[Sca-cooks] Types of cheeses called for in period recipes

[Kathleen Madsen]

I was mulling this over yesterday and the thought
occured to me that period recipes call for a number of
different cheeses, i.e. green cheese, fresh cheese,
new cheese.  So, seeing what the recent thread has
been dicussing, I thought this would also be
interesting to throw into the mix.  :)

Here's what I think of these types of cheeses as
being:

Green cheese - fresh curds, nothing has been done to
them other than separate them from the whey.

Fresh cheese - cheeses that will last only a short
time before going bad.  Cottage cheese, quark,
neufchatel, yogurt, buttermilk cheese, kefir, ricotta
<G>, and soft chevre.

New cheese - a cheese that is able to be aged over
time, but can still be eaten young (directly from the
press, mold, or brine bath).  Farmer's cheese, young
Gouda, young Emmental (really yummy!), young
Appenzeller, young Manchego, young Brie de Meaux,
young Cantal, formed Chevres, etc.

Full fat cheese - My interpretation of this is a
cheese that is made with whole milk, where the cream
had not been skimmmed off.  Some of these cheeses have
extra cream added to the milk, making them double- or
triple-creme cheeses.  In that case, I would select
cheeses that had been somewhat aged, one to two months
where the paste still has some moistness and give to
it.  Gouda, Cacciocavalla (provolone is in this family
of cheeses), Manchego, Brie de Meaux (although it gets
a bit overripe after 45-50 days), Fontina, Munster,
and Mariolles are all fine choices.

Aged cheese - cheeses which have been aged for a
minimum of six months, enough that the paste is firm
and could be grated.  Gouda, Emmental, Cantal,
Manchego, Cheshire, Beaufort, Wensleydale,
Castlemagno, the Grana cheeses, etc.

Any opinions?

Eibhlin

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