Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
19
Cheese: Ingredients and Equipment
Protein is an essential part of the human diet. Though
vegetable sources can provide protein, in most cases the
protein lacks crucial amino acids. The most readily available
complete proteins are meats, eggs, and dairy; the latter two
are the least expensive. Continuing the theme of preserving
nutritive content through fermentation, we arrive at cheese.
Milk contains a lot of complete protein, but it is also highly
perishable.
In the ages before refrigeration was reliably available, one of
the few ways to make the nutritional value of milk last longer
while also making it quite portable was turning it into cheese.
Hard cheeses in particular, if waxed, can last for years.
Another advantage of cheese is that many hard cheeses lack
lactose. Lactose is a sugar in milk that many folks (including
myself!) cannot digest. As a result, if they consume most milk
products they will suffer severe gastrointestinal
distress—sometimes for days. When the whey and curd are
separated in the first phases of making cheese, 94% of the
lactose stays in the whey. Most aged cheeses lack lactose and
as a result provide lactose-intolerant people with a delicious
way of obtaining the nutritional benefits of milk.
Cheese also has its own health benefits. It is rich in
cancer-preventing conjugated linoleic acid and sphingolipids,
fights tooth decay, and helps maintain bone strength.
