Kostroma cheese

Cheese is one of the oldest and most important foods in human history. Like wine, dried fruit, and jerky, cheese is a natural way to increase the lifespan of food. It could be stored much longer than milk and provided food when other foods ran out or went bad. In many countries, cheeses are still treated with great respect as an integral part of the local cuisine.

Today, more than a thousand types of cheese are produced all over the world. The product can be soft or hard, young or ripe. There is cheese with or without mold. A fermented milk product can be made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, buffaloes, camels or mares, from one type of milk or from a mixture of different types. There is noble cheese and everyday cheese. Some varieties are melted, some are salted, others are dried in the sun, and some are seasoned with herbs and spices. There are cosmopolitan cheeses that can be found almost everywhere. And some cheeses are made in only one remote village, and connoisseurs from all over the world go crazy for them. It’s impossible to provide a complete list of all the world’s cheeses, or try every single one of them, although that seems like a worthy goal.

Russia cannot boast of a wide variety of cheeses, although about 200 types of cheese were produced in the Soviet Union. Today, some of them have disappeared, but Kostroma and Poshekhona cheeses are still popular.

General information about Kostroma cheese

In Russia, this type of cheese is very popular. The cheese has the shape of a small cylinder with slightly convex sides. The cheese is yellow in appearance, and when cut, evenly distributed eyes can be observed. The texture of the cheese is dense and at the same time elastic. Kostroma cheese has a pleasant aroma and a delicate and slightly spicy cheese taste. For full maturation of the product, it is kept at a certain temperature and humidity in a special place for forty-five days.

For the first time, cheese was produced in the Kostroma region, and has already managed to conquer not only the entire territory of the country, but also abroad. This type of dairy product is a pressed, rennet hard cheese, which is subjected to double heating during the cooking process. Without special enzymes, such cheese will not work.

High-quality Kostroma cheese should be unevenly colored, have eyes on the cut, do not crumble, and have a light and sour taste. The product is not salty, hence its maturation time is so short.

Useful Properties

Due to the natural composition of the product, it is able to saturate the body with a whole complex of minerals and vitamins. The product contains vitamin A, which positively affects the functioning of the visual system, the condition of the skin. A lot of the product contains calcium, which is simply necessary to ensure the strength of nails, teeth, bones. B vitamins are simply necessary for the full functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Of the minerals in cheese, there is magnesium, which has a beneficial effect on the condition and functioning of the cardiovascular system. Also, the regular use of Kostroma cheese enriches the body with phosphorus, which is vital, as it is responsible for protein synthesis.

Kostroma cheese at home

The recipe for Kostroma cheese for cooking at home includes the following products:

• ten liters of high-fat milk;
• dry sourdough – half a teaspoon;
• rennet extract.

In order to prepare Kostroma Vokhma cheese, it is necessary to activate the starter, for this the milk needs to be heated to thirty-seven degrees, pour the starter into it, evenly distribute it in the milk and leave for twenty to thirty minutes. In order to ensure the coagulation of milk, rennet must be added to it. To prepare the enzyme, it must first be dissolved in fifty milliliters of cold water. Combine milk with rennet. Milk will coagulate at thirty-five degree milk temperature for forty to fifty minutes.

The room for ripening and curdling the cheese should be warm. When one dense clot is observed, it must be cut lengthwise and across into cubes of 2 x 2 centimeters. Put the resulting product on a slow fire and gradually stir, heat for ten minutes. The result should be a grain of seven to eight millimeters. The first heating is made up to thirty-eight degrees. After the first heating, it is necessary to drain the resulting whey only by thirty percent of the amount of milk being processed. Now you need to add forty percent, in relation to the resulting amount of cheese, boiled water with a temperature of forty degrees. In other words, you had ten liters of milk, you need to drain three liters of whey, seven kilograms of cheese remain, after which you need to add 2,8 liters of water.

Start the second heating in compliance with the temperature regime within thirty-nine to forty degrees Celsius for twelve to sixteen minutes. According to the result of the second heating, the grain diameter will be approximately four to five millimeters. Partially salt the curd mass. Before salting, the whey must be drained. The resulting grain must be transferred to the form of your choice, and put under a press. After fifteen minutes, the cheese block must be turned over, covered with a lid and a towel (the cheese should keep its temperature for now).

We start pressing – we put oppression on the cheese and leave it to be pressed for one hour under a kilogram press, for two hours under a three-kilogram press. In total, the pressing process takes three hours. After pressing, you need to start salting the resulting briquette. To do this, you need to properly prepare the brine, you need to take two hundred grams of salt and dissolve in one liter of water. To check the correct consistency, you need to take a chicken egg and place it in brine, if it pops up, everything is done correctly. Put the head in the brine and leave it there for twelve hours, turning it over every three hours. When the product is salted, it can be dried and transferred to a bag for safety. In the refrigerator, Kostroma Poshekhonsky home-made cheese should ripen for at least eighteen to twenty days (at a moisture content of eighty to eighty-five percent). Everyone, bon appetit.

Chemical composition

The composition of Kostroma cheese includes exclusively natural products, which, in turn, provide the following chemical composition of the product:

• vitamins: A, beta-carotene, PP, D, C, B1-B12;
• minerals: magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, calcium.

The nutritional value

Kostroma cheese is light, as it is a completely carbohydrate-free product.

Contraindications and harm

Kostroma cheese can be harmful to the human body with an allergic reaction to the product. Kostroma cheese is high in calories, therefore, it is not very suitable for the diet of losing weight.

Kostroma cheese in cooking

This type of cheese from a Russian manufacturer is widely used in cooking. Its delicate and at the same time spicy taste will add some piquancy and originality to any dish. It is included in recipes for sandwiches, appetizers, salads, cereals, hot cheese soups, casseroles, pizzas.

Among the reviews about Russian Kostroma cheese are extremely positive, as it is a tasty, original, nutritious snack, and an addition to any dish, even baking.

Hot sandwiches: take a special sandwich bread, grease it with butter or sprinkle with olive oil, put a piece of ham or a slice of any low-fat meat on top, cover the sandwich with Kostroma cheese. Place the finished sandwiches in the preheated oven for three to five minutes.

Omelet: beat six eggs well, add fifty milliliters of milk or cream, chopped greens, cubed Vokhma cheese, chopped tomatoes, minced meat, salt and pepper to taste. Pour the omelette mixture into a preheated pan and fry on both sides under the lid for five minutes on each side.

There are a lot of dishes with cheese, experiment, fill your diet with new colors. Only everything needs to be done in moderation, since Kostroma cheese is high-calorie.