What is a saler, manufacturing features. Calorie content and useful properties. Potential harm when consumed. Alpine cheese recipes and interesting facts about it.
Saler or Alpine Saler is an uncooked pressed French cheese made from special raw materials, milk from Salersky cows, which is fed at a certain period - from April 15 to November 15. That is, as soon as hay or other dry feed is added to the animal's diet, the production of the product stops. The head of the saleler cheese resembles a cylinder in shape, has a golden tender elastic pulp, a thick gray-brown crust with deep cracks. The taste is slightly bitter, herbal, with hints of gentian and arnica. It differs from other fermented milk products in high dry matter content.
Peculiarities of making high-mountainous Saler cheese
The quality of the milk is carefully checked. This is done by a commission, which includes representatives from France, Belgium, and sometimes Italy. The production technology is patented according to the AOC (Association of Industry Unions) certificate.
At the initial stages, saler cheese is prepared like ordinary pressed cheeses: mesophilic sourdough is added to milk, they wait for the cheese grain to ripen, and are pressed during the initial ripening. Then pressing is carried out again. That is, the compacted cheese mass is once again cut into small cubes, salted and again placed in pressing molds and left for another 3-5 hours, constantly turning to separate the whey - the final product should be dense.
The molds are lined with a special linen cloth, the already formed heads are placed there and the press is again installed for two days. Turn over every 1.5-2 hours. It is hardly possible to make a saler cheese at home. During the whole process, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature in the room - + 23 ° С.
After pressing, the heads are placed in a special chamber or cellar, where the ripening temperature is + 12-14 ° C, and the humidity is 95%. The duration of maturation is from 3 months to 1.5 years. 2-8 months after being placed in a cool place, a special mite, a flour mite, of the Acarus siro species, is added to the salera crust.
If this insect settles in barns, invades fruits or nuts, the stock must be disposed of. But when preparing this type of cheese, the mite is a "designer" - it creates characteristic cracks on the crust, a "marble" pattern. When pre-sale preparation is carried out, the tick is destroyed.
Due to the change in the aging period, describing the taste of the salera, only a general idea can be given. Young cheese is softer, you can feel the aftertaste of cream, "sweet bitterness", the consistency is softer. Mature, pronouncedly bitter, to cut the heads, you need to press down with a knife - the cheese is dense.
The finished product is a weighty cylinder, from 30 to 40 kg, with a diameter of 37-48 cm and a height of 43-45 cm. The stamp “Salers” is put on the head, embedded with an aluminum plate, and the manufacturer's identification number and date of manufacture are applied. Stored in a cool place at a constant temperature of + 6-8 ° C.
Composition and calorie content of saler cheese
The nutritional value of the fermented milk product is high. The calorie content of Saler cheese is 350 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 26.3 g;
- Fat - 26.6 g;
- Ash - 2, 3 g.
Dietary fiber is absent, there is a small amount of sugars. A sweetish aftertaste is felt in the heads, the maturation of which is limited to three months.
As part of the Saler cheese:
- Calcium - normalizes blood pressure and strengthens bone tissue, keeps teeth healthy.
- Potassium - normalizes pulsation, improves the functioning of the central nervous system and stimulates the contraction of muscle fibers.
- Phosphorus is the main participant in protein-lipid metabolism, delivers energy to the body and maintains efficiency.
- Magnesium - prevents calculus deposits in the kidneys, gall bladder and joints, normalizes the endocrine system.
- Sodium - maintains water and electrolyte balance, prevents fluid loss, increases blood clotting.
- Pantothenic acid - helps to assimilate and convert fatty acids, improves adrenal function.
- Nicotinic acid - dilates blood vessels, normalizes metabolic processes, accelerates the elimination of toxins.
- Cholecalciferol - stimulates the growth of bone tissue, helps the absorption of phosphorus and calcium.
- Retinol - has a positive effect on the optic nerve, stops hyperkeratosis, which prevents the development of skin cancer.
- Tocopherol - protects against excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, prevents the formation of keloids, stimulates peripheral blood supply, normalizes sugar levels and prevents the development of diabetes.
The high amount of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids is responsible for the benefits and harms of Saler cheese. Due to the high fat content (45%), regular consumption can cause weight gain and change the shape of the figure for the worse. But a small piece, which is eaten daily, will help slow down age-related changes and maintain body tone.
Useful properties of saler cheese
The fermented milk product has no healing properties. Systematic introduction into the diet is not able to cure any diseases.
The beneficial properties of saler cheese for the body are exactly the same as for other fermented milk products:
- Increases bone strength and maintains healthy teeth and hair.
- Creates favorable conditions for increasing the activity of beneficial intestinal microflora, normalizes peristalsis, helps to get rid of toxins.
- It has an antioxidant effect, isolates free radicals traveling in the lumen of the intestinal loops.
- Stabilizes metabolic processes at all levels.
- Prevents the development of depression.
- Increases appetite and stimulates the production of digestive enzymes and bile acids.
