We don’t always think regarding it, but many cheeses do not undergo any fermentation before being consumed! Focus on the large family of unfermented cheeses !
What is an unfermented cheese?
Visually, we recognize a unfermented cheese to the fact that it has no crust. And for good reason, this type of cheese does not go through the manufacturing process during which it is formed. Thus, non-fermented cheeses result from a shortened manufacturing process: only curdling (which allows the milk to coagulate) and draining are necessary to make this type of cheese. On the other hand, for all other cheeses – therefore fermented cheeses – salting and maturing follow, during which the addition of lactic ferments or rennet will cause fermentation. Unfermented cheeses are also called cream cheese.
Non-firm cheese: what nutritional and health benefits?
Unctuous, creamy, fresh cheeses are among the lowest calorie cheeses. This is explained by the fact that they are not very dry and therefore contain a high percentage of humidity. But we know, the more water a cheese contains, the less calories it has ! They are therefore a very good choice for people looking to lighten up (without being deficient in calcium) or more simply watching their caloric intake.
Fresh cheeses are also interesting from a nutritional point of view due to their high levels of calcium, vitamins A and D, and protein.
Unfermented cheeses also have the particularity of containing a lot of bacteria that will promote the proper functioning of the microbiota (we say that they are probiotics), which, as we know, has an impact on our health as a whole.
What are unfermented cheeses?
Cottage cheese, cottage cheese, petit-suisse, broccio, Saint-Morêt, tricota, cottage cheese, feta, mozzarella, fresh square, mascarpone… Here are some of the best-known unfermented cheeses, but they are not the only ones! This family includes all cheeses that have not undergone fermentation and that can be recognized by the absence of a rind. And they are almost all present in the top 10 of the least fatty cheeses!
Unfermented cheese and lactose
In people with lactose intolerance, the body is unable to digest the main sugar in milk, lactose. For them, the ingestion of this on this can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach aches, bloating, flatulence but also joint disorders, headaches… In the case of cheeses, it is the fermentation process that allows the transformation of lactose into lactase and, thus, allows then to make almost all traces of lactose disappear. Thus, the longer fermentation and ripening last, the fewer traces of lactose there are in a cheese. Logically, fresh cheeses do not go through this stage of fermentation and, in fact, have a (higher) lactose content compared to other cheeses. If one is sensitive, intolerant or allergic to lactosebetter avoid consuming unfermented cheeses and favor cheeses that have undergone a long ripening period.
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