Caseophile

German designer Anke Domaske and her fashions made from milk

Impressive, isn't it ?

 

Bugs to reveal imitation cheese

A smart initiative from the makers of Swiss Emmentaler cheese: after many years of research, they have decided to implant, deliberately, specific bacteria in the starter cultures used in its production ... bacteria that cannot be found in any other "emmental" or "Swiss cheese" as they are named in USA produced anywhere else in the world.

This is not for technical reasons, but legal ones!

It's simply so that they can quickly and effectively verify if cheese sold as "Swiss Emmentaler" is in fact genuine ... as it is estimated that 10% of such cheese sold as Swiss is counterfeit.

It's quite unacceptable to usurp the reputation of Swiss quality in order to sell one's cheese at a higher price. So bravo, gentlemen!

Further info (in French) on www.le matin.ch

You can eat dairy products and lose weight?

I've just read it on the blog of Beatrice de Reynal (in French) and feel people should be made aware that there has been a study by an Australian research team, not as yet validated on a large scale, which claims that eating significant quantities of calcium and vitamin D at breakfast could lead to "burning" calories. Thus to not putting on weight. Fine if it is a secondary effect of a long term treatment for osteoporosis...

But if you were to try to test it out by eating a lot of dairy products ... do take care with fats (cheeses) and sugars (yoghourt and so on): they could have the opposite effect!

More information is to be found (in French) on the GRIO (Osteoporosis Research and Information Group) where you can work out if your diet is sufficiently rich in natural calcium. You'd have to eat 9 yoghourts a day to reach the recommended daily dose...

 

Cheese + dark chocolate is good for your health ???

I saw this on a (French) Canadian site called Passport santé.

According to Professor Arne Astrup of Copenhagen University: "Several studies show that if saturated fats increase bad cholesterol (LDL), they also increase good cholesterol (HDL) unlike unsaturated fats which lower LDL as well as HDL".

"Dark chocolate also contains polyphenols which, together with saturated fats, reduce cardiovascular problems, particularly by lowering blood pressure. And combining dark chocolate with walnuts is even better".

As for cheese, it increases total cholesterol (good and bad varieties) but it also represents a substantial dose of calcium and proteins, which according to the professor, helps to make you feel full.

"Eaten in moderation, cheese is an excellent food, but you must be careful: excessive consumption leads to putting on weight which itself heightens the risk of heart problems"

I fear, alas, that one too easily forgets that –as we say in France – "it's the dose that makes the poison."

So keep off too much cheese and too much (dark) chocolate... even during Christmas time!

A fascinating study on the concept of taste from the new centre for the sciences of taste and diet in Dijon

The capital of Burgundy has had since the start of this year a research centre in keeping with the gastronomic reputation of the area.

Not far from 200 personnel belonging to the CNRS (National Scientific Research Centre), INRA (Agronomical research), the University of Burgundy and the Agrosup college of Dijon are working there on food, its sensory perception and its regulation. Or as it is put in the INRA Dijon website: research in this domain is focussed on the subjects of sensory perception, food, health and more especially the quality of foodstuffs (olfaction, gestation, vision) and its impact on the preferences and choices of consumers. Taste and sensory perception stand out as major scientific and societal issues in keeping with the image of Burgundy.

And I've just been able to look at one of the first studies to appear... not the one about flora in cheeses (very technical) but another about flavours which allow one to give back a savoury taste to a product which no longer has one or, to put it more exactly, savoury flavour enhancers. A balancing mechanism between the senses of smell and taste.

Above all, did you hear about a "Pavlovian" reflex which causes a product to be perceived as savoury as soon as you say it contains bacon or anchovy?...

A fascinating subject ... don't you think?

More info in French to be had on the INRA website.

Cheese without lactose

Last week I read about a Spanish company which had launched a range of cheeses without lactose. Fromage frais, to be precise, as matured cheese contains little lactose which is found in the whey and drained off in the maturing process. And it had also launched a mature goat cheese.

In addition, these cheeses have a reduced salt and fatty matter content, the starter cultures used being from the Bifidus and L. Casei family... in other words a "healthy" cheese par excellence, as reflected in its name ... Sannum (from Palancares Alimentacion)

Well I do understand that according to surveys, 40% of Spaniards are intolerant of lactose... but if you understand me well: you only need to eat well matured cheeses, in other words, good cheeses!

But that's just my point of view...

What’s all this about a machine to test your polyphenols?

Le Figaro newspaper recently ran an article about the invention of a superb machine designed to allow diabetics to measure their condition before eating, with the machine giving you the opportunity to test the polyphenols in any wine you are about to drink!

I have already pointed out to you that wines are not all equal when it comes to the presence of polyphenols, which have – or are said to have (depending on your belief or scepticism) - a beneficial effect on your health and your cardio-vascular system.

