Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 138

CHEESE, DERBYs.h.i.+RE. A small, white, rich variety, very similar to Dunlop cheese.

CHEESE, DUNLOP. Rich, white, and b.u.t.tery; in round forms, weighing from 30 lbs. to 60 lbs.

CHEESE, DUTCH. (Holland.) Of a globular form. 5 to 14 lbs. each. Those from Edam are very highly salted; those from Gouda less so.

CHEESE, GLOUCESTER. Single Glo'ster; from milk deprived of part of its cream; Double Glo'ster, from milk retaining the whole of the cream. Mild tasted, semi-b.u.t.tery consistence, without being friable; in large, round, flattish forms.

CHEESE, GREEN or SAGE. From milk mixed with the juice or an infusion or decoction of sage leaves, to which marygold flowers and parsley are frequently added.

CHEESE, GRUYeRE. A fine description of cheese made in Switzerland, and largely consumed on the Continent. It is firm and dry, and exhibits numerous cells of considerable magnitude. Its flavour is peculiar, and is not generally liked by English people.

CHEESE, LINCOLN. From new milk and cream; in pieces about 2 inches thick; soft, and will not keep over 2 or 3 months.

CHEESE, NEUFCHaTEL. A much-esteemed variety of Swiss cheese; made of cream, and weighs about 5 or 6 oz.

CHEESE, NORFOLK. Dyed yellow with annotta or saffron; good, but not superior; in cheeses of 30 lbs. to 50 lbs.

CHEESE, PARMESAN. (Parma, &c.) From the curd of skimmed milk, hardened by a gentle heat. The rennet is added at about 120, and an hour afterwards the curdling milk is set on a slow fire until heated to about 150 Fahr.; during which the curd separates in small lumps. A few pinches of saffron are then thrown in. About a fortnight after making the outer crust is cut off, and the new surface varnished with linseed oil, and one side coloured red.

CHEESE, ROQUEFORT. From ewes' milk; the best prepared in France. It greatly resembles Stilton, but is scarcely of equal richness or quality, and possesses a peculiar pungency and flavour.

CHEESE, SLIPCOAT or SOFT. A very rich white cheese, somewhat resembling b.u.t.ter; for present use only.

CHEESE, STILTON. The richest and finest cheese made in England. From raw milk to which cream taken from other milk is added; in cheeses generally twice as high as they are broad. Like wine, this cheese is vastly improved by age, and is therefore seldom eaten before it is 2 years old. A spurious appearance of age is sometimes given to it by placing it in a warm, damp cellar, or by surrounding it with ma.s.ses of fermenting straw or dung.

CHEESE, SUFFOLK. From skimmed milk; in round, flat forms, from 24 lbs. to 30 lbs. each. Very hard and h.o.r.n.y.

CHEESE, SWISS. The princ.i.p.al cheeses made in Switzerland are the Gruyere, the Neufchatel, and the Schabzieger or green cheese. The latter is flavoured with melilot.

CHEESE, WESTPHALIAN. In small b.a.l.l.s or rolls of about 1 lb. each. It derives its peculiar flavour from the curd being allowed to become partially putrid before being pressed. In small b.a.l.l.s or rolls of about 1 lb. each.

CHEESE, WILTs.h.i.+RE. Resembles poor Ches.h.i.+re or Glo'ster. The outside is generally painted with a mixture of reddle or red-ochre or whey.

CHEESE, YORK. From cream: it will not keep.

_Qual., &c._ Cheese has been objected to as an article of diet, but without sufficient reason, since it is, when of good quality, eminently nutritious, wholesome, and digestible. Like all other food, cheese digests more readily when well masticated, and the neglect of this precaution is one reason why it frequently disagrees with delicate stomachs. It is rendered more agreeable to many palates by toasting it, but becomes less digestible by that operation. The basis of cheese is casein or coagulated curd, a protein substance; it therefore cannot fail to prove nutritious, provided it is properly digested. Cheese-curd, carefully freed from water and milk by expression, and the addition of salt, is a mixture of casein and b.u.t.ter. It contains all the phosphate of lime and part of the phosphate of soda of the milk. (Liebig.) When taken as a condiment, especially when rich and old, it powerfully promotes the secretion of the saliva and gastric juice, and thereby aids the stomach in performing its proper functions. Rotten cheese is very unwholesome.

We give below the composition of some of the princ.i.p.al varieties of cheese:--

Cheddar. Double Skim.

Gloucester.

