AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making Cheese the Traditional Way

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making Cheese the Traditional Way
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 27, 2005

I'm Doug Johnson with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The ancient way to store milk for long periods of time is to make it into cheese.

Bobolink Dairy near Vernon, New Jersey¹
Industrial methods create huge amounts of dairy products used by a large and growing population. But many people still enjoy foods made in traditional ways. And a growing number of people are using and sharing traditional ways to make foods like cheese.

Jonathan White and his wife, Nina, teach about, make and sell cheese made in traditional ways. They own Bobolink Dairy in the state of New Jersey.

The Whites raise cows fed on grass. This is already different from industrial production, where milk cows are fed grain.

Mister White is not interested in selling fresh milk. He says he gets more money making his milk into cheese. He sells his products for about forty-four dollars per kilogram.

A machine pumps milk from the cow to a pipe for collection. One person can run several of these devices at the same time.
Most mornings, Mister White and his assistants move the cows from fields to a large shelter, or barn. The cows are milked by machine, with a device that attaches to their udders. The milk travels through a pipe to a large container, or vat², that holds the milk for cheese making.

The vat is made of stainless³ steel. It has a motorized arm that moves in a circle, which mixes the milk. The vat is temperature-controlled. Mister White usually keeps the milk at about thirty-two degrees Celsius⁴.

The cheese making process begins as soon as the milk leaves the cows and enters the vat. Bacteria in the milk start to change the milk sugars into lactic⁵ acid through the process of fermentation. The acid suppresses harmful bacteria.

To help the process, a small amount of milk product from yesterday's cheese making is put into today's fermenting⁷ milk.

The agitator⁸ mixes milk in the vat. Fermentation is just beginning.
Mister White estimates that there are about fifteen important organisms -- bacteria, molds and yeasts⁹ -- that ferment⁶ his milk. That combination makes the taste of the cheese one-of-a-kind. The combination of the kinds of cows used and the grasses they eat would have to be copied exactly.

Cheese could be made by the fermentation process alone. But most cheese needs something else to make it solid before it is pressed into its well-known forms.

The story of how cheese changes from a fermenting liquid to a solid is our subject next week.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Doug Johnson.

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

3 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 lactic   

adj.乳汁的

参考例句：

• Now they wear rubber fingers treated with lactic acid.现在他们带上了用乳酸处理过的橡皮指套。
• Lactic acid is an important organic acid of industrial importance.乳酸是一种具有重要工业价值的有机酸。

6 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。

7 fermenting   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• The fermenting wine has bubbled up and over the top. 发酵的葡萄酒已经冒泡，溢了出来。 来自辞典例句
• It must be processed through methods like boiling, grinding or fermenting. 它必须通过煮沸、研磨、或者发酵等方法加工。 来自互联网

8 agitator   

n.鼓动者；搅拌器

参考例句：

• Hitler's just a self-educated street agitator.希特勒无非是个自学出身的街头煽动家罢了。
• Mona had watched him grow into an arrogant political agitator.莫娜瞧着他成长为一个高傲的政治鼓动家。

9 yeasts   

酵母( yeast的名词复数 )； 酵母菌； 发面饼； 发酵粉

参考例句：

• The basidiospores proliperate in a manner comparable to the multiplication of yeasts. 担孢子以一种可与酵母繁殖相比拟的方式进行增殖。
• Wine yeasts can grow in sweet wines even after bottling. 装瓶以后葡萄酒酵母也能在甜葡萄酒中生长。