In any case if you're drinking, you might as well do yourself some good at the same time, don't you think? I expect that's what the inventors of this machine had in mind...

But I just don't buy that. I certainly won't be acquiring that machine as I'm not interested in the slightest what the wine I am drinking is doing to me. You won't find me quaffing 20 glasses of a wine under the pretext that it is giving me a "useful" (??) dose of polyphenols! One shouldn't go over the top like that, should one? Just drink wines you like, and always in moderation.

That's my point of view anyway...

Cheese as a means of dispensing probiotics...

It's not easy getting people who are very old to drink small doses of probiotics – they're not used to that sort of thing!

But some Finnish researchers have discovered that getting them to consume daily a portion of Gouda type cheese "laced" with probiotics (certain probiotics are starter cultures which stay "alive" so this does not affect the use of the word "cheese") seem to be effective against changes in the immunological system caused by ageing.(source: www.i-dietetique.com)

In fact in Finland, as in Canada, some cheese makers have for some time gone into this narrow market sector which is growing.

Back in December 2005, the French blogagroalimentaire was speaking of the potential cheese had by including probiotics. And at the end of 2008 some Canadian Universities were praising the launch of a Saint-Paulin type cheese including probiotics, resulting from a collaboration between a cheese maker and the University of Laval, underlining the fact that two other such cheeses already existed on the market but as "diet cheese" = low fat (i.e. tasteless)

But we've not seen this to date in France ... to my knowledge!

And when I read that probiotics can have an effect on weight loss, I say to myself that if only this could be combined with a top quality cheese, I know of many who'd be running to the store! The big problem of course is to maintain live bacteria after the maturing of the cheese...

But I'm sure technicians somewhere are working on this conundrum at this very moment.

Bacterial flora and the battle against listeria

A week ago there appeared in the French business daily – "Les Echos" – a short article entitled "Raw milk cheeses: halophilic bacteria a bastion against listeria". It concerned a study undertaken by the INRA institute in the Auvergne on the flora in St Nectaire cheese: the specific microbic biodiversity of these dairy products (which) allows them to provide their own defence mechanism. Contrary to what one might believe, microfiltration and pasteurisation favour the appearance of listeria by eliminating "good bacteria".

I am thrilled that a journal of the standard of Les Echos provides this sort of information.

Well then, halophiles are indeed bacteria which live in a salty medium and are said to inhibit listeria. And one needs salt to preserve cheeses of course... So put together this fact with what Béatrice de Reynal was saying some months ago on her website Miam Miam and you see that you are allowed to continue eating cheese made with raw milk without feeling bad about it

;-)

Did you know why the USA only allows the sale of raw milk cheeses matured in 60+ days? Quite simply because scientists have been able to prove that beyond that period other floral species innate in raw milk have literally blocked listeria.

Which goes against camembert which gets to the top of its form (and taste) in 54 days!

But you never hear of listeria in Roquefort or Comté cheese... despite always being made from raw milk...

How the treatment of milk can affect its quality

The INRA national research institute has published a note (in French only) which refers to how the treatment of milk (pasteurisation, UHT, microfiltration) impacts on the nutritional quality of milk

"Heat treatment leads to structural modifications which are well established these days and which potentially can affect the nutritional quality of its proteins"

I was talking a few weeks ago with professionals about the comparison between camemberts made with raw milk, heated, pasteurised milk or micro-filtered milk: the way a camembert is shaped is by far its major point of differentiation (with a ladle in 5 gestures scarcely cutting into the curds / breaking the curds into beads), and it is extremely difficult to recognise any distinction between raw milk and micro-filtered milk, sometimes even with heated milk. But as soon as you start pasteurisation, the difference is more apparent. It's not been tried with a UHT milk – they don't use that in cheese making...

Make a note of this name… SRT 1720 … and its effect on obesity

Now this is nothing new, but I came across again an article from the Figaro newspaper of 6 November 2008 which I thought worth mentioning to you.

Maybe it's because of the life I've been leading in recent months, which has caused me to put on too many kilos extra weight, and because I'm trying to find a diet which serves me better (rest, quiet, light meals taken at regular hours, physical exercise… hmm … not easy things to achieve when you are running a business!)

;-)

Well then, some researchers in Illkirch (in Alsace) discovered a synthetic molecule which copies some components in wine (polyphenols) and which allows mice to keep their weight constant despite a high calorie diet, and which does not make them type 2 diabetic, as well as enhancing their muscular activity.

A dream come true! If only it could work on humans without secondary effects… However, you could ask oneself the question: could one ingest the natural equivalent of this synthetic molecule by drinking wine?

The answer is clear: No! You'd have to drink hundreds of litres of wine a day to take in the necessary dose. Hmm, so that's out – it would be deadly for your organism!

