ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the various dairy products and their uses, purchase, and storage. Fermented milk products may be used in sauces, stews, marinades, desserts, or dips when a tangy creaminess is desired. It has a rather strong, tangy flavor (unlike most fresh cheeses), and is used in salads and as an appetizer. Hard cheeses are easy to slice and grate, and are popular for use in cooked dishes. Semisoft cheeses are moister and softer than hard cheeses, but they are not at all crumbly and are very easy to slice. Blue-veined cheeses have been inoculated with a blue mold that not only gives the cheese a very tart, strong flavor and aroma, but also distinctive visible blue streaks. Many areas’ health regulations do not permit, because of the risk of cross-contamination, what was once a common practice: mixing a large quantity of eggs together for use at an omelet station at a buffet.
