If
you have never really thought about what’s in your cheese, this may shock you.
Since
becoming vegetarian many years ago I have learnt so much about ingredients in
all manner of foods but one of the most shocking to me has to be when I found
out about what was really in some cheese!
Rennet,
sounds harmless enough doesn’t it. But if I told you it is made from the lining
of the stomach of a newly slaughtered calf would that change your mind?
Rennet
is most commonly sourced from the stomach of newly born calves. The Enzyme
extracted is called Chymosin, adult cows do not have this enzyme. Chymosin is
extracted from slaughtered calves by the process of washing then drying the
stomach lining, which is cut into small pieces and put in a solution of brine
for a few days.
After
finding this out several years ago I didn’t know if I would ever eat cheese
again!
However
there is now so many vegetarian cheeses out there I feel spoilt for choice as
more and more manufacturers of cheese are changing to non-rennet recipes.
One
cheese that can NEVER be vegetarian
is Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) the traditional Italian hard cheese, this is
because to be called Parmesan is has to made using traditional methods and
ingredients, one of which is calf rennet.
Two
other cheeses that are made traditionally and will not be vegetarian are Grana
Padano and Gorgonzola
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