So this does not help explain the famous "French Paradox".

And yet, I do recall a discussion I had with a nutritionist who pointed out to me that you rarely see fat alcoholics … I mean people who drink neat alcohol, not wine or beer etc… But you never see old ones either…

So as always, as we say in French … it's the quantity that's the poison. So be careful!

Science can be fun…

Just take a look at this extremely serious website, in English… www.cheesescience.net whose creator clearly loves cheese… and mice. Check out the article lower down as well as a fun video asking the question: why do dogs love cheese?

No more bottled water!

It's a French organic supermarket chain that has come up with a first-rate idea for respecting the environment: all Biocoop shops will no longer sell bottled water as from next January 1^st.

For this chain of shops this represents a saving of 70 tons of plastic and above all 35 tonnes of annual carbon equivalent … equal to the heating of a two bedroom flat for 35 years (according to Biocoop) … an idea that I have always adhered to … as I've never signed up to the idea of paying 200 times the cost of tap water, unless I'm travelling. This remind me of an excellent advertising campaign undertaken by the city of Paris (see below)

And if you find your tap water has an unpleasant taste, invest in a filter or an "osmosis machine" (but don't ask me how that particular thing works…)

 

 

To lose weight – consume more dairy products?

Am I dreaming?

This is what I came across a short while ago in the Canadian cyberpress, picking up on a study undertaken in Australia at the New Curtin University.

In the context of a diet that is poor in calories, an increase in dairy product consumption can make you lose some centimetres around the waist. This type of diet rich in protein, calcium and vitamin D among other bio-active foodstuffs can play an important role in the loss or stabilisation of body weight, so says Dr Chan She Ping Delfos, the director of this study, published last month.

Dairy products are recognised as a good source of proteins, calcium and vitamins and can increase the sense of sufficiency at the same time as increasing the metabolic activity of the body. But when they are combined with a calorie-rich diet, they do not contribute to weight loss", according to Delfos.

Phew! I breathe a sigh of relief… my diet is probably too rich in calories, as I've never noticed that happening…

Nevertheless, I do recall full well that Montignac in his famous "lose weight with business lunches" diet did suggest eating a portion of cheese by itself, without bread, when you are starving hungry, rather than a very sweet fruit.

But as usual, some will say yes and some no … there's no single truth – we are all made differently!

Cheese and Zinc

Strange but true…cheeses are these days the most important contributor of zinc to the food that we French eat, and the second most important to our children's food, after milk.

It's not me that says so, it's the "Cheese and Health Institute" which does just that and they are run by the milk industry … and the same is said in other sources like a Canadian health site.

Also Le Progrès, the major daily newspaper in Lyon featured on its website leprogres.fr on 19 October, an article claiming "eat Comté cheese so you don't get ill" … because… to ensure you don't, you should try maintaining an adequate level of zinc in your diet and cheese fits the bill to a greater or lesser extent (one should avoid generalising – to speak of cheese in a general way is a heresy anyway, you should always say "cheeses" and just look on this website : you should eat less minced beef than camembert for the same quantity of zinc!) - yes, it's cheese that's the principal source of zinc for the French.

So let's build up our immunity by eating certain cheeses… although that's not the main reason to do so, the main reason for buying Comté cheese should always be its taste!

In summary, you can still derive pleasure by eating what is good for you, why not? If you know that a dose of zinc is perhaps beneficial, fine, but you should nonetheless remember that certain other ingredients in cheese can have other less benign consequences on the health of certain people. It's all a question of moderation.

Caring for milk in stormy weather

While our grandmothers used to bring to the boil the milk which we used to cart home in 2-litre aluminium pails (which we also used when we went gathering berries in the woods). In short, before any of us had a fridge at home, boiling milk up allowed us to keep it for 24 hours – even in stormy weather.

Today we have UHT and refrigerators to take care of it. But even today the best way of preserving milk is to turn it into cheese! So off to find the rennet? Well, it's not that easy to turn to a litre carton of skimmed UHT milk you've already opened and hope to do the trick. What you really need is good full cream raw milk direct from the cow's (or goat's or ewe's) teat. But you'll also need to learn how. Be patient – and don't forget that in Switzerland it takes 7 years' study (2 for theory and 5 for practice) to become an official "cheese maker"…

Milk products are good for you

An obvious statement you are always hearing but it is always interesting to look at the evidence. In recent days, I have visited a scientific site "maxisciences" and saw the item on May 6^th about how cheese is good for you. It was based on a note from the Fromages & Santé (Cheese and Health) Institute (site in French) which has been operating for some 3 years.

This Institute is of course supported by the big French names in cheese such as Bel, Bongrain (who started it) and Lactalis, as well as CNIEL (National Milk Council) … but it is interesting to read there, as elsewhere, that you should never overdo it!

