Cheesepedia S (Cheese Glossary Terms Beginning with “S”)

If you’ve been hanging around cheese people, I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of cheese terms thrown around. Read on to discover all the best cheese terms beginning with “S”.

Saumure (French)

Saumure refers to a brine solution used in cheesemaking, typically made by dissolving salt in water. Cheese is often submerged or brushed with saumure during the ageing process. This brine solution not only helps preserve the cheese but also imparts saltiness, enhancing the cheese’s flavour and contributing to the development of its rind.

The composition of saumure, including salt concentration and additional seasonings, can vary, leading to a wide range of flavours and textures in different types of cheese.

Savoury

Savoury cheeses have a salty, umami-rich flavour profile, often with earthy and meaty undertones. These cheeses are less sweet and may feature notes of nuts, herbs or minerals, contributing to their complex and hearty taste.

Scalding

Scalding in cheesemaking refers to the controlled application of heat to the curds. After cutting, curds are gently heated to a specific temperature. This process expels whey, firms the curds and affects the final texture of the cheese.

Scalding is a crucial step, especially in hard and semi-hard cheese varieties, influencing their consistency, moisture content and overall mouthfeel.

Secondary Starter Culture

Secondary starter cultures are additional strains of bacteria introduced during cheesemaking to enhance specific flavours or textures. They work alongside primary starter cultures, contributing to the cheese’s unique character during fermentation.

Semi-Curado

Semi-curado translates to “semi-cured” in Spanish and Portuguese. This term describes a stage in cheese ageing where the cheese has matured for a moderate period. Semi-curado cheeses retain some moisture, offering a balance between the creaminess of young cheeses and the firmness of fully aged ones.

Moreover, they often exhibit a mild yet distinct flavour profile, making them versatile for various culinary uses.

Semi-Hard

Semi-hard cheeses have a moderately firm texture that falls between soft and hard cheeses. They are pliable yet can hold their shape, making them versatile for slicing, grating or melting. Examples include Gruyère and Comté.

Semi-Soft

Semi-soft cheeses have a pliable, slightly elastic texture. They are often creamy and smooth, making them suitable for spreading or melting. Cheeses like Havarti and Saint-Nectaire fall into the semi-soft category.

Silage

Silage is fermented and preserved fodder, typically made from green crops. In cheesemaking, silage-fed animals produce milk with specific flavours influenced by the fermented fodder, affecting the cheese’s taste and aroma. In France, the milk used for AOP cheeses often can not come from silage-fed cows.

Skim Milk

Skim milk is the liquid left after removing the cream from whole milk. It contains minimal fat, making it a lower-fat alternative. Skim milk is used in cheesemaking to produce cheeses with reduced fat content.

While it lacks the richness of whole milk cheeses, skim milk cheeses can still offer a range of flavours, textures and nutritional benefits, appealing to health-conscious consumers.

Smoked Cheese

Smoked cheese refers to cheeses that are cold-smoked or hot-smoked using various woods. The smoking process imparts a rich, smoky flavour to the cheese, enhancing its taste profile.

Spicy

Spicy cheeses have a piquant taste often attributed to added spices, peppers, blue veins or pungent bacteria. These cheeses can be tangy, hot, or peppery, providing a lively and invigorating flavour experience.

Spino

Spino is an Italian cheesemaking tool used for stirring curds during the cheesemaking process. It helps break curds into smaller particles, promoting whey drainage and ensuring the desired texture in the final cheese.

Spruce Bark

Spruce bark is used to encase certain cheese varieties, like the traditional French cheese Mont d’Or. It imparts a distinctive flavour and aroma to the cheese while acting as a protective covering during ageing.

Starter Culture

Starter cultures are specific strains of bacteria or fungi added to milk to initiate fermentation. They convert lactose into lactic acid, coagulating milk proteins and acidifying the curds. Starter cultures greatly influence the cheese’s flavour, texture and overall quality.

Surface Ripened

Surface-ripened cheeses develop their flavours primarily on the cheese’s surface. They are exposed to specific moulds, yeasts or bacteria, forming characteristic rinds. These cheeses, such as Brie and Camembert, have soft, creamy interiors and distinctive, often bloomy, rinds.