Cheese

[alon]

Quick question- does anyone know if any of the cultures used to make cheeses are considered leavening agents? Swiss cheese for example has holes made, as I understand it, by much the same natural process as yeast in loaves of bread.

TL or tonga, any insights here?

Dan C

(Rav S picked a most inopportune time to go to Israel or I'd ask him. But I wish him and those with him a safe and productive trip.)
(Green with envy though ... and hungry as cheese is a staple for me!)

[jimmie]

Exodus 23:19b Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

When you take the stomach liner of a young calf or kid (the source of rennet) and soak/seethe it in milk, the result is cheese.

It is my understanding that Jews have fenced the above command and do not eat dairy and meat products at the same meal and even use different dishes to prepare dairy and meat products. Thus cheese, at Passover, would be unacceptable in Jewish eyes.

Nearly all kosher cheeses are produced with either microbial rennet or Fermentation-produced chymosin.

Kinds of Kosher Cheese
Cheese needs a hechsher from a reliable source to be kosher
• American Cheese
• Blue Cheese
• Brie
• Colby
• Camembert
• Cheddar
• Cream Cheese
• Gilboa
• Goat Cheese
• Gorgonzola
• Gruyere
• Edam
• Emmental or Emmentaler Cheese
• Feta
• Havarti
• La Chevre
• Monterey Jack
• Muenster
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan (Parmigiano)
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Provolone
• Ricotta cheese
• Swiss Cheese
Hope this helps.