The process of making cheese is a scientific process that has never been easy to regulate. Good quality cheese is more often that not, a result of sheer luck and a sign of experience from a dedicated cheese maker who wants to produce tasty cheese. Although good cheese can be produced by following analytical tests of cheese characteristics, traditional cheese is made with sheer luck alone.
Developing a certain set of standards for cheese can be difficult because every kind has its own distinct range of characteristics, and a cheese that fairs too far from this range will taste bad and be inferior. For example, good soft blue cheese has high moisture and pH content, but cheddar does not.
There are certain regulations that exist to make sure that only authentic cheese are sold to consumers. France, one of the pioneers in making natural cheeses, started granting certain regions monopolies on the production of certain kinds of cheeses. And because cheese is made for human consumption, extreme care is taken to make sure that the raw materials are of the highest quality, all the more if the cheese is intended for export it must meet particularly stringent quality control standards.
The Appellation of Controlled Origin or appellation d’origine controlee is a label that indicates that an agricultural product is from a specific region, maintaining a certain set of standards local to that region. Consequently, food from a certain region must also be produced in a particular way in order to qualify for an appellation of controlled origin there are national inspectors that visit and make sure that food producers comply with the given standards.
However, not everything in the market bears the appellation label. Qualifying for such a label means that the government feels that the raw materials from which the food is made is of high production quality. This label has been established so that consumers can be sure that the products that they buy are not cheap counterfeits or knockoff versions.
Wines and cheeses are usually the items labeled with an appellation of controlled origin, and one particular type of cheese that has this distinct mark is the Gruyere Cheese. It is a creamy, pale cheese that has small holes and with a slight granular taste. Unlike other Swiss cheese, the holes of the Gruyere cheese rarely gets bigger than the size of a pea, with the holes widely dispersed within the cheese. Its taste is also different from other Swiss cheeses, but is not strong or overpowering. That makes the Gruyere cheese a very great addition to quiches, soups, salads, and pastas. Gruyere cheese can be served sliced or grated, depending on your preference.
Always look for the cheese that exceeds production and state standards. You would not want to serve your guests run of the mill cheese, right?. So always check for the appellation of controlled origin seal. Get the Gruyere cheese today!
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