41. Because cheese is a highly concentrated food, it is generally
considered to be indigestible; but this matter can be remedied by mixing
the cheese with other foods and thus separating it into small particles
that are more readily digested. The way in which this may be done
depends on the nature of the cheese. Any of the dry cheeses or any of
the moist cheeses that have become dry may be grated or broken into
bits, but as it is difficult to treat the moist ones in this way, they
must be brought to a liquid state by means of heat before they can be
added to other foods. The cooking of cheese, however, has an effect on
this food that should be thoroughly understood.
It will be well to note, therefore, that the application of heat to the
form of protein found in cheese causes this food substance to coagulate
and harden, as in the case of the albumen of eggs. In the process of
coagulation, the first effect is the melting of the cheese, and when it
has been brought to this semiliquid state it can be easily combined with
other foods, such as milk, eggs, soups, and sauces. In forming such
combinations, the addition of a small amount of bicarbonate of soda
helps to blend the foods. Another characteristic of cheese that
influences the cooking of it is that the fat it contains melts only at a
low temperature, so that, on the whole, the methods of preparation that
require a low temperature are the best for cooking these foods. However,
a precaution that should be taken whenever cheese is heated is not to
cook it too long, for long cooking makes it hard and leathery in
consistency, and cheese in this state is difficult to digest.