Toppings, Gratins When a thin layer of cheese is heated in the oven or under a broiler — on a gratin, a pizza, or bruschetta — the intense heat can quickly dehydrate the casein fabric, toughen it, and cause its fat to separate To avoid this, watch the dish carefully and remove it as soon as the cheese melts On the other hand, browned, crisp cheese is quite delicious: the religieuse at the bottom of the fondue pot crowns the meal If you want a cheese topping to brown, then pick a robust cheese that resists fat loss and stringiness The grating cheeses are especially versatile; Parmesan can be formed into a thin disk and melted and lightly browned in a frying pan or the oven, then molded into cups or other shapes Process and Low-Fat Cheeses Process cheese is an industrial version of cheese that makes use of surplus, scrap, and unripened materials It began as a kind of resolidified, long-keeping fondue made from trimmings of genuine cheeses that were unsaleable due to partial defects or damage The first industrial attempts to melt together a blend of shredded cheeses were made at the end of the 19th century The key insight — the necessity of “melting salts” analogous to the tartaric acid and citric acid in a fondue’s wine or lemon juice — came in Switzerland in 1912 Five years later, the American company Kraft patented a combination of citric acid and phosphates, and a decade after that it brought out the popular cheddar look-alike Velveeta Today, manufacturers use a mixture of sodium citrate, sodium phosphates, and sodium polyphosphates, and a blend of new, partly ripened, and fully ripened cheeses The polyphosphates (negatively charged chains of phosphorus and oxygen atoms that attract a cloud of water molecules) not only remove ... blend of shredded cheeses were made at the end of the 19th century The key insight — the necessity of “melting salts” analogous to the tartaric acid and citric acid in a fondue’s wine or lemon juice — came in Switzerland in... Today, manufacturers use a mixture of sodium citrate, sodium phosphates, and sodium polyphosphates, and a blend of new, partly ripened, and fully ripened cheeses The polyphosphates (negatively charged chains of phosphorus and oxygen atoms that attract a... It began as a kind of resolidified, long-keeping fondue made from trimmings of genuine cheeses that were unsaleable due to partial defects or damage The first industrial attempts to melt together a blend of shredded cheeses were made at the