Dairy products in cooking
Milks, creams and cheese are a staple of an Army chefs pantry and nutritionally speaking, an almost perfect food. They contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates as well as vitamin and mineral elements to aid your body with energy, growth, repair and the regulation of body processes. Learning how to make the most of these natural foods is an essential skill for any chef and an easy way to increase the nutritional value of a meal.
The dairy products that you will come across are;
Milk
Many different types of milk are available, including full fat, semi skimmed, skimmed, homogenised, Ultra Heat Treated (UHT), evaporated and powdered.
Cream
Cream is a fat skimmed from the top of milk. The type of cream produced is determined by its fat content and the processing method used. The two most commonly found types of cream are those taken from homogenised milk and from pasteurised milk.
Cheese
Cheese is made from milk. There are thousands of types of cheese, ranging from big international bulk-produced cheeses to the small cottage industry cheeses. Four of the most commonly found types of cheeses are:
• Soft or cream cheese: When making soft unpressed cheese the whey is allowed to drain from the curds without being textured or milled. The curds are places in moulds, unpressed, and allowed to ripen for a short time. A mild white mould appears as a result.
• Semi-soft cheese: When making semi-soft cheese the curds are slices to help drain off any moisture and then lightly pressed to reduce the moisture still further. Blue vein cheese is produced in this way.
• Semi-hard cheese: When making semi-hard cheese the curds and whey are heated for a short period of time, before being textured and milled. They are then placed into moulds and pressed.
• Hard cheese: Hard cheese is created by heating the curd and whey toa much higher temperature than other cheeses. Hard cheeses are also processed for longer and milled at least twice before being put under pressure. All these processes produce a firmer cheese.
Examples of different cheeses include:
• Parmesan: Known as the hardest cheese, Parmesan is mainly used in catering in its grated form. It has a very strong flavour.
• Edam: A Dutch semi-hard cheese that is presented in a round red wax ball, Edam is a cheese that keeps well. It is a golden yellow colour, has a rm supple texture with a sparse distribution of holes and is low in calories.
• Danish Blue: This is a well known blue veined cheese with a semi-soft and crumbly texture. It has a high density of blue veins and a strong salty taste.
• Stilton: Regarded as one of the finer English cheeses, Stilton has a grey wrinkled crust, a moist crumbly texture and blue/green veins throughout. It is also available without a mould, as White Stilton, a younger and milder variety of the cheese.
• Cottage cheese: This type of curd cheese is made from skimmed cow’s milk that is warmed before the starter is added. This heating causes large soft lumps to form in the milk, which are then drained and covered with a think cream. A white low-fat cheese with mild taste, cottage cheese is sold in tubs and also available flavoured with herbs.
