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Complete Book of Cheese, The

<h3> N</h3> Nagelkassa (Fresh), Fresh Clove Cheese, called Nageles in Holland Austria Skim milk; curd mixed with caraway and cloves called nails, nagel, in Germany and Austria. The large flat rounds resemble English Derby. Nantais, or Fromage du Curé, Cheese of the Curate Brittany, France A special variety dedicated to some curate of Nantes. Nessel England Soft; whole milk; round and very thin. Neufchâtel, or Petit Suisse Normandy, France Soft; whole milk; small loaf. See Ancien Impérial, Bondon, and Chapter 9. New Forest England Cream cheese from the New Forest district. Nieheimer Westphalia, Germany Sour milk; with salt and caraway seed added, sometimes beer or milk. Covered lightly with straw and packed in kegs with hops to ripen. Both beer and hops in one cheese is unique.  Niolo Corsica In season from October to May. Noekkelost or Nögelost Norway Similar to spiced Leyden or Edam with caraway, and shaped like a Gouda. Nordlands-Ost "Kalas" U.S.A. Trade name for an American imitation of a Scandinavian variety, perhaps suggested by Swedish Nordost. Nordost Sweden Semisoft; white; baked; salty and smoky. North Wilts Wiltshire, England Cheddar type; smooth; hard rind; rich but delicate in flavor. Small size, ten to twelve pounds; named for its locale. Nostrale Northwest Italy An ancient-of-days variety of which there are two kinds: I. Formaggio Duro: hard, as its name says, made in the spring when the cows are in the valley. II. Formaggio Tenero: soft and richer, summer-made with milk from lush mountain-grazing. Notruschki (cheese bread) Russia Made with Tworog cheese and widely popular. Nova Scotia Smoked U.S.A. The name must mean that the cheese was smoked in the Nova Scotia manner, for it is smoked mostly in New York City, like sturgeon, to give the luxurious flavor. Nuworld U.S.A. This semisoft newcomer arrived about 1954 and is advertised as a brand-new variety. It is made in the Midwest and packed in small, heavily waxed portions  to preserve all of its fine, full aroma and flavor. A cheese all America can be proud of, whether it is an entirely new species or not. <h3> O</h3> Oaxaca see Asadero. Oka, or La Trappe Canada Medium soft; aromatic; the Port-Salut made by Trappist monks in Canada after the secret method of the order that originated in France. See Trappe. Old English Club U.S.A. Not old, not English, and representing no club we know of. Old Heidelberg U.S.A. Soft, piquant rival of Liederkranz. Oléron Isle, Fromage d'Ile France A celebrated sheep cheese from this island of Oléron. Olive Cream U.S.A. Ground olives mixed to taste with cream cheese. Olives rival pimientos for such mildly piquant blends that just suit the bland American taste. A more exciting olive cream may be made with Greek Calatma olives and Feta sheep cheese. Olivet Orléans, France Soft sheep cheese sold in three forms: I. Fresh; summer, white; cream cheese. II. Olivet-Bleu—mold inoculated; half-ripened. III. Olivet-Cendré, ripened in the ashes. Season, October to June.  Olmützer Quargel, also Olmützer Bierkäse Austria Soft; skim milk-soured; salty. The smallest of hand cheeses, only ½ of an inch thick by 1½ inches in diameter. Packed in kegs to ripen into beer cheese and keep the liquid contents of other kegs company. A dozen of these little ones are packed together in a box ready to drop into wine or beer drinks at home or at the bar. Oloron, or Fromage de la Vallee d'ossour Béarn, France In season from October to May. Onion with garlic links U.S.A Processed and put up like frankfurters, in links. Oporto Portugal Hard; sharp; tangy. From the home town of port wine. Orkney Scotland A country cheese of the Orkney Islands where it is buried in the oat bin to ripen, and kept there between meals as well. Oatmeal and Scotch country cheese are natural affinities. Southey, Johnson and Boswell have all remarked the fine savor of such cheese with oatcakes. Orléans France Named after the Orléans district Soft; creamy; tangy. Ossetin, Tuschninsk, or Kasach Caucasus Comes in two forms: I. Soft and mild sheep or cow cheese ripened in brine for two months. II. Hard, after ripening a year and more in brine. The type made of sheep milk is the better. Ostiepek, Oschtjepek, Oschtjpeka Czechoslovakia Sheep in the Carpathian Mountains supply the herb-rich milk for this type, similar to Italian Caciocavallo.  