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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday February 14 2017, @09:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the moon-is-made-of-green-cheese dept.

If the right cheese curds from the right milk are at the right temperature, fungi become "the king of the mountain," says Dennis D'Amico, a food microbiologist at the University of Connecticut who studies cheese production. Under the correct conditions, mold spores thrive on proteins, fats, sugars and the remains of the original bacteria that turned the milk into cheese. As the mold spreads throughout the cheese and its exterior, it continues the transformation that the bacteria started.

So when human teeth finally sink in, they bite into a new set of even smaller active molecules. And if the cheese is blue cheese, where the bacteria P. roqueforti dwell deep inside, enjoying a slice means consuming living fungi in the middle of their own midday snack.

The flavors, smells and textures specific to each type of cheese are due to various combinations of fungi species. A Brie or Camembert, for example, requires at least four types of mold. One, G. candidum, produces a sulfur flavor and contributes to the creaminess of the cheese. Another, P. camemberti, blossoms into a distinct white rind. The symphony of mold makes the final texture and mushroomy, sweaty taste.

But while the concerto is beautiful, the identities of all the musicians remain mysterious.

Identifying all of the active fungi in a cheese is "an endless, endless rabbit hole," says [cheesemaker Benton] Brown. Most of the moldy cheeses we have today are happy accidents, D'Amico said, the details of which can only be understood with elaborate lab analyses.

Original Article at Scienceline.org


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:12PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:12PM (#467126)

    Might as well chow down on well-used socks, hmmm?

    This is right up there with eating pepper, a plant that hurts you: human brains have their defects

    Strong cheese even has the same odor molecules as vomit. If you like that, puke and be happy.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by charon on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:14PM

    by charon (5660) on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:14PM (#467127) Journal
    Mmm, casu marzu [wikipedia.org].
    • (Score: 2) by fishybell on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:22PM

      by fishybell (3156) on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:22PM (#467129)

      From that wiki:

      Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming while others do not.

      ...eewww.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:23PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday February 14 2017, @10:23PM (#467130)

      Yep, Sardinia/Corsica have some of the most offensive cheeses I've ever seen. Dropping one in a crowded US room would be classified as chem/bio-terror.
      And that's from someone who can handle most continental cheeses...
      Dang, I miss cheap Coulomier.

      • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday February 15 2017, @03:36AM

        by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @03:36AM (#467214) Journal

        Not from those islands, but I once knew an Italian guy who told me that taleggio cheese had a specific phrase in Italian to describe its stench, something like "an Alpine soldier's boot after a long march." That about sums it up.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 14 2017, @11:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 14 2017, @11:01PM (#467146)

    Would you rather eat cheese or insects?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:25AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:25AM (#467330)

    I had the same opinion as you, until I had a visit to France (they keep the best quality cheeses for themselves, export the poorer quality) and tried some. Yes they smell strong, but you can easily recognise the many flavours if you really taste it (don't "chow it down"). In that way it becomes an experience and you'll try other cheeses (some good, some not so good) and get to appreciate the cheeses for what they are (taste and texture bombs).

    Or you don't, and keep eating those rather boring "plastic" cheeses they put on all kinds of pre-processed fast food.