There a hundreds of varieties of cheese and they are very nutritious, being high in energy, protein, calcium and phosphorus. Each type is different in fat which is usually expressed as a percentage of the dry matter. Cheeses can be made from milk of cows, goats, ewe's (sometimes mixed), or even mare's and buffalo's. Also the milk can be whole, skimmed, or enriched. In addition, the characteristics of the manufacturing methods give rise to several classes of cheeses. there are four stages in the basic process... acidification, coagulation, cutting and draining of the curds and the ripening.
Many cheeses can be used in cooking, as a basic ingredient or to add flavour. They can be used either raw (in mixed salads, canapés, pastries, or on breads, etc.), or more often cooked (as in soufflés, omelettes, sauces, pizzas, soups, etc.). There is a large variety of dishes based on cheese: flamiche, fondue, keshy yena, Welch rarebit, raclette, gougère, croque-monsieur, croûtes, patranque, goyère, truffade, imbrucciata, aligot, etc. French soft cheese is used more in pâtisserie.
There is a vegetarian cheese that is usually a cheddar-type that has the same ingredients as normal cheddar but uses microbial enzymes to clot the milk, instead of animal-derived rennet. It has the same qualities as cheddar.
