The encyclopædia of practical cookery

(2) Imitation. — A very good Cheese closely resembling Cheshire Cheese may be made by collecting the curds without breaking them, and then chopping them one by one with as much regularity as possible, using a flat wooden knife for the purpose. Put the broken curds lightly into a large Cheshire Cheese-vat lined with a Cheese-cloth, and fill it to several inches, so that after much pressing it will be at least 7in. or 8in. thick ; it will be ready for cutting after about a year’s careful storing. It is usual to cut a hole in the tops of these Cheeses when they are ripe, and after pouring in a pint of port wine or stout, replace the plug of Cheese and leave them to mellow. Cottage Cheese. — Pour some boiling water into a pan of clotted sour milk. It will curd at once. Stir it, turn it into a colander, pour a little cold water over, salt it, and break it For details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils, Sauces, dec., referred to, see under their special heads. Cheese — continued. up. A richer way is to put equal parts of butter-milk and thick milk in a kettle over the fire, heat it to almost boiling, pour into a linen bag, and let it drain till next day. Then take it out, salt it, put in a little cream or butter, as it may be thick or not, and make up into balls the size of an orange. Cottenliam Cheese. — This Cheese might be mistaken for Stilton if it were not flatter and broader in shape. In flavour it is if anything somewhat richer than the generality of Stiltons, and when cut shows a richer and creamier surface marked with blue veins, delicate, dark, or turning to brown, according to the age of the Cheese. For further information regarding this Cheese, reference may be made to Stilton. Cream Cheese. — Cheeses under this name are made from new milk, milk and cream, mixed in various proportions, and even strippings,” the last of the milk drawn from the cow at each milking, and less creamy than the bulk ; but the genuine cream Cheese, made from pure cream, cannot be compared to these weaker substitutes. Several receipts will be found for these and a variety of other cream Cheeses, some resembling each other very nearly in their mode of preparation, and differing very little in taste or quality, but having distinguishing titles. (1) Take lqt. of cream, warm it in hot water till it is about the heat of milk from the cow, add rennet (sufficient to coagulate in twelve hours), then break it slightly with a spoon, and place it on a frame over which a piece of fine canvas cloth has previously been fastened, subsequently remove it into a damp cloth, place it in a bottomless box or frame, cover with a well-fitting board and a weight, and let it stand a few hours ; then put a finer cloth in the frame, and shift the Cheese into it. A little powdered salt may be sprinkled over the curd when it comes out of the cloth ; it may then be placed in the moulds to take its final shape, square, round, heart, or fleur-de-lis. It will be fit for use in a day or two.