What is included in Edam cheese and how is this delicacy eaten? A detailed review of the product, its beneficial properties and contraindications for use. Edam cheese recipes.
Edam cheese (Edammer) is a delicacy from Holland, which is made on the basis of cow's milk. Despite its soft and elastic structure, it is classified as a hard cheese. It has a round shape. The established fat content is 45%. Covered with a thin layer of paraffin. The taste depends on the duration of exposure. Young cheese has a nutty flavor, while more mature cheese has a higher salinity. The color of the pulp is uniform, light yellow.
Features of cooking Edam cheese
The main stages of making Edam cheese on cheese farms:
- Procurement of high-quality milk, rich in protein and other useful elements;
- Extracting milk at a special temperature and waiting for the moment when it ferments naturally;
- Collecting the resulting cheese mass;
- Sending cheese to a whey press;
- Drying and rubbing the product with salt;
- Soaking cheese in brine;
- Keeping the product for 18 weeks.
As a result, a spherical product should be obtained, which on the cut does not have a certain pattern and may not contain holes at all, typical for other varieties of hard cheeses.
It is customary to cover Edam with paraffin of various colors. In the original, it is covered with black wax, which is the mark of the highest quality product. However, in modern stores, you can find Edam in a yellow or red shell. These colors mean that the cheese is of good quality, but less expensive than its black wax counterpart.
Buyer advice! To buy quality cheese from the store, look at the slices. It is important that there are no seals on the edges of the product and that its consistency and color are uniform. If it is too bright, then the manufacturer has added dyes to it.
If you do not trust modern stores or you simply do not have the opportunity to purchase Edam, start preparing it yourself. You can learn how to make Edam cheese in your home kitchen from the following recipe. Make sure you have all the equipment you need for cheese making: drain container, vacuum pack, deep saucepan, liquid temperature tester.
Instructions for making Edam cheese at home:
- Prepare 15 liters of pasteurized cow's milk with 7 drops of annatto.
- Bring milk to 32 ° C.
- Pour 7.5 ml of calcium chloride and 1/4 tsp into the milk. mesophilic starter culture (marked MM100).
- Stir the contents of the pot well and wait 20 minutes. Then add the milk-clotting enzyme to the bowl.
- After 40-50 minutes, a curd of cheese should form in the saucepan. The resulting mass must be cut into small pieces.
- Leave the sliced cheese alone for a few minutes to allow the whey to come out.
- Place a saucepan with cheese on low heat and heat it to 35 ° C for 20 minutes. Stir the curd constantly while heating. After that, the grains of cheese should sink to the bottom of the pan.
- At this stage, it is necessary to drain half of the whey so that its remainder only slightly covers the cheese in the pan.
- Now you need to add a little hot water to the cheese so that it heats up to a temperature of 38 ° C.
- Stir the cheese for 45 minutes to firm.
- Collect the curd in a colander, previously covered with gauze or a loose cloth.
- Place the cheese under something heavy for half an hour. It is optimal to choose a press weighing 5 kg. Please note that a lot of whey will drain from the curd at this time, so it is better to place the gauze with the product in a drainage container.
- While the cheese is under the press, take care of the whey that you drained from it before that - heat the liquid to 49 ° C.
- Take the product out from under the yoke and place it in warm serum without removing the gauze.
- After a few minutes, turn the cheese upside down.
- Send the product under the press again, but already weighing 15 kg for 60 minutes.
- After the specified time has elapsed, according to the Edam cheese recipe, turn the cheese mass over again and put it under the pressure of 20 kg for 9-10 hours.
- After that, prepare the brine and place the cheese head in it for 12 hours.
- The product is almost ready. Now it must be dried in the refrigerator for several days (up to 5 days).
- The cheese is ready, now it needs to be aged. To do this, place the product in a vacuum package and do not open it for at least 2 months. As a result, you should get 1, 3 kg of homemade and, most importantly, natural cheese. Bon Appetit!
See also how Jarlsberg cheese is made.
Composition and calorie content of Edam cheese
The standard composition of Edam cheese contains only cow's milk and natural dye. Sometimes apple juice is included to give the product a certain piquancy.
Modern manufacturers often deviate from the standard recipe and add various chemicals to cheese: preservatives, artificial colors and more.
The calorie content of Edam cheese per 100 g is 366 kcal, of which:
- Protein - 24 g;
- Fat - 30 g;
- Carbohydrates - 0 g;
- Dietary fiber - 0 g;
- Water - 0 g.
The ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is 1: 1, 3: 0, respectively.
Vitamins in 100 g of Edam cheese:
- Vitamin A - 243 mcg;
- Vitamin A, retinol - 242 mcg;
- Beta Carotene - 11 mcg;
- Vitamin D - 0.5 mcg;
- Vitamin D3, cholecalciferol - 0.5 mcg;
- Vitamin E, alpha Tocopherol - 0.24 mcg;
- Vitamin K - 2.3 mcg;
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.04 mg;
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.39 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 0.28 mg;
- Vitamin B6, pyridoxine - 0.08 mg;
- Vitamin B9, folate - 16 mcg;
- Vitamin B12, cobalamin - 1.54 mcg;
- Vitamin PP, niacin - 0.08 mg.
Minerals in 100 g of Edam cheese:
- Potassium, K - 188 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 731 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 30 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 965 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 536 mg;
- Iron, Fe - 0.44 mg;
- Manganese, Mn - 0.01 mg;
- Copper, Cu - 0.04 mg;
- Selenium, Se - 14.5 μg;
- Zinc, Zn - 3.75 mg.
Amino acids per 100 g of product:
- Arginine - 0.96 g;
- Valine - 1.81 g;
- Histidine - 1.03 g;
- Isoleucine - 1.31 g;
- Leucine - 2.57 g;
- Lysine - 2.66 g;
- Methionine - 0.72 g;
- Methionine + Cysteine - 0.98 g;
- Threonine - 0.93 g;
- Tryptophan - 0.35 g;
- Phenylalanine - 1.43 g;
- Phenylalanine + Tyrosine - 2.89 g;
- Aspartic acid - 1.75 g;
- Alanine - 0.76 g;
- Glycine - 0.49 g;
- Glutamic acid - 6.15 g;
- Proline - 3.25 g;
- Serine - 1.55 g;
- Tyrosine - 1.46 g;
- Cysteine - 26 g.
Note to the consumer! To prevent the leftover Edam cheese from disappearing, they should be stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in edible paper.
See also the composition and calorie content of Shaurs cheese.
Useful properties of Edam cheese
The benefits of Edam cheese for the human body lie in the rich chemical composition of the product. For example, it contains a lot of protein, so it is great for people who do not like or cannot eat meat. Despite the high calorie content, Edam is quickly and easily absorbed, it can be safely eaten even by children (in reasonable quantities).
Useful properties of the product:
- It has a beneficial effect on vision - it contains a large amount of vitamin A.
- Optimizes the functioning of the nervous system and contributes to an increase in lean body mass due to the content of B vitamins.
- Strengthens bones, nails, improves skin and hair condition thanks to calcium and other minerals.
- Quenches Hunger Quickly - A few slices of this cheese with a crispy cracker will help you quickly overcome hunger during work breaks and in other situations when there is no time to cook. Therefore, Edam cheese is indispensable for people who regularly experience heavy physical activity.
- It has a beneficial effect on the entire body of adolescents and pregnant women due to the large amount of mineral salts. To fully replenish the lack of minerals, it is enough to eat only 150 g of Edam daily.
Interesting! In English, the name of the cheese sounds like "Edam" and is read from both sides. Translated into Russian, the word "made" means "to do".
