UNIT 6

Technology of cheese making

I. Warm – up discussions:

1. What do we say when we want to get a beautiful smile while taking pictures?

2. What is cheese? Say your definition.

3. What do you know about cheese production? Name the steps you know.

Vocabulary
Cheese (n) - a food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened
curd of milk separated from the whey (caşcaval /сыр)
Coagulation (n) – changing from liquid to semisolid (coagulare /свертывание)
Curd (n) - the coagulated part of soured milk, from which cheese is made (brânză/
творог)
Whey (n) – the watery part of milk that separates from the curds(zer /сыворотка)
Draining (n) - a process of drawing liquid from smth. gradually
(scugere /сливание)
Moulding (n) – a form in which cheese is given a decorative shape
(formă /формовка)
Rind (n) – surface of the cheese (scoarţă /
кожура)
Shaping (n) – a process of giving a shape, a definite form to smth. (a da
formă /формирование)
Salting (n) - preserving (food) with salt or brine (sărare /соление)
Seeding (n) - planting (cheese) with seeds of (fungus) (însemânare /засеивание)
Fungus (n) - any of various plants, as molds, mushrooms that reproduce by spores
(mucegai /плесень)
Maturation (n) – a process of becoming fully developed or ripened
(maturare /созревание)
Packaging (n) – a process of packing (împachetare /пакетирование)
Rennet (n) – an extract from the stomach of calves used to curdle milk
(chiag /сычужный фермент)

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 Actions designed by specialized verbs
To coagulate (v.) = to clot, to congeal, to curdle (a coagula /свертывать)
To compress (v.) = to press, to pack (a compresa /сжимать)
To separate (v.) = to divide, to part, to form (a separa /отделять)
To mould (v.) = to shape, to form (a da formă /отливать в форму)
To salt (v.) = to preserve, cure, season (a săra /солить)
To ripen (v.) – to become or make ripe, mature (a se coace /созревать)
To mature (v.) = to ripe, to age (a se maturiza /созревать)

II. Text: Cheese making

Cheese is a fresh -or ripened product made from coagulated milk. Cheese can
be differentiated both by the type of milk – raw, skimmed or pasteurized, and by
animal – cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel. For all of them however, there
are four major stages in the basic process:

 Curdling or coagulation of the milk

 Shaping of the curds(draining)
 Salting, washing and seeding
 Maturing

Curdling or coagulation of the milk

The first step in cheese making is to coagulate the milk solids into a curd. It
can be done either by acid coagulation or rennet coagulation. Acid coagulation is
caused by adding an acid substance (lemon juice, vinegar) or by adding a bacterial
culture that turns the lactose into lactic acid. Renneting consists of adding the
rennet to the heated milk. Coagulation, which cannot take place under 10 C, is
activated at temperatures between 20 and 40C. The coagulation period depends on
the type of cheese and varies from 30 minutes to 36 hours.

Shaping of the curds

The curds are broken in a vat to separate the curds from the whey. The curds are
cut into lumps. The curd mass is constantly stirred and warmed. There are several
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methods for removing the curds from the vat for draining. Ladles are used to
transfer the curds directly into moulds containing holes through which the whey
can run off. With pressed cheese, strong cloth, which allows the whey to filter
through the holes and retains the curds, is used.

Salting, washing and seeding

Salt plays a substantial role in cheese making. Salting serves a number of
functions: it speeds up drying process, heightens the cheese’s flavors, helps the
rind to form and slows down the proliferation of microorganisms. Each type of
cheese has a specified salt content. The most common method is an immersion in a
brine bath. Depending on the cheese, the brine will contain between 250 and 350 g
salt per liter. Dry salting is done by rubbing the cheese with salt on repeated
occasions after it has been removed from the mould. Some types of cheeses are
washed with salt at regular intervals during their maturation, preventing the
formation of mould and keeping the rind soft. Cheeses may be washed in spirits
(wine or beer). Some types of cheeses can be seeded with fungus, for example
“blue” cheeses.

Maturing
The majority of cheeses are ripened in ripening cellar or a special storage
room. Cheese makers put often their cheeses in drying rooms to speed up the
maturation. The ripening cellar may be humid and warm, or relatively cool. The
climate of the cellar is determined by the ambient temperature and relative
humidity, as well as by the natural movement of air in the space.