 

Goats and sheep on a Mediterranean diet

The European Food Information Council has published a study carried out in Spain and Wales on the case for a diet based on olive derivatives aimed at flocks of sheep and goats.

This study shows that the inclusion in their foodstuffs of olive derivatives clearly improves the quality of fatty matter in their milk and thus enhances their cheese making properties.

These derivatives are:

• the leaves, or more precisely a mixture of leaves and branches
• a "cake" made from their pulp, stones and water
• or other forms: pulp, skin…

 

There is a need to pay attention at the same time to reducing the level of copper present in their diet, as this chemical is often used as a treatment of crops against fungal or bacterial attacks.

In other words a Mediterranean diet can exist also for ruminants!

More info in English on this site.

Spring has sprung – do you feel like a whey diet?

Spring is the time to purge your body by a diet. So here's one. From France, a fashionable method which is based on whey or lactoserum (milk plasma). Nothing new, as it was very 'in' during the 19^th century.

From ancient times, ass's milk was thought to be good for the skin (thank you Cleopatra!). And coming much closer to today, certain spas in Savoie (or Switzerland) have extolled its virtues in a 3 week "cure", alongside more traditional fresh air and thermal treatments.

In Morzine for instance, there is a hotel which has built up a strong reputation in this area, so I read in a local newspaper. However I discovered on the internet that it is the inhabitants of Sion in the Valais in Switzerland who are actually called "whey drinkers"!

Even today, particularly in Switzerland, they continue to recommend drinking whey regularly as a food medicine (with its supposed virtues against arthritis, flatulence, cholesterol, constipation, cystitis, eczema, hypertension and obesity) – in any case, since lactose is its principal element, whey essentially provides energy and since it is rich in potassium (+ lactose), it is also a diuretic. Hence its use in certain diets for sports people…

Well anyway, don't go rushing off to a cheese making plant close to home – I doubt they would be selling it anyway – as it is a by-product in the cheese manufacturing process which is much in demand: once dried, it is incorporated in a good number of milk-based desserts and other food products for humans and animals alike…

The days when piggeries were to be found next to cheese makers have long since gone by… as lactoserum is full to the brim with good things like lactose, proteins, vitamins and minerals.

The FAO has good things to say about whey (look it up on that site for technical detail) –in its use in various forms of bakery, animal food as well as human food, with nutritional qualities in baby food, in cooked dishes, milk and soft drinks, and even confectionery, dried soups, ice cream, liver paste, yeast and bread.

NB there are two types of this serum:

• a mild variety emanating from the production of hard and semi-hard cheeses - Emmental and Saint-Paulin etc.
• an acid variety emanating from other mixed or lactic coagulated cheeses (soft and fresh cheeses)

Each one has its particular qualities.

And in Switzerland there exists a drink containing 30% whey called RIVELLA.

So when do we start our diet?

Finally the French have a saying based on this product – boire du petit lait. According to the Robert dictionary, it means "éprouver une vive satisfaction d'amour-propre" or to have a strong feeling of self satisfaction. So like Miss Muffit, drink your curds and whey … and give yourself a pat on the back!

Bacteria in the mouth and the perception of aroma

I read recently on the blogalimentaire site an interesting article about the proliferation of bacteria in the mouth which can affect significantly the perception of aromas... and this is because the bacteria themselves actually produce their aromas...

Let me explain: I usually make the point in my courses that no one person actually perceives aromas in exactly the same way as his neighbour for three reasons

1) Genetics: 358 genes have been traced to date in an olfactory neuron, so unless it’s your twin, nobody is the same as you.

2) Biology: the effect of one’s saliva in modifying one’s perception is much underrated. In fact it varies a great deal, depending on one’s physiological state (tiredness, stress...), and what has just been eaten.

3) Upbringing: beginning with the culinary culture in which one has been brought up.

As for point no. 2, I must henceforth point out that the bacteria in the mouth can play an important role as they can cause invasive aromas…

 The researchers at the outset of this study have been able to demonstrate that bad breath can result from the degradation of methionine or cysteine, emanating from alimentary proteins caught between the teeth. In particular, deposits of Fusobacterium nucleatum can be responsible for the production of hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans.

Mercaptan… a term I have not heard mentioned for some years now … meaning “that which captures mercury”, because thiols (their scientific name) react in contact with mercury ions. As the website http://www.viticulture-oenologie-formation.fr explains:

Bad taste due to excessive reduction of wines. Mercaptan is often due to the formation of H2S and is generally characterised by a strong smell similar to bad eggs. The perception of mercaptan can be removed by aerating the wine and placing it in contact with copper. H2S takes the form of copper sulphide and the bad smell disappears. Sometimes mercaptan is due to the thiol function and is much more difficult to eliminate.

That well-known H2S of our childhood stink bombs!