cheese Thanks to newly sensitive analytical instruments, dairy chemists have recently verified what connoisseurs have known for centuries: an animal’s diet influences its milk and the cheese made from it French studies of alpine Gruyère found a larger number of flavor compounds in cheeses made during summer pasturage compared to winter stable feeding, and more herbaceous and floral terpenes and other aromatics (p 273) in mountain cheeses than cheeses from the high plateaus, which in turn have more than cheeses from the plains (alpine meadows have more diverse vegetation than the grassy lowlands) Like fruits, cheeses made from pasturefed animals are seasonal The season depends on the local climate — the summer is green in the Alps, the winter in California — and how long it takes a particular cheese to mature Cheeses made from pasturage are generally recognizable by their deeper yellow color, due to the greater content of carotenoid pigments in fresh vegetation (p 267) (Bright orange cheeses have been dyed.) Pasteurized and Raw Milks In modern cheese production, the milk is almost always pasteurized to eliminate disease and spoilage bacteria This is really a practical necessity in industrial cheesemaking, which requires that milk be pooled and stored from many farms and thousands of animals The risk of contamination — which only takes one diseased cow or dirty udder — is too great Since the late 1940s, the U.S Food and Drug Administration has required that any cheese made from unpasteurized, “raw” milk must be aged a minimum of 60 days at a temperature above 35ºF/2ºC, conditions that are thought to eliminate whatever pathogens might have been in the milk; and since the early 1950s it has also banned the import of raw-milk cheeses aged less than 60 days This means ...to the greater content of carotenoid pigments in fresh vegetation (p 267) (Bright orange cheeses have been dyed.) Pasteurized and Raw Milks In modern cheese production, the milk is almost... disease and spoilage bacteria This is really a practical necessity in industrial cheesemaking, which requires that milk be pooled and stored from many farms and thousands of animals The risk of contamination... of animals The risk of contamination — which only takes one diseased cow or dirty udder — is too great Since the late 1940s, the U.S Food and Drug Administration has required that any cheese made from unpasteurized, “raw” milk must be