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Grate it, slice it, melt it... Cheese can make a boring dish come alive and literally bring a smile to your face!
There are mainly 4 types of cheeses: soft (cream cheese/spread), semi-soft (paneer, mozzarella), hard (parmesan, gouda) and semi-hard (cheddar).
Their flavour and texture is mainly determined by the moisture content and whether they are fresh or aged.
The main ingredient is milk (usually cow’s).
Simply put, it is all about taking the moisture (up to 87%) out from milk, leaving behind a mass of solid proteins and other good things.
What is left is the goodness of milk in a concentrated form—lots of calcium as also protein, phosphorus, zinc, riboflavin, vitamins B12 and A.
Eaten at the end of a meal or between meals, cheese tastes great and is also excellent for dental health. It is a rich source of milk fat components— CLA and sphingolipids— that can reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as some cancers and heart disease.
An ounce of cheese has 200 to 300 mg of calcium. Most adults, aged 19-50, need 1000 mg of calcium per day, and adults aged 50 and above need 1200 mg (American Dietetic Association).
Trouble is, it is also calorie-dense because of the fat, therefore has cholesterol and is high in salt and sodium too. Most cheeses are made from whole milk and in some instances (cream cheese, for example), there is usually added cream.
Since cheese is otherwise good for us (and duhlicious!), it would be good to work around its ‘problem areas’.
For starters, choose handmade over processed. It is available in select stores.
At double the price but also double the benefit because a handmade cheese has much better flavour, texture and little or no chemicals. It usually has less salt, too.
Secondly, get your calcium from more than one natural source. Have toned milk, curd and a dash of unsalted butter—apart from cheese. This way, you bring down your salt intake, bad for most of us but particularly those with kidney problems, high blood pressure and water retention issues. Drink lots of water to flush out the extra salt in your system when you have cheese and also try having it with fruit or sliced tomatoes and coloured peppers. Take the stairs instead of the lift. Walk, to take care of the fat and cholesterol.
A low-fat cheese spread will have chemicals that are used to make solid cheese into a spread. Low-fat cheese is best made from skimmed or low-fat milk where no extra chemicals are added.
Make your own low-fat cheese (mainly a soft cheese). This way, you can control the amount of fat and salt. Boil a litre of lowfat milk. Put half a tablespoon of lemon juice and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir. Drain out the whey (leaving a little) with a muslin cloth and blend solids well. A litre of milk will yield about a cup of cheese. Season with salt or omit as desired. Flavour with fresh ingredients like spring onion/garlic/basil/parsley/dill… freshly ground pepper. Bon appetit!
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