World of Cheese

[Anchor Lead]

Cheese adds a delicious new dimension to a lot of our favorite dishes. There are thousands of kinds of cheese around the world. In today’s close up, we learn more about cheese.

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Cows grazing on open, vast grassland under the blue sky make a picturesque scene. This is a dairy farm in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do Province. Cows are herded into a milking facility every morning. This low-pasteurized raw milk is mixed with lactic acid bacteria and a clotting enzyme called rennet.

[Soundbite] Kim Yong-sun(Dairy Factory Employee) : "Rennet is a gastric fluid extracted from cows' fourth stomach. It is added to solidify milk."

It clots and solidifies in an hour. This substance called curd is stirred fast to separate liquid from solid. This is raw cheese, which is left after the liquid milk serum is removed. It is a chunk of protein and calcium from milk. Types of cheese vary based on kneading methods. First, raw cheese is mixed with lukewarm water and kneaded gently. And it becomes sticky.

[Soundbite] "This is Mozzarella cheeze."

Mozzarella is mostly used as a pizza topping. This looks like a strip of white rice cake at first glance. This is string cheese.

[Soundbite] Kim Yong-sun(Dairy Factory Employee) : "Natural cheese is made with 100 percent of raw milk. The minimal use of other materials such as … lactic acid bacteria and organic acid helps preserve the deep taste and flavor raw milk."

Cheese is again divided into more types based on different maturing procedures. This yellowish cheese is called Gouda, which is matured in a freezer for some two months. This is cheddar cheese. Cheddar is made when raw cheese stays in a maturing room with a temperature of ten degrees Celsius for six months. This is Camembert cheese, which is made when raw cheese is added with mildew and matured for six weeks. This cheese is dotted with a bluish substance. It is Gorgonzola, a soft Italian blue cheese that was matured for two months with the addition of blue mold.

[Soundbite] Cho Jang-hyun(Cheese Restaurant Owner) : "Types of cheese change based on varieties of milk, maturing conditions and humidity levels. So each Western country or village inevitably produces a different type of cheese. Like Korea's kimchi, different types of cheese have different flavors, which are determined by maturing periods."

Cheese can be easily made at home.

[Soundbite] Park Mi-soo(Cheese Shop Owner) : "I am going to show a simple way to make Ricotta cheese."

One liter of milk is poured into a pot and boiled on high heat. When it begins to boil hard, the heat is turned off and the milk is cooled down. When tofu-like curds are formed, one or two spoons of vinegar are added for clotting. After it is hardened to some degree, the milk is poured on to a sheet of cotton over a bowl. The milk wrapped in the cotton cloth is squeezed hard. And you can have Ricotta cheese. Here are good suggestions for using Ricotta cheese in cooking. The cheese is mixed with some fruit jam and spread between biscuits. Other types of cheese, shrimps and fruits are placed on the biscuits to make canapes. The easiest way to use Ricotta cheese is to place it on top of salad. One or two drizzles of your favorite dressing make the salad complete. Cheese boasts limitless charms to match its numerous variations. It would be good to apply cheese in more various ways and experience a special flavor blooming in your mouth.