Today, in hypermarkets, buyers are faced with a huge variety of cheeses. At the same time, cheeses differ not only in their appearance and smell, but also in price. People usually treat the most expensive cheeses with caution, as they often do not know what they are buying.
One of the elite popular cheeses is beaufort cheese. It was named after the village of the same name in the French Alps, where it was first produced.
Characteristics of Beaufort Cheese
This cheese belongs to the category of semi-solid, made by cooking and pressing. The cost justifies itself, given the fact that cheese comes from the milk of cows specially grown for this purpose, which breathe clean air and feed on fresh grass of the Alpine mountains. Cheese is characterized by a uniform surface, the absence of voids, a light yellow color and a dark yellow hard shell. The weight of the cheese circle varies from 20 to 70 kg. To taste, the product is creamy, slightly salty, with hints of herbs and nuts. It has a fat content of 48%. On store shelves, you can recognize it by a dented green stigma (top grade) or blue (lower grade).
Manufacture
Beaufort cheese recipe for over 150 years. New technologies appeared, but the requirements for its preparation remained almost the same, only slightly tightened. To produce one cheese platter, you need to milk 45 cows. The resulting fresh milk is heated to 33 ° C, then the sourdough is introduced. The curd mass, broken into lumps, is again heated to 53-54 ° C, after which they put on a wooden circle and put under a press. Under the press, the cheese spends about twenty hours with breaks for turning. Cheese ripening takes an average of 6 to 36 months in the cold, damp cellars of the Alpine mountains.
Cheese on the table
Beaufort is very popular among the French. However, gourmets and good chefs from around the world especially appreciate it for its compatibility with almost any dish. Beaufort cheese is in perfect harmony with melted hot dishes. It is added to soups, pizzas, casseroles, warm and cold vegetable salads, and also to smoked red fish. It can also be found on a fruit plate or traditionally on a cheese plate with honey and walnuts.
Cheese is chosen as an appetizer for dry red, white and pink wines, as well as champagne.
It must be remembered that this type of cheese is intended for cutting into thin slices, not for a grater. It is taken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
The benefits of cheese
Despite the high fat content, this cheese is considered one of the most useful among its "counterparts". Doctors recommend consuming this product for people with calcium deficiency or protein deficiency, especially with damage to the musculoskeletal system, weak immunity and nursing mothers.
Where can I find cheese in Russia?
Elite beaufort cheese is available for sale on the shelves of Russian hypermarkets. However, product prices scare away the average buyer - about 3 thousand rubles per kilogram. That is why some manufacturers reduce the cost of production for the sake of affordability, while not compromising its taste. One of such producers is the Belarusian dairy company “Babushkina Krynka”. Beaufort cheese from this manufacturer, of course, is not made from alpine cow's milk and has artificially created holes. It differs in color and in the absence of a hard shell. However, the price of this product is much lower. A kilogram of cheese can be purchased for a symbolic price (from 400-550 rubles).
Recipe
At home, beaufort cheese can be prepared without compromising quality. Freshly cowed fresh cow's milk (8 L) is filtered, heated to 32-34 ° C, stirring constantly. Then add 1/8 tsp. milk yeast, mix well again. Cover the pan and leave for 45 minutes.
1/2 tsp liquid rennet (calf) is dissolved in 50 ml of water at a temperature of 30-35 º, and the resulting serum is poured into warm milk, slowly stirring. Leave again for 45 minutes. The curd mass is broken into small lumps, heated and boiled at this temperature for 40 minutes until it reaches 54 º. Then turn off the fire and continue stirring for 15 minutes. After that, leave the cheese mass alone for 20 minutes.
After the time has passed, the mass is passed through a colander so that the glass has excess serum. Then the cheese is transferred to the mold, covered with a cloth, a lid, a load of 2.5 kg is placed on top of the lid for 30 minutes. After they take out the cheese, turn it over, replace the cloth and again put it under the load for half an hour. The process of turning cheese over is repeated several times (2-3 times), then press is strengthened to 5 kg and left for 12-15 hours. After time, the cheese is placed in a damp room with a temperature of 11-13 ° C and a humidity of 85% for ripening. Turn the cheese over daily, and also wipe it with salt water once a week. The ripening time of Beaufort cheese is from 6 months to 2 years.