Janet Fletcher writes on Beaufort, one of the greatest of cheeses, in today's Chron. I wrote to ask her about the parmigiano-like "flavor crystals" in Beaufort, which are its most distictive characteristic, and she said they are crystallized casein, (also found in aged goudas which I had forgotten).
Any of you science types know what happens to proteins when they crystallize? I have always associated those crystals, perhaps wrongly, with umami, and I'm wondering if crystallization liberates some glutamate.
Posted by max at December 18, 2003 11:23 AM | TrackBack