Review of Langres cheese: chemical composition, cooking features, useful properties and harm to humans. How is cheese eaten, what dishes with its participation can be prepared in the home kitchen?
Langres cheese is a soft yet firm unpressurized cow's milk cheese made in France. It has a thin orange crust, high fat content (50%) and fermented milk aroma (sometimes quite sharp). The flesh of the cheese can vary in color from bright yellow to dark brown. Langres tastes like smoked and salty bacon. The product is good for bones, eyesight and more. However, nutritionists and other doctors prohibit its use for some categories of people. Further, about who can be harmed by the product, what is included in its composition and how the Langres cheese is prepared.
Features of the preparation of Langres cheese
Langres is considered semi-mature because it takes no more than 5 weeks to ripen (while other French cheeses take months or even years to mature). The duration of the aging of Langres directly depends on the mass of the cheese heads. In rare cases, the delicacy is left in the cellar for 3 months. After this maturing period, the cheese acquires a brownish color.
According to tradition, it is customary to produce Langres in small, traditional cylindrical heads. Such cheese can weigh 800 g and 150 g.
The langre is practically not turned over during ripening, due to which its middle sags on one side, and a shallow notch appears in its place. This shape of the cheese makes it particularly recognizable.
The recess in Langres is called a fountain. In France, it is often poured with red wine or a local variety of vodka, which is made from grape squeeze. Cheese with such a filling is left in the refrigerator for several hours so that alcohol soaks the flesh of the product. Sometimes, in order for the drink to quickly seep into the cheese, its head is pierced with a fork along the perimeter. Alcohol is used to disinfect cheese and improve its taste.
Another distinguishing feature of Langres is the orange crust, which the product acquires thanks to a natural dye made from the seeds of a plant called annatto. The dye is added to the brine and rubbed over the cheese heads during their ripening.
The French learned how to cook Langres cheese back in the 18th century. Since then, the recipe of the product has remained practically unchanged. Experts note that the process of preparing this type of cheese combines many traditions of French cheese making.
Langres Cheese Recipe - Cooking Highlights:
- Raw milk is matured using mesophilic cultures.
- The milk is heated and rennet is added to it for coagulation.
- The resulting curd of cheese is cut into small cubes (2 cm side).
- The cheese with whey is moved into special molds and infused for 15 hours. They do not put a press on it, and do not subject the product to any other physical intervention.
- Then the product is removed from the molds and treated with dry salt.
- Dry at 12 ° C.
- Langres are sent for maturation in a special room with a certain air temperature (6-14 ° C) and humidity (not less than 80%).
- The almost finished delicacy is dried on special grates. The duration of such a procedure is always different - it is important that the mass of the cheese is reduced by almost 2 times.
Read also how Pont-l'Eveque cheese is made.
Composition and calorie content of Langres cheese
The composition of Langres cheese has not changed for centuries, as before, it includes the following ingredients: fatty cow's milk, mesophilic sourdough, salt, natural orange dye.
The calorie content of Langres cheese per 100 g is 304 kcal, of which:
- Proteins - 17, 2 g;
- Fat - 24.6 g;
- Carbohydrates - 0, 68 g;
- Dietary fiber - 12.7 g;
- Water - 55, 1 g.
Langres cheese contains a lot of useful elements, for example, Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), Sodium (Na), Phosphorus (P) and more.
Trace elements in 100 g of Langre cheese:
- Copper, Cu - 70 μg;
- Iron, Fe - 0, 136 g;
- Selenium, Se - 6 μg;
- Zinc, Zn - 6 g.
Vitamins per 100 g of product:
- Vitamin A, retinol - 180 mcg;
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 10 mcg;
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.33 g;
- Vitamin B3, niocin - 0.1 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 0.2 mg;
- Vitamin B6, pyridoxine - 0.06 g;
- Vitamin B9, folacin - 16 mcg;
- Vitamin B12, cobalamin - 1.7 mcg;
- Vitamin C, ascorbic acid - 0.6 g;
- Vitamin D, calciferol - 0.95 g;
- Vitamin E, tocopherol - 0.6 g.
Interesting! In 2005, French cheesemakers managed to produce more than 300 tons of Langres cheese per year.
Useful properties of Langres cheese
The benefits of Langres cheese are largely due to the high content of casein, a type of protein that contains several types of opiates. Simply put, casein has an effect on the human body that is vaguely similar to sedative and antispasmodic.
Other beneficial properties of Langres cheese:
- Participates in the correction of vision - contains a lot of vitamins that have a beneficial effect on the eye organs. Also, the rich vitamin complex strengthens the immune system.
- Strengthens bones and teeth, improves skin condition due to the presence of calcium, magnesium and other minerals.
- Partially replaces meat - eliminates the lack of vitamin B12 in people who have given up eating meat products.
- Favorably affects the state of the nervous system - vitamins of group B take part in this process.
- Optimizes the work of the cardiovascular system - contains unsaturated fats.
Read more about the health benefits of Scamorza cheese.
Contraindications and harm of Langres cheese
The harm of Langre cheese lies in the high calorie content of the product. Doctors do not recommend the daily use of such cheese, even for people who do not have health problems. It is safe to eat Langres no more than 2-3 times a week. If you are struggling with excess weight, you can use a fermented milk product only as a seasoning or a modest addition to other dishes.
