Spons' Household Manual: A treasury of domestic receipts and a guide for home management
General
Spons' Household Manual: A treasury of domestic receipts and a guide for home management
Home economics
Stilton.--At Stilton, in Huntingdonshire, where the coaches of the
great north road were wont to stop for luncheon, this cheese was
first introduced to the public. Its sole connection with Stilton is
its name, the cheese itself having been made in the neighbourhood of
Melton Mowbray. Since then it has extended itself over most of the
rich lowlands of Leicestershire and a portion of Nottinghamshire. In
shape it is cylindrical, the outside covered with a whitish rind,
very thick and rough. The flavour of a good Stilton is exquisite,
though, perhaps rather cloying as compared with the finer sorts of
“plain” cheese. It is unfit to be eaten--indeed, is of a nauseous
insipidity--until pretty well covered with blue veins. This will
occur in about 2 years, and should be allowed to come on gradually
and naturally, by merely keeping the cheese moist enough not to
check the decay. Many artifices, however, are resorted to in order
to hasten its maturity, as by placing it in a damp but warm cellar;
sinking it, wrapped in brown paper, in a hotbed, &c. The practice
of pouring port wine into Stilton is condemned by some as at once
wasting good wine and spoiling good cheese. Stilton will be found
most acceptable both at luncheon and dinner. In size it averages 12
lb., and its price is from 1_s._ 6_d._ per lb. There is, however,
no cheese so unequal in quality, whether from accidents to which it
is liable during manufacture, or from whatever other cause, and the
utmost care must be taken in its purchase.
Subjoined is an account of the best known foreign cheeses, from the
same source.
Camembert.--This cheese, which is made in Brittany, is a kind of
cross between the “real” and “cream” cheese. It reminds one much of
the best privately made cream cheese of our own country, with a rich
and peculiar flavour superadded. It is of a soft and creamy texture,
of a yellowish white, flat and very shallow, with a dark brown rind,
very thick and soft. It may be confidently recommended as a real
delicacy, rather for the dinner than the luncheon-table. The price of
Camembert cheeses, which are o£ small size, is about 9-10_d._ each.
Cream Cheeses.--In this production the palm must be yielded by the
English to the foreign market. Our own cheeses of the kind, including
the best of private manufacture, are made to be eaten at once, and
will not bear keeping, by which process the Continental cheese, more
skilfully put together, is much improved.
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