All About The Cheese in The Cheesecake

What makes cheesecakes adaptable to any culinary style

is their cheese. Back in Ancient Greece, every market

sold cheeses to those who cannot make their own. By

the time the fourth century B.C. came, the most

accepted white Greek cheeses were being seasoned with

spices and baked into a manner similar to pies and

cakes. Even the Romans, during the height of their

power, used a great deal of cheese in their cooking.

They preserved cheese using a salt-based sauce and

provided the recipe for the celebration of the wedding

cake, which still contain cheese as the main

ingredient.

The Americans and Their Cream Cheese

A soft, mild-tasting, sweet, white cheese is the cream

cheese. Generally, cream cheese contains at least 33

percent milk fat and a moisture content of not more

than 55 percent and a pH level ranging from 4.4 to

4.9. Cream cheese is not usually matured and is meant

to be consumed fresh. This makes it diverse from other

supple cheeses, like the Neufchatel and the Europe’s

Brie. The taste, production and texture of the cream

cheese are more comparable to that of the Mascarpone

and Boursin.

Cream cheese was known to originate in the United

States during the year 1872. In Chester, New York, a

dairyman developed a richer cheese made from whole

milk and cream. During the year 1880, A.L. Reynolds,

one of the cheese distributors in New York, first

began issuing cream cheese, which was then covered in

tin-foil wrappers, called the Philadelphia Brand.

Hence, the name Philadelphia Brand cream cheese was

adopted by the Reynolds for the product since, at that

time, the quality of food products were related with

the city where it originated.

It was not until 1912, when James L. Kraft created the

pasteurized cheese. This invention eventually led to

the improvement of the pasteurized Philadelphia Brand

cream cheese, which is not the most fashionable cheese

used in making cheesecakes.

The French and Their Neufchatel

While the Americans like to use cream cheeses for

their cheesecakes, the French used Neufchatel cheese

in their own culinary style of creating cheesecakes.

Neufchatel is a flavorful cheese that provides

cheesecakes with a light and airy texture and

eventually became the basis of the modern American

cheesecake.

The French Neufchatel is slightly crumbly, soft and

mould-ripened made in the region of Normandy. It was

one of the oldest cheeses in France with production

dating back as far as the 6th century. Neufchatel

cheese is somewhat similar to camembert in appearance,

with a white, dry and edible rind, but with a sharper

and saltier taste.

Additionally, Neufchatel cheese has the aroma and

taste of mushrooms. What makes this cheese different

is that unlike other cheeses with soft and white

rinds, Neufchatel cheese has a grainy texture.

Although, Neufchatel has been less popular after the

World War II, several cheesecake recipes still use the

cheese. In fact, there are also Americans who likes to

use Neufchatel instead of cream cheese when making

cheesecakes, which they can purchase at several

gourmet shops.

The Italians and Their Ricotta

When the Italian adopted the cheesecake recipe, they

used ricotta cheese to make their cheesecake a little

drier.

Ricotta cheese is a whey cheese made in Italy. It uses

whey, which is a limpid, low-fat and nutritious liquid

that is the by-product of cheese production. In its

basic form, ricotta is also an un-ripened and uncooked

curd, which is normally un-drained of its whey. It has

a fresh, creamy and grainy white appearance, slightly

sweet in taste and usually contains around 5% fat.