Types Of Cheese, Terms & Definitions Every Cheese Lover Should Know

Page 9: Cheese Terms Beginning With Q & R

This is Page 9 of a 12-page glossary, including such famous cheeses as ricotta and Roquefort. Click on the letters below to find terms of interest. When you’re finished with cheese, visit our many other food glossaries.

Click on a letter to go to the appropriate glossary page.

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QUARK

Quark is a soft, unripened (fresh) cow’s milk cheese with a consistency and flavor similar to triple-strained Greek yogurt. It has approximately the same amount of calories, but a richer flavor, than lowfat sour cream. Quark is the German word for curds; curds are coagulated milk. Some definitions translate it as “cottage cheese”; however, American and German quark do not resemble what Americans known as cottage cheese, which has recognizable curds. As the curd for each type of cheese is a different shape, size and texture (the curd for Gouda is much different than the curd Cheddar or that for cottage cheese, for example), with quark, the curd consistency is smooth, like curdled milk. Quark, which is produced all over Central Europe, is whipped before packaging. In the U.S. it is made by a handful of artisan dairies and can be found in whole milk, 2% and fat-free versions.

Pasteurization kills many of the natural enzymes and good bacteria in the milk which create flavor complexity, which is why many connoisseurs prefer raw milk (unpasteurized) cheeses. However, despite modern sanitation, raw milk may still harbor a host of disease-causing organisms (pathogens), including listeria and salmonella. A small number Americans become ill each year from raw milk-related causes (and in the past, there have been periodic related fatalities in Europe). Thus, the sale of raw milk cheeses is not allowed in the U.S., except those which have been aged 60 days or longer.

Rennet is a coagulating enzyme that is added to milk as the first step in making cheese. Used to curdle milk, it causes clumps (curds) to form and separate from the liquid (whey). Rennet is added after the cultures and is also integral to the final flavor of the cheese, including the release of peptides, which play an important role in cheese maturation. The traditional source of rennet is the abomasum (fourth stomach or rennet stomach) of slaughtered, milk-fed new-born calves or other young ruminants. It is also possible to produce rennet from fungi (known as microbial rennet).

RICOTTA

Actually not a cheese but a by-product of cheese-making. With many cheeses, an enzyme, rennet, is used to coagulate the milk, but the whey proteins (albuminous proteins) don’t coagulate. This milky-colored whey is drained and then heated a second time and curdled with vinegar; ricotta is produced from the curds that precipitate from those proteins. Ricotta means “re-cooked,” referring to the second boiling of the milk. Read more about ricotta.

RICOTTA SALATA

Unlike fresh ricotta, which is made from whey, ricotta salata is firm, rindless cheese made from lightly salted sheep's milk curd that is pressed and dried, then aged for a minimum of three months. Salata means salted in Italian. The cheese is neither salty nor “sheepy,” but has a nutty, sweet milky flavor. Ricotta salata is used as a table cheese, added to salads (try it instead of goat cheese with beet salad or arugula salad) and cooked in, or grated onto, pasta dishes. Ricotta salata originated in Sicily. It can be found in wheels, as shown at right, or in individual flat-top cones.

Except for fresh cheeses, the majority of cheeses are ripened in a ripening cellar or special storage room. Cheesemakers often put their cheeses in a drying room to speed up the maturation. The ripening cellar may be humid and warm or relatively cool: temperature, humidity, and the natural movement of air are all critical to the ripening process. While temperatures can range from 32°F to 77°F, most cheeses are ripened between 46°F and 60°F with very high humidity—often close to 100%. During maturation, the cheese dispels liquids; and flavor components develop more complexity. Some cheeses get washed every two to three days to inspire surface bacteria; some grow molds on the outside; others, like cloth-bound cheeses, simply get turned and wiped down every few days.

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty, full-flavored Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk (pecora is the Italian word for sheep). An ancient cheese, Pecorino Romano was a dietary staple for the Roman legionaries. Today’s Pecorino Romano is made from the same recipe, albeit with pasteurized milk. “Romano,” on the other hand, is a mild, domestic cow’s milk cheese made in the U.S. Don’t substitute it for Pecorino Romano or your recipe will be more bland and under-salted.

Roquefort is perhaps the world’s most famous blue cheese. It is made from Lacaune-breed sheep’s milk and is France’s second most popular cheese after Comté (out of 500 different cheeses made in France). It does not have a rind. The mold Penicillium roqueforti, grown on rye bread, is injected into the cheese to create the blue veins. In 1925 Roquefort was the first cheese to become A.O.C.-protected: Only those cheeses aged in the natural Cambalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the department of Aveyron may be called Roquefort. A cheese like Roquefort is mentioned by Pliny the Elder in 79 C.E. In 1782, the French philosopher Diderot called it the “King of Cheeses,” declaring that “Roquefort cheese is without doubt the finest cheese in Europe.”