Beer, Bread and Cheese Test #3, 2013 Review Questions

  1. What are the major components of milk that are important to cheese production?
  2. How does the species of animal used impact the cheese (texture, flavor, etc)? Give three specific examples (one for each species that we sampled) from our final two days of cheese tasting. For each of the cheeses that you choose, tell why that particular species is used in that region of the world.
  3. How does the breed of animal used impact the cheese (texture, flavor, etc)? Be specific.
  4. How does feed impact cheese (flavor, appearance, etc.)? Give three specific examples from our final two days of cheese tasting. Again, for the cheeses that you choose, tell how feedspecifically influences that type of cheese.
  5. How does the geography of a place impact the types of cheeses that get made there? Compare and contrast the various regions of France and Spain that we studied. Be sure to discuss how geography impacted the species/breeds/feeds/cheese-making techniques, etc.
  6. Human culture often impacts cheeses in amazing ways. Discuss how the lifestyles and cultures of herders have led to the production of cheeses such as Morbier and Idiazabal.
  7. Be able to discuss three ways in which Pasteurization impacts the molecules and enzymes that in turn impact cheese quality/flavor/aroma. Give specific examples.
  8. Where did cheese first originate, and how was it made?
  9. What are starter bacteria, and what chemical reaction do they carry out?
  10. What is rennet, and how, specifically, does it cause cheese to coagulate?
  11. Why is curd ‘cut’ after it forms?
  12. After curd is ‘cut’, whey is further expelled in a variety of ways. Describe three and give an example of a cheese that uses each method.
  13. Salt can be added to cheeses in four different ways. Describe each, and then give an example of a cheese made that way.
  14. Propionibacterium shermanii is critical to the production of some pretty famous cheeses. Name two types, and tell what chemical reaction P. shermanii carries out. What impact does this have on the final cheese product (flavor, texture and appearance).
  15. What is a ‘washed rind’ cheese? Give two examples of a washed rind cheese, and tell how that washing impacts the final cheese appearance, aroma and flavor.
  16. Be able to discuss six physical/chemical factors that are involved in determining the types of microbes that grow in cheese. How do these factors tend to change over time (if they do).
  17. What are nonstarter lactic acid bacteria? Where do they come from? What impact do they have on ripening cheese? (give two impacts)
  18. Give two examples of ‘smear’ microbes (can be bacteria or yeasts…NOT molds). What impact do these microbes have on the final cheese product (be specific for each one).
  19. Give one example of a blue mold species and one example of a white mold species that are used to ripen cheese. For each one, give a specific example of a cheese that uses that mold, and tell how the cheese is inoculated.
  20. Tell how molds impact cheeses. Be sure to discuss protein and lipid metabolism and the flavor/aroma compounds generated by these processes. Be sure to discuss the overall impacts on cheese pH, ammonia levels and texture.
  21. What is Cambozola cheese, where is it made, and what is unusual about it?
  22. How does citrate metabolism impact final cheese flavor and appearance?
  23. Discuss the lipolytic agents present in milk, rennet and cheese microflora and the flavor impacts that they have on cheese.
  24. Discuss the three sources for proteolytic enzymes in cheese, and tell how these enzyme impact final cheese texture and flavor.
  25. Many volatile flavor compounds are produced by the metabolism of free fatty acids. For each of the following flavor compounds, tell, what flavor(s) would be imparted, a microbe that regularly produces that compound, and a type of cheese in which that compound would be very prevalent.
  26. Thioesters
  27. Ethyl esters
  28. Alkan-2-ols (secondary alcohols)
  29. Methionine and Phenylalanine often give rise to delicious-smelling aromatics when they are further broken down both spontaneously and by microbial metabolism. What is an example of a good flavor/aroma that can be generated by each?
  30. Pick your favorite cheese and your least favorite cheese (from the ones that you tasted). Be able to describe what it was that you liked and what it was that you disliked about the two cheeses (flavor, texture, aroma…everything). Compare and contrast how each cheese was made (where, type of animal, probable type of feed, microbes involved, ageing process, etc.) and discuss how those processes probably led to the flavors/aromas/textures that you liked/disliked.