AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making Cheese the Traditional Way, Part

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making Cheese the Traditional Way, Part Two
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, October 04, 2005

I'm Jim Tedder¹ with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week, we heard how cheese maker² Jonathan White in New Jersey³ uses traditional methods to make his products. An important part of the process is natural fermentation of milk. The fermentation is caused by bacteria and other organisms. But the chemical changes of fermentation are not enough to make most cheeses.

About two thousand five hundred years ago, sheep farmers made a discovery. They found that a part of the stomach of a young sheep or cow could turn milk into a solid, called curd⁴. Later, cheese makers⁵ found that they could place the stomach in salt water to separate the substance responsible for curdling⁶ milk. It is called rennet. Rennet can also be made from plants.

The discovery of rennet has been called the first effort in biotechnology.

Jonathan White explains that rennet solidifies⁷ milk quickly. This keeps fermentation from producing too much acid and saves milk sugars. He usually puts the rennet into the milk around the time of his mid-day meal. By the time his meal is done, the rennet has separated the solid curd from the remaining milk liquid, called whey.

Some whey is always saved to put in the next day's cheese-making.

The curd is cut in pieces to speed the curdling process. When the curd has hardened enough, Mister White removes it from the vat⁸ and puts it in containers that form the cheese. After this, the cheese must air-dry and settle.

Mister White carefully controls fermentation. He does so by controlling the amount of salt, the amount of acid produced by fermentation and the amount of water in the cheese. These three things, with the addition of time, all influence the taste of the cheese.

Mister White does not pasteurize his milk. He says this permits him to control fermentation better.

Pasteurization is a heat treatment. Milk is usually heated to about seventy-two degrees Celsius⁹ for at least fifteen seconds, then cooled. Pasteurization does not kill all organisms, but reduces their number.

Jonathan White says cheese made with unpasteurized milk must be aged¹⁰ at least sixty days.

He and his wife, Nina, say they enjoy sharing their knowledge with people interested in cheese-making and farming. Their Bobolink Dairy is on the Web at cowsoutside.com.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Jim Tedder.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 curd   

n.凝乳；凝乳状物

参考例句：

• I'd like to add some pepper to the bean curd.我想在豆腐里加一点辣椒粉。
• The next one is bean curd with crab roe.下一个是蟹黄豆腐。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 curdling   

n.凝化v.（使）凝结( curdle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Curdling occurs when milk turns sour and forms solid2 chunks. 凝结时牛奶变酸并且结成2大块固体。 来自互联网
• The sluggish cream wound curdling spirals through her tea. 黏糊糊的奶油在她的红茶里弯弯曲曲地凝结成螺旋形。 来自互联网

7 solidifies   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的第三人称单数 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Jelly solidifies as it gets cold. 肉冻冷却就凝固。
• It is stirred with 10%sodium carbonate solution(50ml)and then with water (50ml), after which It'solidifies. 与10％碳酸钠溶液（50毫升）混合搅拌，然后再用50毫升水混合搅拌，从而析出固体。

8 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

9 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。