The mild climate, mountain air, sea breeze and the work of the Basque shepherds gave us the opportunity to learn the taste of oso-irati cheese. Osso-irati semi-hard cheese is made from milk obtained from sheep of the Mancheg breed. The production of cheese is subordinated to the rhythms of nature. In summer the sheep are on grazing high in the mountains. Shepherds live in stone huts during the summer. In ancient times, in order to preserve precious milk in the summer, it was necessary to make cheese from it. Currently, milk is processed by large industrial cheesemakers. But still local shepherds are engaged in making cheese. In each hut there is a raw stone cellar in which the cheese ripens. The older cheese has a firmer flesh and a deeper taste. It is believed that the maturation of cheese ends when it is cut into pieces, so you should be interested in the seller of the age of osso-irati.
Useful properties of cheese are determined by the presence of amino acids, vitamins, proteins. Cheese is made from milk, which, according to the great Russian physiologist II. Pavlova - "amazing food, prepared by nature itself". It is interesting that all the useful substances of milk, with a few exceptions, are converted into a finished product when preparing cheese, in a concentrated form.
Cheese - a dietary product - nutritious, tasty, easily digestible. The composition of the cheese determines its therapeutic and dietary properties. The cheese contains 22% protein - this is more than meat. In addition, this product has 30% fat, many mineral salts, calcium and phosphorus, as well as all the vitamins that were in milk.
The value of proteins in products is different. The composition of amino acids, of which the protein is made, is important. Natural protein in the cheese contains such amino acids, which are indispensable for the human body. Amino acids are the bricks necessary for the body to build its proteins. Amino acids play an important role in life processes. Cheese is a source of amino acids - tryptophan, lysine and methionine. For our body proteins are useful, which are similar to proteins of tissues and organs. Such a protein is a protein of cheese. In addition, it is able to enrich the composition of proteins of other products, which is very important for human nutrition.
Nutrition of cheese is a high fat content. Fat is the main energy material in our body. In milk fat there are phosphatides, mainly lecithin. Lecithin is necessary for normal digestion and metabolism of fats in the body.
Vitamins are the substances of life. Cheese has everything necessary for the normal development of man. Doctors, nutritionists recommend to include cheese in our food. Cheese should be consumed by people who spend a lot of energy during work. Chees contain a variety of mineral salts, which is important for the growing body of a child, a teenager, and also cheese is useful for pregnant women and nursing mothers, they need mineral salts. Therefore, daily consumption of at least 150 grams of cheese will help to fill the lack of mineral salts in the body.
Also, cheese is useful for various diseases, for example, patients with tuberculosis and for recovery after fracture of bones. True varieties of hot cheese should not be eaten by people suffering from peptic ulcer, gastritis and colitis with high acidity, as well as edema of cardiac or renal origin and hypertensive patients.
Brine cheeses produce in the south of Russia this Transcaucasia and Dagestan. For example - tushinsky, vats, Yerevan, suluguni, kobi, cheese, etc. Such cheeses are made from sheep, goat, and also from cow's milk. They differ from other varieties in that they do not have a crust. The color of these cheeses is sometimes white on the cut and slightly yellowish. The ripening of these cheeses takes place in a special brine, which gives them a specific taste. I want to mention a particularly brine cheese - suluguni. Suluguni ripens about one and a half months. Useful cheese - cheese from sheep's milk. It is rich in organic acids, vitamin A, B2, PP, calcium, magnesium, sodium and phosphorus. This composition suggests that this is a very useful product for eyesight, for our skin, with the growth and recovery of bones after the fracture suffered. Therefore, such a product is recommended for feeding children. Brynza is a good antioxidant, improves digestion, regulates the amount of sugar in the blood.
Sheep cheese, useful properties of which we are so needed, is one of the oldest human food products. And for the past centuries, he proved his good and took an honorable place in our diet.