Against the background of intoxication, the feeling of hunger is often dulled, patients begin to refuse to eat. In this case, the benefits of Saler cheese can be invaluable. The piquant taste of the fermented milk product excites the taste buds and stimulates the appetite. But even if the patient confines himself to a slice of cheese, it’s not bad. It contains a high amount of nutrients that will replenish the organic reserve.
Contraindications and harm of alpine salera
With the exception of individual intolerance, there are no other restrictions on the introduction of this fermented milk product into the diet.
It is not recommended to offer it to babies - the bitter taste can be remembered for a long time, and in the future there will be an aversion to all hard cheeses, which will be difficult to cope with.
If a woman has eaten this variety all her life, you should not refuse during pregnancy.
The harm from saler cheese can appear when consumed against the background of intestinal infections, exacerbation of peptic ulcer disease, biliary dyskinesia or pancreatitis. This is explained by the high fat content of the product - from 45%. Diarrhea, which is a characteristic symptom of these diseases, will increase significantly and will be difficult to stop.
Saler cheese recipes
In most cases, this variety is used as an independent product, presented on a "cheese plate", combined with raspberries, grapes, apples or hazelnuts. Saler is combined with delicate wines - Martini, Santi Perrier, Cote Rote, Vlank Bandol. However, the sophistication of cheese is not a "contraindication" for making the most delicate casseroles and pizza from it, adding to baked goods and salads.
Saler cheese recipes:
- Cod liver sandwiches … Cut the white loaf into thin slices and brown in a toaster or in a dry frying pan. Mix finely chopped boiled eggs, cod liver, crushed with a fork, and grated cheese. Add a spoonful of cream cheese sauce. Rub the toasts with garlic on one side, spread the cod mixture on them, sprinkle everything with chopped herbs and spread over the olive, after removing the stone.
- Delicacy sandwiches … Rye bread is cut into pieces, not thin, greased on one side with butter. The cheese is grated on a fine grater, a little red pepper and butter, pieces of thinly sliced radish are added. They smear it all on bread, decorate with radish rounds, olives and salad greens.
- Canapes … The cheese is grated, mixed with a little creamy mayonnaise, applied to bread and cut into small pieces. Each is decorated with an olive and pierced with a skewer. During presentation, the dish is decorated with parsley sprigs.
- Italian pizza … To knead the dough, half a teaspoon of dry yeast is diluted with 110 ml of warm water, salt is added and sugar is added. Carefully pour in 2 cups of sifted flour, knead, driving in 1 egg and a little olive oil. The dough should be firm enough to roll out well, but not very dense, otherwise it will be impossible to get a thin cake. Divide the dough into 2 balls, one of them is wrapped with cling film. You can freeze and cook your pizza next time. Roll out a thin layer, apply tomato sauce or ketchup, and on top are randomly laid out ham, cut into thin slices, olives, olives, tomatoes, pickled red onions, and sprinkle with grated cheese on top. Bake at 220 ° C for 8-14 minutes. If the pizza is made at home in a conventional oven, it is recommended to first put the cake without cheese into the oven, and sprinkle it after 6-10 minutes. Take out when the cheese is completely melted.
- Fast pizza … Knead the dough. Ingredients: half a glass of pasteurized low-fat milk, 1 tbsp. l. butter, 1 egg. Flour needs a little less than a glass. Add a third teaspoon of baking soda, slaked vinegar, and 4 tbsp. l. grated cheese. Roll out a thin cake, spread it on a microwave circle, pierce it with a fork over the entire surface. Bake at maximum power for 5 minutes. Then they open the microwave, grease the layer with tomato or ketchup, turn on the oven again for 3 minutes. They take out the future pizza, randomly lay out the filling - several varieties of sausages, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, pickled onions. Bake for 3 minutes, then sprinkle with grated cheese and microwave again until it is completely melted. There is a quick pizza followed by a hot one. If it cools, the cake will become stale.
- Casserole … Peel and boil potatoes in salted water. Beat an egg with half a glass of heavy cream, mix with crushed potatoes, grated hard cheese, finely chopped onions and green onions, add sour cream and knead the potato dough. Salt to taste. Champignons are fried separately. Grease a baking sheet with butter, spread the potato dough and form an even layer. Mushrooms are immersed in it and a baking sheet is placed in the oven. Bake at 200 ° C until golden brown begins to form. Then sprinkle the casserole with grated salad and put it back in the oven. When the cheese is melted, you can take it out.
Interesting facts about Saler cheese
Cheese-making farms were already built in Ancient Greece, but this food industry was developed in Medieval France. Then the production of saler was concentrated around the town of the same name, located 930 m above sea level. In dry seasons, peasants drove their livestock to alpine meadows, where they grazed for 7 months. At this time, milk of exceptional quality could be obtained from cows, from which this type of cheese was made.
At the time of grazing and collecting raw materials, shepherds settled in mountain huts - burons, in which the preparation of cheese began. The pressed heads were transported down the slopes and placed in naturally occurring caves to mature.
It is impossible to make saler cheese, either soft or semi-soft, at home on your own. Therefore, if you want to treat friends with dignity, you can buy a slice in the store and please with a light dinner and a glass of wine. Delicate cheese, fine wine and olives are the best way to end your day.