Water 3664 3561 4364 Casein 2338 2176 4564 Fatty matter 3544 3816 576 Mineral matter 454 447 496 ------ ------ ------ 10000 10000 10000

Stilton. Cotherstone.

Water 3218 3828 b.u.t.ter 3736 3089 Casein 2431 2393 Milk, sugar, and extractive } 222 370 matters } Mineral matter 393 320 ------ ------ 10000 10000

Gruyere. Ordinary Dutch.

Water 4000 3610 Casein 3150 2940 Fatty matter 2400 2750 Salts 300 90 Non-nitrogenous organic } 150 610 matter and loss } ------ ------ 10000 10000

_Concluding Remarks._--It is surprising that cheese is not more frequently made an article of domestic manufacture, especially by housewives resident in the country. The operations of cheese-making are all exceedingly simple, and not laborious, and will, in most cases, amply repay the outlay for the milk. Besides, cheese is not unfrequently coloured with stains and pigments which are injurious, and even poisonous, the risk of taking which is not encountered when it is made at home. Several persons have nearly lost their lives from eating cheese coloured with annotta, for instance.

This substance, though harmless in itself, is frequently adulterated with red lead, so that the cheesemonger may very innocently introduce a poison, when he only intends to improve the colour of his goods.

When a whole cheese is cut, and the consumption small, it is generally found to become unpleasantly dry, and to lose flavour before it is consumed. This is best prevented by cutting a sufficient quant.i.ty for a few days' consumption from the cheese, and keeping the remainder in a cool place, rather damp than dry, spreading a thin film of b.u.t.ter over the fresh surface, and covering it with a cloth or pan to keep off the dirt.

This removes the objection existing in small families against purchasing a whole cheese at a time. The common practice of buying small quant.i.ties of cheese should be avoided, as not only a higher price is paid for any given quality, but there is little likelihood of obtaining exactly the same flavour twice running. Should cheese become too dry to be agreeable, it may be used for stewing, or for making grated cheese or Welsh rare-bits.

=Cheese, Ap'ple.= The pomace or ground apples from the cider press.

=Cheese, Dam'son.= _Prep._ From damsons boiled with a little water, the pulp pa.s.sed through a sieve, and then boiled with about one fourth the weight of sugar, until the mixture solidifies on cooling; it is next poured into small tin moulds previously dusted out with sugar. Cherry cheese, gooseberry cheese, plum cheese, &c., are prepared in the same way, using the respective kinds of fruit. They are all very agreeable candies or confections.

=Cheese, Facti'tious Roque'fort.= _Prep._ (Roulle.) The gluten of wheat is kneaded with a little salt, and a small portion of a solution of starch, and made up into cheeses. It is said that this mixture soon acquires the taste, smell, and unctuosity of cheese, and when kept a certain time is not to be distinguished from the celebrated Roquefort cheese, of which it possesses all the peculiar pungency. By slightly varying the process other kinds of cheese may be imitated.

=Cheese, Legumin.= The Chinese prepare an actual cheese from peas, called "tao-foo," which they sell in the streets of Canton. The paste from steeped ground peas is boiled, which causes the starch to dissolve with the casein; after straining the liquid, it is coagulated by a solution of gypsum; this coagulum is worked up like sour milk, salted, and pressed into moulds.

=Cheese, Toasted.= This much relished article is seldom well prepared. The following has been recommended as an excellent receipt:--Cut the cheese into slices of moderate thickness, and put them into a tinned copper saucepan, with a little b.u.t.ter and cream; simmer very gently until they are quite dissolved, then remove the saucepan from the fire, allow the whole to cool a little, add some yolk of egg, well beaten, add spice, make the compound into a "shape," and brown it before the fire. See FONDUE.

=CHELSEA PENSIONER.= _Prep._ From gum guaiac.u.m, 1/4 oz.; rhubarb, 1/2 oz.; cream of tartar, 2 oz.; flowers of sulphur, 4 oz.; nutmegs, 2 in number (all in powder); honey, 1-1/2 lb., or q. s.; made into an electuary by beating them together in a mortar.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 table-spoonfuls, night and morning, in gout and chronic rheumatism. The name is said to have been given to it from the circ.u.mstance of a Chelsea pensioner having cured Lord Amherst with it.

=CHEL'TENHAM SALTS.= See SALTS.

=CHEM'IQUE= or =CHEM'IC BLUE=. See INDIGO.