III. Questionnaire

1. What is cheese made from?

2. How many major stages are there in the basic process of cheese making?
3. What is the first step in cheese making?
4. What is the difference between acid coagulation and rennet coagulation?
5. How do you define “renneting”?
6. What is the right temperature for the coagulation process?
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 7. How many methods are there for removing the curds from the vat for
draining?
8. What role does salt play in cheese making?
9. How are “blue cheeses” produced?

IV. Post-reading activities:

1) Transform the following verbs into nouns:

a) to coagulate -

b) to separate -

c) to mould -

d) to salt –

e) to mature –

f) to ripen –

g) to drain –

h) to shape –

2. Make up sentences with the nouns from exercise 1.

3. Match the terms on the left with meanings on the right.

Mould food made of baked dough of flour and liquid, usually leavened by yeast

Mould a person who bakes or sells bread.

Fermentation a place for baking or selling baked goods

Dough flour mixed with water ready for baking.

Bread a substance (as yeast) used to produce fermentation in dough

Baker a form in which food is given a decorate shape .

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Bakery a chemical change caused by an organic substance, producing

efervescence and heat.

4. Write the mixing words:

1. The curds are broken in a vat to separate the curds from ……... .

2. The curds are cut into…. .3. The curd mass is constantly …. and……. 4. Salt
plays a ….role in cheese making. 5. Acid coagulation is caused by adding an
substance into lactic acid. 6. The most common method is an immersion in a ……
bath. 7. Dry salting is done by…… the cheese with salt on repeated occasions after
it has been removed from the mould. 8. The period depends on the type of ….
and varies from 30 minutes to 36 hours. 9. Depending on the cheese, the brine will
contain between 250 and 350 g …. per liter. 10. Each type of cheese has a
specified salt …. .

Words: content, salt, coagulation, cheese, rubbing, brine, acid, substantial,

lumps stirred, warmed, whey.

5. Team work . Analyze the data from the table and make up 3 reports.
Present the reports to your group - mates.

Generalizations Cheese Nutritional Cheese Serving Facts

Facts
Date of birth - 4000 years Benefits Cheese tastes best when
ago served at room
Cheese contains a variety
temperature.
Place of birth – Central of vitamins:
Asia or Middle East Moving cheese in or out
 Vitamin A,
of the fridge takes away
Cheese making started in
moisture and hastens
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the American colonies in  Vitamin B12, spoilage. If you can’t it
1611 all at once, cut off only
 Calcium what you can eat and
The first factory for
 Zink leave the rest tightly
industrial production of
wrapped in the fridge:
cheese opened in  Phosphorous
Switzerland in 1815 Before serving, cut off
Eat cheese if you want to: any moldy surface. It
There are more than 400
isn’t harmful but…would
kinds of cheese and over 1. have healthy bones
you eat it?
2000 names
2. prevent
To keep cheese longer
Osteoporosis
without forming mold,
(bones with
place a piece of paper
decreased density)
towel dampened with
3. have strong teeth vinegar in the bottom of a
plastic container before
Cheese has high protein
adding cheese.
content
Another way to prevent
100 gr. of cheese = 25 gr.
mold from forming is to
of protein
store the cheese in a
Women – 46 gr. of sealed container with two
protein per day, lumps of sugar.

Men – 56 gr. Do not store cheese with

other strong- smelling
Negative health aspects
foods. As cheese breathes
 High in Fat it will absorb other
aromas and may spoil.
 High in Sodium
(salt)

 Difficult to digest

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6. Comment on the sayings:

“Cheese, wine, and a friend must be old to be good” Cuban Proverb

“A dinner which ends without cheese is like a beautiful woman with one eye” Jean-
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)

“Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese ” George Carlin
(1973-2008)

Evaluation

1. Translate into English:

1. Caşcavalul este produs din lapte coagulat.

2. Sarea accentuiază gustul caşcavalului.
3. Cascavalulul se maturează în încăperi speciale .
4. Coagularea laptelui este cauzată de adăugarea chiagului în laptele cald.
5. Pentru producerea caşcavalului se foloseste laptele proaspat de vaca, nefiert
si partial degresat.
6. Unele feluri de caşcaval sunt spălate în băi de sare, altele în bere, vin şi
spirt..
7. Parmezanul este folosit pentru ornarea pastelor, dar si ca ingredient principal
al unor mancaruri precum pesto .

2) Compare and present the difference between the home cheese making
process and the commercial one.