Geth Reviews Cheese: The Low-Sodium Cheese Special Part 2
To continue a trend from my last review, I went again for young, low-sodium (or at least far less sodium than my usual choices) and my mother and grandmother taste-tested some lemon ricotta, fresh cheddar cheese curds, and some young Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ricotta is an Italian classic dating back to the Bronze Age and a long staple of their cuisine. It comes from the word meaning "recooked", as it goes through at least two preparation phases that result in cooked, slightly sweet curd. It is also made from buffalo's milk as opposed to cow.
We got some lemon-flavored Ricotta in a small puck (even resembling a rather large hockey puck), and it was a massive hit. We all found it was rather like cheesecake, and we unanimously considered it an ideal breakfast, dessert, or snack cheese. Bit expensive in large quantities, but it is rather low sodium and very sweet, hardly tastes like cheese at all, though the texture is unmistakably that of a cheese, albeit a very soft and approachable one.
Next, we tried some fresh cheddar cheese curds. Curds are the form cheese takes when the solids of the milk are separated from the liquid or whey. These curds were subjected to the cheddaring process, but were not pressed into a larger cheese, and instead allowed to form into bite-sized pieces.
Mildly salty at best, they have mild yet distinctive cheddar flavor and are very pleasant to chew. For a snack, these are quite a good choice.
Finally, we tried some YOUNG Parmigiano. Unlike the much older variety I reviewed a few posts ago, young Parmigiano still is somewhat moist, a lot softer in texture, and lacks much of the concentrated salt and dry, rich flavor of its older, grating-level cheese counterparts. It's still somewhat salty, but if you want Parmigiano before it becomes a salty brick, get this.
In its younger state, while it can be used for snacking, it's best used for meals where you want the taste of Parmigiano but wish to avoid the gritty, dry texture of the grating version at 5+ years of age. It can be shredded and shaved for salads and pasta, and can also be snacked on in small quantities.
Ricotta is an Italian classic dating back to the Bronze Age and a long staple of their cuisine. It comes from the word meaning "recooked", as it goes through at least two preparation phases that result in cooked, slightly sweet curd. It is also made from buffalo's milk as opposed to cow.
We got some lemon-flavored Ricotta in a small puck (even resembling a rather large hockey puck), and it was a massive hit. We all found it was rather like cheesecake, and we unanimously considered it an ideal breakfast, dessert, or snack cheese. Bit expensive in large quantities, but it is rather low sodium and very sweet, hardly tastes like cheese at all, though the texture is unmistakably that of a cheese, albeit a very soft and approachable one.
Next, we tried some fresh cheddar cheese curds. Curds are the form cheese takes when the solids of the milk are separated from the liquid or whey. These curds were subjected to the cheddaring process, but were not pressed into a larger cheese, and instead allowed to form into bite-sized pieces.
Mildly salty at best, they have mild yet distinctive cheddar flavor and are very pleasant to chew. For a snack, these are quite a good choice.
Finally, we tried some YOUNG Parmigiano. Unlike the much older variety I reviewed a few posts ago, young Parmigiano still is somewhat moist, a lot softer in texture, and lacks much of the concentrated salt and dry, rich flavor of its older, grating-level cheese counterparts. It's still somewhat salty, but if you want Parmigiano before it becomes a salty brick, get this.
In its younger state, while it can be used for snacking, it's best used for meals where you want the taste of Parmigiano but wish to avoid the gritty, dry texture of the grating version at 5+ years of age. It can be shredded and shaved for salads and pasta, and can also be snacked on in small quantities.
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