=CHEROOT.= A species of cigar imported from Manilla, in the Philippine Islands, distinguished by extreme simplicity of construction as well as delicacy of flavour. The cigars now so commonly sold as cheroots in England are, for the most part, made of inferior tobacco, and are often much adulterated articles.

=CHER'RIES= are the fruit of different species of the genus _Cerasus_.

They are regarded as wholesome, cooling, nutritive, laxative, and antis...o...b..tic. Brandy flavoured with this fruit or its juice is known as cherry-brandy. Morello cherries preserved in brandy are called brandy cherries. See BRANDY, FRUIT, &c.

=CHER'RY LAUR'EL.= _Syn._ LAU'REL. The _Cerasus Lauro-Cerasus_, a shrub common in every garden in England, and often confounded with the true laurel or Sweet Bay, which does not possess any of its deleterious properties. Leaves, occasionally used instead of bay leaves in cookery.

The distilled oil and distilled water are both poisonous. See OIL, WATER.

=CHESTNUT.= Both the horse-chestnut and the edible variety have been employed for the adulteration not only of coffee, but of chicory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Microscopic view of the chestnut.]

=CHI'CA.= The red colouring matter deposited by a decoction of the leaves of _Bignonia Chica_ in cooling. Used by the American Indians to stain their skin. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, oil, fat, and alkaline lyes, and slightly so in boiling water.

=Chi'ca.= See MAIZE BEER.

=CHIC'ORY.= _Syn._ WILD SUC'CORY; CICHOR'IUM INTY'BUS (Linn.), L. A plant belonging to the natural order Compositae. It is indigenous to this and many other countries of Europe, and is extensively cultivated for the sake of its roots, which are sliced, roasted, and ground, to form the chicory of the shops. Nearly 100 millions of pounds are annually consumed in Europe. Much of the chicory used in Britain is of home growth; but still more is imported in a raw state from Holland and other parts of the Continent. A blue dye has been prepared from the leaves of this plant.

The FRESH ROOT OF CHICORY (_ra'dix chico'rii re'cens_) is reputed to be alterative, attenuant, diuretic, febrifuge, hepatic, resolvent, and tonic; and in large doses aperient. It is now seldom used in medicine, although it appears to possess similar qualities and equal activity to those of dandelion. "An infusion of the root, mixed with syrup, becomes thick; forming the GOMME SACCHO-CHICORICE of Lacarterie." (Fee.)

_a.n.a.lysis of Chicory_ (the raw root):--

Moisture 770 Gummy matter (like pectin) 75 Glucose, or grape sugar 11 Bitter extractive 40 Fatty matter 06 Cellulose, inulin, and woody matter 90 Ash 08 ----- 1000

The ROASTED ROOT is prepared by cutting the full-grown root into slices, and exposing it to heat in iron cylinders, along with about 1-1/2% or 2% of lard, in a similar way to that adopted for coffee. When ground to powder in a mill, it const.i.tutes the CHICORY of the grocers (CHICORY COFFEE, SUCCORY C.; RADIX CHICO'RII TORREFAC'TA, R. C. T. CONTRI'TA); so generally employed both as a subst.i.tute for coffee and as an adulterant of that article. The addition of 1 part of good, fresh roasted chicory to 10 or 12 parts of coffee forms a mixture which yields a beverage of a fuller flavour, and of a deeper colour than that furnished by an equal quant.i.ty of pure or unmixed coffee. In this way a less quant.i.ty of coffee may be used, but it should be remembered that the article subst.i.tuted for it does not possess in any degree the peculiar exciting, soothing, and hunger-staying properties of that valuable product. The use, however, of a larger proportion of chicory than that just named imparts to the beverage an insipid flavour, intermediate between that of treacle and liquorice; whilst the continual use of roasted chicory, or highly chicorised coffee, seldom fails to weaken the powers of digestion and derange the bowels.

"There can be no doubt that roasted chicory must, when taken largely, have a tendency to excite diarrha." (Pereira.)

_Pur., &c._ The ground chicory of the shops, like ground coffee, is almost universally adulterated. Pigments are added to it to colour it, and various vegetable substances to lessen its value. The following articles have been reported to have been detected in roasted chicory, or to have been known to be used to adulterate it:--Venetian red, reddle, and red clay; roasted acorns, beans, carrots, damaged dog-biscuits, damaged bread, damaged wheat, horse-chestnuts, mangel wurzel, parsnips, peas, rye, and sugar; coffee flights (coffee husks), coffina (roasted lupins), Hambro'