Oswego U.S.A. New York State Cheddar of distinction. Oude Kaas Belgium Popular in France as Boule de Lille. Oust, Fromage de Roussillon, France Of the Camembert family. Ovár Hungarian Semisoft to semihard, reddish-brown rind, reddish-yellow inside. Mild but pleasantly piquant It has been called Hungarian Tilsit. Oveji Sir Yugoslavian Alpine Hard, mountain-sheep cheese of quality Cellar-ripened three months. Weight six to ten pounds. Oxfordshire England An obsolescent type, now only of literary interest because of Jonathan Swift's little story around it, in the eighteenth century: <div class="blockquot"> "An odd land of fellow, who when the cheese came upon the table, pretended to faint; so somebody said, Pray take away the cheese.' "'No,' said I, 'pray take away the fool. Said I well?' "To this Colonel Arwit rejoins: 'Faith, my lord, you served the coxcomb right enough; and therefore I wish we had a bit of your lordship's Oxfordshire cheese.'" </div> <h3> P</h3> Pabstett U.S.A The Pabst beer people got this out during Prohibition, and although beer and cheese are brothers under their ferment, and Prohibition has long since been  done away with, the relation of the processed paste to a natural cheese is still as distant as near beer from regular beer. Packet cheese England This corresponds to our process cheese and is named from the package or packet it comes in. Paglia Switzerland Italian-influenced Canton of Ticino. Soft. A copy of Gorgonzola. A Blue with a pleasant, aromatic flavor, and of further interest because in Switzerland, the motherland of cheese, it is an imitation of a foreign type. Pago Dalmatia, Yugoslavia A sheep-milk specialty made on the island of Pago in Dalmatia, in weights from ½ to eight pounds. Paladru Savoy, France In season from November to May. Palpuszta Hungary Fairly strong Limburger type. Pannarone Italy Gorgonzola type with white curd but without blue veining. Parenica Hungary Sheep. Caciocavallo type. Parmesan, Parmigiano Italy The grand mogul of all graters. Called "The hardest cheese in the world." It enlivens every course from onion soup to cheese straws with the demitasse, and puts spirit into the sparse Lenten menu as Pasta al Pesto, powdered Parmesan, garlic, olive oil and basil, pounded in a mortar with a pestle.  Passauer Rahmkäse, Crème de Passau German Noted Bavarian cream cheese, known in France as Crème de Passau. Pasta Cotta Italy The ball or grana of curd used in making Parmesan. Pasta Filata Italy A "drawn" curd, the opposite of the little balls or grains into which Grana is chopped.(See Formaggi di Pasta Filata.) Pasteurized Process Cheese Food U.S.A. This is the ultimate desecration of natural fermented cheese. Had Pasteur but known what eventual harm his discovery would do to a world of cheese, he might have stayed his hand. Pastorella Italy Soft, rich table cheese. Patagras Cuba Similar to Gouda. Pecorino Italy Italian cheese made from ewe's milk. Salted in brine. Granular. Pelardon de Rioms Languedoc, France A goat cheese in season from May to November. Peneteleu Rumania One of the international Caciocavallo family. Penicillium Glaucum and Penicillium Album Tiny mushroom spores of Penicillium Glaucum sprinkled in the curd destined to become Roquefort, sprout and grow into "blue" veins that impart the characteristic flavor. In twelve to fifteen days a second spore develops on the surface, snow-white Penicillium Album. Pennich Turkey Mellow sheep cheese packed in the skin of sheep or lamb.  Pennsylvania Hand Cheese U.S.A. This German original has been made by the Pennsylvania Dutch ever since they arrived from the old country. Also Pennsylvania pot, or cooked. Penroque Pennsylvania, U.S.A Cow milk imitation Roquefort, inoculated with Penicillium Roqueforti and ripened in "caverns where nature has duplicated the ideal condition of the cheese-curing caverns of France." So any failure of Penroque to rival real Roquefort is more likely to be the fault of mother cow than mother nature. Pepato Italy Hard; stinging, with whole black peppers that make the lips burn. Fine for fire-eaters. An American imitation is made in Northern Michigan. Persillé de Savoie Savoie, France In season from May to January, flavored with parsley in a manner similar to that of sage in Vermont Cheddar. Petafina, La Dauphiné, France Goat or cow milk mixed together, with yeast of dried cheese added, plus salt and pepper, olive oil, brandy and absinthe. Petit Carré France Fresh, unripened Ancien Impérial. Petit Gruyère Denmark Imitation Gruyère, pasteurized, processed and made almost unrecognizable and inedible. Six tin-foil wedges to a box; also packaged with a couple of crackers for bars, one wedge for fifteen cents, where free lunch is forbidden. This is a fair sample of one of several foreign imitations that are actually worse than we can do at home.  