Archive for August, 2009

Cheese Pizza Day

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

OK so Pizza Day may have been yesterday, but it’s the idea that counts! Pizza is a classic dish that’s enjoyed worldwide and sold from pizza delivery specialists, to restaurants.

The beauty of pizza, is the sheer amount of toppings you can experiment with. Meats, fruits, vegetables and most importantly…cheese! Every pizza needs cheese as a fundamental ingredient. That gorgeous baked smell, combined with the bubbly surface and stretchy texture, just add to the amazing and delicious cheese baked taste.

That delicious bubbly and stringy cheese, that makes any pizza!
That delicious bubbly and stringy cheese, that makes any pizza!

But that leads us to another beautiful fact about pizza…there are so many cheeses to experiment with. You have the classic mozzarella cheese, used by pizza delivery experts, but you can also use many kinds of cheddar cheeses too. If your feeling really experimental, you can even use more expensive cheeses to give some refreshing and delicious flavours to your pizza. There are simply too many cheeses out there, so get experimenting!

You don’t even have to create a pizza from scratch (although it’s much more fun if you do) you can also add to an existing pre-bought pizza, whether it’s from a delivery specialist or even a supermarket. You can simply take your meats/veg/fruit off and grate your cheese on top of the pizza before oven baking (for non-frozen pizzas), or simply place your pizza in the oven for around 5 -6 minutes and then add your cheese, before returning your pizza to the oven and continuing to bake for the products recommended cooking time (for frozen pizzas).

However you experiment, just make sure you do. There are too many delicious cheeses out there, that can be combined with other great ingredients, or can simply be enjoyed on their own. So get grating and baking!

For a huge collection of cheeses to experiment with, head to Ideal Cheese and get them delivered to your door!

Cheeses that melt or crumble – The Behaviour of Cheese

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Have you ever wondered what makes certain cheeses behave in different ways, once cut? There are so many everyday and luxury cheeses today, but as well as offering their own unique taste, they also have their own texture and behaviour, once we take to them with our trusty cheese knives.

Every cheese is made from the same raw materials, so why is Parmesan cheese so hard? Why are some cheddars smooth and easy to cut, while others crumble to bits on contact with even the sharpest of knives?

Delicious cheeses, each with their own texture and behaviour

Delicious cheeses, each with their own texture and behaviour

Believe it or not, although cheese texture is a very important part of how a cheese tastes and feels on the palette, cheese manufacturers admit that cheese texture is an incredibly hard art to control and perfect. Manufacturers are spending large amounts of time and money, researching how maturing and ingredients such as milk proteins, fat globules and starter bacteria, can effect a cheeses texture and behaviour.

With detailed research being carried out out as we type this very article, it will only be a matter of time before manufacturers have the ability to fully control their cheese textures and behaviour, as well as posses the ability to create some new and exciting cheeses!