaning ‘to cut’, due to its spinning-cutting method of packaging. Mozarella is generally white to pale yellow in colour, and is made from cow milk, water buffalo milk or skimmed milk. It has a very thick consistency and is known for its stickiness. It is best served melted.

After knowing your cheese, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test and create an awesome cheese-infused cuisine. Happy experimenting!