Petit Moule Ile-de-France, France A pet name for Coulommiers. Petit Suisse France Fresh, unsalted cream cheese. The same as Neufchâtel and similar to Coulommiers. It comes in two sizes: Gros—a largest cylinder Demi—a small one Keats called this "the creamy curd," and another writer has praised its "La Fontaine-like simplicity." Whether made in Normandy, Switzerland, or Petropolis, Brazil, by early Swiss settlers, it is ideal with honey. Petit Vacher France "Little Cowboy," an appropriate name for a small cow's-milk cheese. Petits Bourgognes Lower Burgundy, France Soft; sheep; white, small, tangy. Other notable Petits also beginning with B are Banons and Bressans. Petits Fromages de Chasteaux, les France Small, sheep cream cheeses from Lower Limousin. Petits Fromages de Chèvre France Little cheeses from little goats grazing on the little mountains of Provence. Petits Pots de Caillé de Poitiers Poitou, France Clotted milk in small pots. Pfister Cham, Switzerland Emmentaler type, although differing in its method of making with fresh skim milk. It is named for Pfister Huber who was the first to manufacture it, in Chain. Philadelphia Cream U.S.A. An excellent cream cheese that has been standard for seventy years. Made in New York State in spite of its name.  Picnic U.S.A. Handy-size picnic packing of mild American Cheddar. Swiss has long been called picnic cheese in America, its home away from home. Picodon de Dieule Fit Dauphiné, France In season from May to December. Pie, Fromage à la France Another name for Fromage Blanc or Farm; soft, creamy cottage-cheese type. Pie Cheese U.S.A An apt American name for any round store cheese that can be cut in wedges like a pie. Perfect with apple or mince or any other pie. And by the way, in these days when natural cheese is getting harder to find, any piece of American Cheddar cut in pie wedges before being wrapped in cellophane is apt to be the real thing—if it has the rind on. The wedge shape is used, however, without any rind, to make processed pastes pass for "natural" even without that identifying word, and with misleading labels such as old, sharp Cheddar and "aged nine months." That's long enough to make a baby, but not a "natural" out of a processed "Cheddar." Pimiento U.S.A. Because pimiento is the blandest of peppers, it just suits our bland national taste, especially when mixed with Neufchâtel, cream, club or cottage. The best is homemade, of course, with honest, snappy old Cheddar mashed and mixed to taste, with the mild Spanish pepper that equals the Spanish olive as a partner in such spreads. Pimp see Mainzer Hand Cheese. Pineapple see Chapter 4.  Piora Tessin, Switzerland Whole milk, either cow's or a mixture of goat's and cow's. Pippen U.S.A. Borden brand of Cheddar. Also Pippen Roll Pithiviers au Foin France Orléans variety ripened on hay from October to May. Poitiers France Goat's milker named from its Poitou district. Pommel France All year. Double cream; unsalted. Ponta Delgada Azores Semifirm; delicate; piquant Pontgibaud France Similar to Roquefort Ripened at a very low temperature. Pont l'Evêque Characterized as a classic French fromage "with Huge-like Romanticism." (See Chapter 3.) An imported brand is called "The Inquisitive Cow." Poona U.S.A. Semisoft; mellow; New York Stater of distinctive flavor. Sold in two-pound packs, to be kept four or five hours at room temperature before serving. Port-Salut, Port du Salut see Chapter 3. Port, Blue Links U.S.A. "Blue" flavored with red port and put up in pseudo-sausage links. Pot cheese U.S.A. Cottage cheese with a dry curd, not creamed. An old English favorite for fruited cheese cakes with perfumed plums, lemons, almonds and macaroons.  In Ireland it was used in connection with the sheep-shearing ceremonies, although itself a common cow curd. Pennsylvania pot cheese is cooked. Potato Germany and U.S.A. Made in Thuringia from sour cow milk with sheep or goat sometimes added. "The potatoes are boiled and grated or mashed. One part of the potato is thoroughly mixed or kneaded with two or three parts of die curd. In the better cheese three parts of potatoes are mixed with two of curd. During the mixing, salt and sometimes caraway seed are added. The cheese is allowed to stand for from two to four days while a fermentation takes place. After this the curd is sometimes covered with beer or cream and is finally placed in tubs and allowed to ripen for fourteen days. A variety of this cheese is made in the U.S. It is probable, however, that it is not allowed to ripen for quite so long a period as the potato cheese of Europe. In all other essentials it appears to be the same." From U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 608. Potato Pepper Italy Italian Potato cheese is enlivened with black pepper, like Pepato, only not so stony hard. Pots de Crème St. Gervais St. Gervais-sur-mer, France The celebrated cream that rivals English Devonshire and is eaten both as a sweet and as a fresh cheese. Pouligny-St. Pierre Touraine, France A celebrated cylindrical cheese made in Indre. Season from May to December. Poustagnax, le France A fresh cow-milk cheese of Gascony.  