DAIRY PRODUCTS

Dairy Products  Essential as beverages as well as key ingredients in many dishes  Cheese is an important food served by itself or as a component

Storing Dairy Products  Should be stored in a refrigerator at 41°F(5°C) or lower in a tightly sealed container  Check the expiration date!

Nutrition  Naturally high in vitamins, minerals, and protein  Calcium, Phosphorus, Vitamin A  Naturally contains cholesterol  MyPyramid recommends 3 cups of dairy per day

Milk Products  Milk can be purchased: Whole liquid Dry Evaporated Condensed  All of these forms are pasteurized Pasteurized: heated to destroy harmful bacteria  May also be homogenized Homogenized: treated so that milkfat appears uniformly throughout the product

 Milk is classified according to its percentage of fat and milk solids  Cream is the fatty component of milk  Two kinds: Heavy or whipping Light Milk Products

Butter and Margarine  Butter is made by mixing cream that contains between 30% and 45% milkfat at a high speed  Sweet butter is made only from sweet cream  Butter is often clarified Clarified: heated to remove milk solids and water Better for many cooking processes because the milk solids burn easily and the water can thin a food’s consistency

 Margarine may look and taste like butter, but it contains no milk products  Made of various vegetable and animal fats and oils with added flavors, emulsifiers, colors, preservatives and added vitamins  Not much lower in fat than butter Butter and Margarine

 Cheese is one of the most varied kinds of foods available today  Each type of cheese has its own distinct color, flavor and texture  Cheeses may be made from many different types of milk, such as cow’s milk, goat’s milk and sheep’s milk  Cheese is also nutritious, containing protein and calcium Cheese

 Can be unripened or fresh Examples include cream cheese, cottage cheese, and mozzarella  Others are ripened by external molds (Brie, bleu) and internal bacteria (Swiss, Harvarti)

Ripening  Ripening: process by which healthful bacteria and mold change the texture and flavor of cheese  As cheeses are ripened, they are stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment  Ripening can occur from the surface of the cheese to the inside or from the inside of the cheese outward

Cheese  Processed cheese is pasteurized to prevent it from aging Processed cheese is a combination of ripened and unripened cheese.  The type of milk used determines the cheese’s flavor and texture

 Fresh (unripened) cheese  Not ripened, or aged, after it is formed into a final shape Cottage, ricotta, cream, mozzarella, feta  Semi-soft cheese  Smooth and easy to slice Edam, fontina, muenster, brick Cheese

 Soft cheese  Thin skin and creamy center  High in butterfat  Rich flavors  Surrounded by a rind that bulges out when the cheese is ready to be cut Brie, Limburger, Savarin, Brillat Cheese

 Some of these cheeses are made by a process called cheddaring, in which slabs of cheese are stacked and turned  This process squeezes out the whey and gives the hard cheeses their special texture Whey: liquid portion of coagulated milk; pressed out during the cheddaring process Examples: Cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, Swiss, gouda, provolone Hard Cheese

Cheese  Blue-veined cheese  Veins of mold run through these cheeses  The mold is put into the cheese during ripening  The mold is not harmful, but rather gives the cheese its unique flavor Roquefort, Gorgonzola, bleu, Stilton

Cheese  Grating cheese  Popular hard cheeses  Carefully ripened for an extended time  Extra aging enhances their flavor Parmesan, Romano  Goat cheese  Also can have a variety of textures, aromas and tastes Pyrmide, chevre