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How can you tell if cheese is good?
Cheese is a delicious food. Cheese, along with parsley, is in börek, and people love to eat cheese with bread at breakfast. We know of and eat so many different varieties of cheeses, from kaşar to tulum and many other kinds. Cheese is also nutritious. But do we really know what to look for when buying cheese? The answer depends on which sort of cheese one is buying. If you are someone who doesn’t go shopping often and for whom having cheese with a long shelf life is important, then you need to look for hard cheeses. Another thing to keep in mind is that saltiness affects how long cheese lasts. And it is the smell of cheese that will give you the best idea whether cheese is fresh. When cheese is fresh, it smells wonderful and draws you to it. But cheese that has started to go bad has a distinctly bad odor, which makes it unappetizing. Of course, the color of cheese is also important. Even though some regional cheeses are known for their slight molds or their yellow color, for other cheeses, especially white cheese, this is a sign that the cheese has begun to go bad.
Another important point is whether they are porous; in cultured cheeses, there should be no pores, as pores indicate microorganisms are in the cheese, and this is not desirable in cultured cheeses.
The quality manager for Teksüt, Sait Koçoğlu, says milk is the most important ingredient in his company’s cheese-making process. He notes that the level of microorganisms in the milk used should be as low as possible. Koçoğlu notes with satisfaction the growing demand for Turkey’s regional cheeses -- the bulk of these demands come from large Turkish cities and from abroad. Van cheese with herbs tops the list of cheeses people are looking for these days, while Erzincan tulum cheese and çeçil cheese -- a kind of dried cheese whose oils have been removed and that looks like string cheese -- from Erzurum are also very popular.
How to store cheese
It is no longer difficult to store foods safely. But, of course, there are things to be careful about when it comes to storing cheese, which can have a tendency to spoil. One practical method of storing cheese at home is to wrap it tightly in plastic kitchen wrap, making sure no air enters. This ensures that it will not go bad for at least a month. It is also critical to make sure your cheese is stored in the middle of your refrigerator’s shelf, not near the motor of the fridge. And don’t forget, the saltier the cheese, the longer it will keep. Don’t put your white cheese in water for too long to draw out the salt -- this will only soften it too much and make it less appetizing. If you want to remove the salt, place it in some water closer to when you are going to eat it and then remove it so it doesn’t get too soft.
Health benefits of cheese
Pediatric nutrition specialist Yeşim Çelik from Memorial Hospital notes the important role cheese plays in children’s nutritional habits. Cheese, of course, provides lots of calcium, critical for children’s growth. It also provides lots of protein. Çelik does not recommend kaşar cheese as much as other types since it is very high in fat. Çelik stresses the importance and benefits of cheeses such as Turkey’s regional tulum cheese, cheese with herbs or, of course, the classic white cheese. Çelik also notes that people of different ages should eat different amounts of cheese but that eating some cheese at least twice a day is great for one’s health. And for those who consume things like cornflakes and milk for breakfast, Çelik says, “Then try to eat cheese at lunch or dinner.”
Interestingly, cheese has higher levels of calcium than either yoghurt or milk. One more interesting point from Çelik for those who tend to wake up famished: “If you eat one slice of bread with cheese a couple of hours before going to bed, your blood sugar will remain balanced until the morning, which will prevent you from waking up so hungry.”
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