Prato Brazil Semihard, very yellow imitation of the Argentine imitation of Holland Dutch. Standard Brazilian dessert with guava or quince paste. Named not from "dish" but the River Plate district of the Argentine from whence it was borrowed long ago. Prattigau Switzerland Aromatic and sharp, Limburger type, from skim milk. Named for its home valley. Prestost or Saaland Flarr Sweden Similar to Gouda, but unique—the curd being mixed with whiskey, packed in a basket, salted and cellared, wrapped in a cloth changed daily; and on the third day finally washed with whiskey. Primavera, Spring Minas Geraes, Brazil Semihard white brand of Minas cheese high quality, with a springlike fragrance. Primost Norway Soft; whey; unripened; light brown; mild flavor. Primula Norway A blend of French Brie and Petit Gruyère, mild table cheese imitate in Norway, sold in small packages. Danish Appetitost is similar, but with caraway added. Processed U.S.A. From here around the world. Natural cheese melted and modified by emulsification with a harmless agent and thus changed into a plastic mass. Promessi Italy Small soft-cream cheese. Provatura Italy A water-buffalo variety. This type of milk makes a good beginning for a fine cheese, no matter how it is made.  Providence France Port-Salut from the Trappist monastery at Briquebec. Provole, Provolone, Provolocine, Provoloncinni, Provoletti, and Provolino Italy All are types, shapes and sizes of Italy's most widely known and appreciated cheese. It is almost as widely but badly imitated in the U.S.A., where the final "e" and "i" are interchangeable. Cured in string nets that stay on permanently to hang decoratively in the home kitchen or dining room. Like straw Chianti bottles, Provolones weigh from bocconi (mouthful), about one pound, to two to four pounds. There are three-to five-pound Provoletti, and upward with huge Salamis and Giants. Small ones come ball, pear, apple, and all sorts of decorative shapes, big ones become monumental sculptures that are works of art to compare with butter and soap modeling. P'teux, le, or Fromage Cuit Lorraine, France Cooked cheese worked with white wine instead of milk, and potted. Puant Macere Flanders "The most candidly named cheese in existence." In season from November to June. Pultost or Knaost Norway Sour milk with some buttermilk, farm made in mountains. Pusztador Hungary Semihard, Limburger-Romadur type. Full flavor, high scent. Pyrenees, Fromage des France A fine mountain variety. <h3> Q</h3> Quartiolo Italy Term used to distinguish Parmesan-type cheese made between September and November. Quacheq Macedonia, Greece Sheep, eaten both fresh and ripened. Quargel see Olmützer. Quartirolo Italy Soft, cow's milk. Queijos—Cheeses of the Azores, Brazil and Portugal see under their local or regional names: Alemtejo, Azeitão, Cardiga, Ilha, Prato and Serra da Estrella. Queso Anejo Mexico White, dry, skim milk. Queso de Bola Mexico Whole milk, similar to Edam. Queso de Cavallo Venezuela Pear-shaped cheese. Quesos Cheeses: Blanco, Cartera and Palma Metida see Venezuela. Queso de Cincho Venezuela Hard, round orange balls weighing four pounds and wrapped in palm leaves. Queso de Crema Costa Rica Similar to soft Brick. Queso de Hoja, Leaf Cheese Puerto Rico Named from its appearance when cut, like leaves piled on top of each other.  Queso de Mano Venezuela Aromatic, sharp, in four-ounce packages. Queso del Fais, Queso de la Tierra Puerto Rico White; pressed; semisoft Consumed locally, Queso de Prensa Puerto Rico The name means pressed cheese. It is eaten either fresh or after ripening two or three months. Queso de Puna Puerto Rico Like U.S. cottage or Dutch cheese, eaten fresh. Queso de Tapara Venezuela Made in Carora, near Barqisimeto, called tapara from the shape and tough skin of that local gourd. "It is very good fresh, but by the time it arrives in Carora it is often bad and dry." D.K.K. in Bueno Provecho. Queso Fresco El Salvador Cottage-cheese type. Queville see Chapter 3. Queyras see Champoléon. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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