Please note that you can get better from cheese due to the high content of not only fat, but also sodium chloride (table salt) in the product. Salt, entering the human body, contributes to the accumulation of fluid in it, which causes swelling of the legs, heart and pressure problems.
Diseases for which Langres cheese is contraindicated:
- excess cholesterol in the blood;
- high blood pressure;
- arterial disease, such as atherosclerosis;
- acute diseases of the digestive system.
It is forbidden to give cheese to small children, especially toddlers under the age of 1 year.
Langres Cheese Recipes
It is customary to serve langres as an independent snack for red wines or light spirits. Often, French chefs use it to prepare expensive restaurant dishes.
Here are some recipes for dishes with Langres cheese that you can cook in your home kitchen:
- Warm hearty salad … Cut 400 g of chicken into large pieces (it is better to choose the breast). Fry the chicken in vegetable oil, add 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) and a few sprigs of basil to it. Wash and dice 2 peaches and 1 small red onion. Combine all prepared ingredients and prepare a dressing for them. To do this, combine 3 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar and olive oil, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp. l. honey and the same amount of lemon juice. Add the coarsely chopped salad mix to the chicken, peaches and onions and season with the prepared sauce (leave a little sauce for the final cooking step). Place the salad on a serving platter, on top of it, place a few slices of langre cheese and a handful of pecans. Season the salad with black pepper and drizzle with the rest of the sauce. Bon Appetit!
- Bright salad with mango … Start by making a salad dressing. Mix 3 tbsp. l. olive oil with 1 tsp. Dijon mustard and the same amount of fresh honey. To give the dressing an original taste, pour 1 tsp into it. apple cider vinegar. Cut 1 celery and 1 mango into strips (choose not very ripe fruit). Combine the chopped ingredients with a handful of arugula and cooked sauce, leaving a few drops of the dressing to serve the salad. Place the salad on a platter, on top of it lay the slices of Langres cheese drizzled with the rest of the sauce.
- Exotic pancakes with steamed cheese … Chop the Langres cheese into small pieces (determine the quantity according to your taste) and 2 small nectarines. Moisten 2 rice leaves a little in water, they will act as pancakes. Wrap the prepared filling in rice leaves, sprinkling with Sweet Chili dressing. Roll the leaves into oblong pancakes. Steam the dish for 5-7 minutes. Top the pancakes with soy sauce and garnish with hot chili before serving.
- Quick snack … Prepare a fresh French baguette, cut it in half lengthwise. Lick only a few of the thinnest slices of Langres cheese on it (you can cut it into any pieces). Pour jam or jam over the cheese and garnish with nuts. The treat is ready!
- Rolls with cheese and asparagus … This dish is ideal for serving with alcoholic drinks as a snack. It cooks quickly, looks aesthetically pleasing and quickly satisfies hunger. Peel 7 sprigs of fresh asparagus. To do this quickly, soak the product in boiling water for just 1 minute and clean it immediately. Slice the langres into thin slices. Wrap the cheese with asparagus with oblong pieces of red fish, you can choose lightly salted trout (300 g) for this. Sprinkle the resulting rolls with ground allspice. The dish is ready to serve.
- Salmon in foil … Buy at the store or chop 4 salmon steaks yourself. Season them with a little salt or sprinkle with a special fish seasoning. Be sure to squeeze the lemon juice onto the salmon. While the fish is marinating, cut 4 large, juicy tomatoes into slices. Grate 150 g of Langres cheese. Cut off hard legs from 1 bunch of dill, leaving only its delicate branches. Fold the foil leaves in two layers and form them into a kind of pockets for baking fish. Keep in mind that the top of the pockets will need to be tightly closed, so take a little more foil. Be sure to grease the inside of the foil with vegetable oil. Place the steaks in the foil blanks. Place dill sprigs and tomatoes on top of the fish. The final layer should be cheese. You can squeeze a little mayonnaise on top of it (it will prevent the unwanted transformation of the cheese into a rubber mass). Tie the edges of the pockets together and put the fish in the oven for half an hour. When the dish is ready, open the foil and leave the fish in the oven for a few minutes. During this time, the cheese will acquire a beautiful golden crust. The dish can be served in foil or laid out on a separate plate. You can use mashed potatoes or baked vegetables as a side dish.
On a note! Grated cheese can stick together and stick to your hands, to fix this, it must be sent to the freezer for a few minutes.
Interesting facts about Langres cheese
Langres cheese is AOC certified, which means that it can only be produced in certain areas of France, exclusively according to a standard recipe. The cheese received such a document from the French Ministry of Agriculture. Until that moment, Langres was considered a simple peasant product and did not constitute any value for the state.
The cheese got its name in honor of the city in which it was made for the first time. Popularity to Langres did not come immediately: for many years local monks bought a satisfying product from peasants and did not attach much importance to it. Once one of the abbots of the monastery composed a song praising delicious and healthy cheese. Since then, the fame of Langre has spread throughout the country.
Watch a video about Langres cheese:
Langres cheese is a French delicacy that is quite difficult to find on the shelves of domestic stores. The fermented milk product is especially useful for adolescents during the period of active growth (due to the calcium content). Stock up on Langrome in case of an unexpected visit: a few slices of cheese on toasted toast make a great snack for a fine wine.
