TOP 10 CHEESES THAT BEST SATISFY THE TASTE（Ⅰ）
According to Mintel, sweet cheese and soft cheese become a favorite for more than half of Chinese consumers. Therefore, common cheeses in Chinese market such as Mozzarella and Mascarpone, etc. will continue to be popular with Chinese consumers. On the other hand, however, as Chinese consumers have more knowledge about cheese, and as the new generation gets into the habit of trying new things, their demand for cheese varieties and tastes is bound to be diversified. Different people favour different tastes. Therefore, the fresh cheese with refreshing taste, semi-hard cheese with strong milk flavor and blue mould cheese with unique flavor, as well as other cheeses with a long history and distinctive flavor, all entertain the tip of the tongue respectively with different tastes, and satisfy different people.
The most familiar fresh cheese to Chinese consumers must be mozzarella, which is often found in roasted lasagna and cheese pizzas. After being roasted, mozzarella melts into the food, giving off a rich aroma of cheese. The long and attractive cheese pull will make people look at the food with lusty eyes. No one can resist the food with such great color, smell and taste.
The cheese is said to have originated in Campania and Naples, the southern Italian cities. It was originally made of buffalo milk as the main ingredient, but now it’s mostly made of milk in considerations of cost. The pure mozzarella is very soft with creamy white color, or white color on the outside and yellow on the inside. It takes only 1-3 days for aging, so the cheese is with very high moisture content, and it can only be preserved for about a week, suitable for cousuming immediately. However, people now will dehydrate mozzarella moderately which has become a common practice so that they can store it more conveniently and transport it for a long distance.
The best reason for consumers to eat mozzarella is: beyond its familiar taste, it's lower in fat, sodium and cabories compared to other kind of cheese, which can meet the demand and standard for health.
Mascarpone, also originated in the southern Italy, is an unconv entional cheese because it is neither fermented by fungus nor made from chymosin. Instead, people will add acidic material to fresh milk, such as lemon juice, acetic acid or citric acid, to make the milk ferment and curdle, and then they will extra some water from milk and finally get the cheese.
This special process gives mascarpone a unique feature of slight acidity with the natural sweetness of milk. On the outside, mascarpone has a natural slightly creamy yellow or creamy white color. It looks a bit like ice cream and a bit like cream. It tastes very soft and smooth. It is often used in baking for Tiramisu. When people are making heavy cream cheesecake and risotto, they will add mascarpone cheese to enhance the consistence in the taste.
The name of cottage cheese may not sound elegant, but it has a long history -- In the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of 3000 BC, people accidentally found that if milk was stored in a leather pouch made from a sheep‘s stomach, it will be solidified into something loose and milky. Later,people made the cheese from surplus milk in a cottage and named it Cottage Cheese.
The cottage cheese looks like milky popcorn that has been soaked in the milk. It is a kind of curd cheese that has not been pressed and aged, but has simply been dehydrated. It has a relatively light and mild taste, rich in casein, which is essential for muscle growth of human beings, and it is relatively low in calories and fat. It contains about 5 to 15 grams of fat per 100 grams, making it very popular with exercisers and bodybuilders. It is the perfect accompaniment to fruit or vegetable salad and toast, etc. It is also the ideal snack for people who are exercising and trying to lose weight.
Source: www.food2china.com
