Do you remember your earliest memories of looking at a photograph or a visual of a cheese? Did you not find them looking like a pale yellow chunk with holes of different sizes? In fact, for a larger part of the childhood, the visual that gets etched in our minds is that of a cheese with holes. From cartoon to comics, from animation to books, that’s what flashed when one took the name of cheese. So much so, that when one started getting exposed to the various kinds of cheese and saw them appear just like a pale yellow chunk — minus the holes — you felt betrayed by reality. But, some cheese still have holes and there is a scientific reason attached to its presence link to the way the cheese is prepared.
To understand the mysterious holes on the cheese surface, you have to dive into some of the popular theories. The ancient theory upheld that these holes were cause during the process of fermentation by the carbon dioxide gases that were released. When the bacteria Propionibacterium freudenreichii fed on the lactic acid, it released carbon dioxide in the form of bubbles. These circular bubble imprints were hat later took the shape of the holes, popularly called eyes on the cheese surface. However, this theory did not clearly explain the why the numbers of these holes started decreasing as time went by.
The modern theory
While the old theory was followed for a long time, it was only in 2015 that a more accepted theory was proposed. According to which, holes were formed when hay dust would fall into the milk buckets that were kept in open barns for the production of cheese. These hay particles would act as a catalyst for the bubble formation when the carbon dioxide gas was released. This also accounts for the fact that these holes are not always of the same size.
With time there was a rise in cheese demand and traditional methods shifted to production in controlled environments where accidents with other haywire particles became nil. This resulted in no holes or smaller holes on the cheese surface. However, because of the popularity of the cheese with holes, sometimes producers introduce particles so that the circular shapes are formed.
Cheese with holes
Which cheese has holes if you may ask? The popular answer would be Swiss cheese like Emmental where the holes are large and well spaced. In fact, one of the identifying factors of emmental cheese are its holes. Another swizz cheese which sometimes have holes is Gruyere, but in here the holes are tiny and large spaced. Jarlsberg from Norway have medium to large size holes. In the Netherlands, Maasdam and Leerdammer are also known for this distinguishing feature. The Baby Swiss produced in the United States have smaller but larger number of holes.
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