Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/534

500] the method of making it is similar to that pursued throughout Somersetshire, and the adjoining counties.

VIII. . By adding the cream of one meal's milk, to that which comes immediately from the cow, excellent cream cheese is made in that county. It is gently pressed two or three times, and turned for a few days, previous to its being sent to market. This cheese is usually eaten while new, with salad, radishes, &c.

Having thus given an account of the principal sorts of cheese produced in this country, we shall likewise enumerate some of the most celebrated kinds prepared on the Continent.

1. The is made of the evening's milk, after having been skimmed in the morning, and at noon, and mixed with that of the morning, which has likewise been previously skimmed at noon. The whole is poured into a copper cauldron, resembling an inverted bell, and suspended on the arm of a lever, so as to be moved off and on the fire, at pleasure. In this, the milk is gradually heated to the temperature of about 120 degrees, when it is removed from the fire. As soon as it has subsided, the rennet, in a small bag, is steeped in it; and, being occasionally squeezed, a sufficient quantity of it soon passes into the milk, which is then well stirred, and left to coagulate. In the course of an hour, the coagulation is completed, when the milk is again put over the fire, and raised to a temperature of about 145 degrees: and, while it is heating, the whole mass is briskly agitated, till the curd separates in small lumps. Part of the whey is then taken out, and a hide saffron added to the remainder, in order to colour it. When the curd is thus broken sufficiently small, nearly the whole of the whey is taken out, and two pailfuls of cold water poured in, by which the temperature is lowered, so as to enable the dairy-man to collect the former, by passing a cloth beneath it, and gathering it up at the corners. The curd is then pressed into a frame of wood, resembling a peck-measure without a bottom, placed on a solid table, and covered by a round piece of wood, with a great stone at the top. In the course of the night, it cools, assumes a firm consistence, and the whey drains off. The next day, one side is salted, and on the succeeding day the cheese is turned, and die other side rubbed in a similar manner. This operation is continued for about forty days, when the outer crust of the cheese is pared off, the fresh furface is varnished with linseed oil, the convex side coloured red, and the cheese is fit for use.

2. appears to possess no other peculiarity than that derived from the fragrant powder of the, or the Trifolium Melilotus officin. L., which, however, imparts to it a strong flavour, rather offensive than agreeable to most persons: hence it is not calculated to become a favourite article in this country, though considerable quantities of Swiss cheese are annually imported for the tables of the luxurious.

3. is likewise prepared in the manner generally adopted in Cheshire, with this difference, that the Dutch, instead of rennet,