The Complete Book of Cheese Part 77

Skim-milk cheese eaten when only a week old. The honored antiquity of it is preserved in the anonymous English couplet:

Good bread, good b.u.t.ter and good cheese Is good English and good Friese.

Westphalia Sour Milk, or Brioler _Germany_

Sour-milk hand cheese, kneaded by hand. b.u.t.ter and/or egg yolk is mixed in with salt, and either pepper or caraway seeds. Then the richly colored curd is shaped by hand into small b.a.l.l.s or rolls of about one pound. It is dried for a couple of hours before being put down cellar to ripen. The peculiar flavor is due partly to the seasonings and partly to the curd being allowed to putrify a little, like Limburger, before pressing.

This sour-milker is as celebrated as Westphalian raw ham. It is so soft and fat it makes a sumptuous spread, similar to Tilsit and Brinza. It was named Brioler from the "Gute Brioler" inn where it was perfected by the owner, Frau Westphal, well over a century ago.

The English sometimes miscall it Bristol from a Hobson-Jobson of the name Briol.

Whale Cheese _U.S.A._

In _The Cheddar Box, _Dean Collins tells of an ancient legend in which the whales came into Tillamook Bay to be milked; and he poses the possible origin of some waxy fossilized deposits along the sh.o.r.e as petrified whale-milk cheese made by the aboriginal Indians after milking the whales.

White, Fromage Blanc _France_

Skim-milk summer cheese made in many parts of the country and eaten fresh, with or without salt.

White Cheddar _U.S.A._

Any Cheddar that isn't colored with anatto is known as White Cheddar.

Green Bay brand is a fine example of it.

White Gorgonzola

This type without the distinguishing blue veins is little known outside of Italy where it is highly esteemed. (_See_ Gorgonzola.)

White Stilton _England_

This white form of England's royal blue cheese lacks the aristocratic veins that are really as green as Ireland's flag.

Whitethorn _Ireland_

Firm; white; tangy; half-pound slabs boxed. Saltee is the same, except that it is colored.

Wilstermarsch-Kase Holsteiner Marsch _Schleswig-Holstein, Germany_

Semihard; full cream; rapidly cured; Tilsit type; very fine; made at Itzehoe.

Wiltshire or Wilts _England_

A Derbyshire type of sharp Cheddar popular in Wiltshire. (_See_ North Wilts.)

Wisconsin Factory Cheeses _U.S.A._

Have the date of manufacture stamped on the rind, indicating by the age whether the flavor is "mild, mellow, nippy, or sharp." American Cheddar requires from eight months to a year to ripen properly, but most of it is sold green when far too young.

Notable Wisconsiners are Loaf, Limburger, Redskin and Swiss.

Withania _India_

Cow taboos affect the cheesemaking in India, and in place of rennet from calves a vegetable rennet is made from withania berries. This names a cheese of agreeable flavor when ripened, but, unfortunately, it becomes acrid with age.

Y

Yoghurt, or Yogurt _U.S.A._

Made with _Bacillus bulgaricus_, that develops the acidity of the milk. It is similar to the English Saint Ivel.

York, York Curd and Cambridge York _England_

A high-grade cream cheese similar to Slipcote, both of which are becoming almost extinct since World War II. Also, this type is too rich to keep any length of time and is sold on the straw mat on which it is cured, for local consumption.

Yorkshire-Stilton _Cotherstone, England_

This Stilton, made chiefly at Cotherstone, develops with age a fine internal fat which makes it so extra-juicy that it's a general favorite with English epicures who like their game well hung.

York State _U.S.A._

Short for New York State, the most venerable of our Cheddars.

Young America _U.S.A._

A mild, young, yellow Cheddar.

Yo-yo _U.S.A._

Copying pear-and apple-shaped b.a.l.l.s of Italian Provolone hanging on strings, a New York cheesemonger put out a Cheddar on a string, shaped like a yo-yo.

Z

Ziegel _Austria_

Whole milk, or whole milk with cream added. Aged only two months.

Ziegenkase _Germany_

A general name in Germanic lands for cheeses made of goat's milk.

Altenburger is a leader among Ziegenkase.

Ziger

I. This whey product is not a true cheese, but a cheap form of food made in all countries of central Europe and called alb.u.min cheese, Recuit, Ricotta, Broccio, Brocotte, Serac, Ceracee, etc. Some are flavored with cider and others with vinegar. There is also a whey bread.

II. Similar to Corsican Broccio and made of sour sheep milk instead of whey. Sometimes mixed with sugar into small cakes.