My favorite cheese to cook with has to be Gruyere. This is a creamy easy melting swiss cheese that just makes caseroles and the like taste fantastic!
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Gruyere is named after a Swiss village. To make Gruyere, raw milk is heated to 93 degrees F, and liquid rennet is added for curdling. The resulting curd is cut into small pieces, which release whey while being stirred. Curd is cooked at 110 degrees F, and raised quickly to 130 degrees F. The pieces become shrivelled, which is the cue to place the curd in molds for pressing. The cheese is salted in brine for 8 days, and ripened for two months at room temperature, or a quick method: 10 days at 50 degrees F. Curing lasts from 3 to 10 months (the longer the curing period, the better the cheese).
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My favorite to nibble with wine and crackers and to sprinkle in salads: Parmigiano Regiano! Veeeery taaaaysteee!
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Parmesan (Parmigiano)
Named after an area in Italy called Parma, Parmesan is one of the world's most popular and widely-enjoyed cheeses. Milk used for Parmesan is heated and curdled in copper containers, but not before most of the milk's cream has been separated and removed. Curd is cut and then heated to 125 degrees F, all the while stirring the curd to encourage whey runoff. The curd is further cooked at temperatures of up to 131 degrees F, then pressed in cheesecloth-lined molds. After two days, the cheeses are removed and salted in brine for a month, then allowed to mature for up to two years in very humid conditions.
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