你爱吃奶酪吗？我们要介绍的Emmentaler奶酪是一种产自瑞士的著名干酪。这种干酪最特别的地方在于它内部布满了像葡萄一样大的小洞。这和它独特的生产方法有特别的关系。下文就将为您介绍一下。

Gassy bacteria are behind all Swiss holed cheese. In order to make cheese, you need the help of bacteria. Starterculturescontaining bacteria are added to milk, where they create lactic acid, essential for producing cheese. Various types of bacteria can be used to make cheese, and some cheeses require several different bacteria to give them a particular flavor.

Propionibacter shermani is one of the three types of bacteria used to make Swiss cheese, and it's responsible for the cheese's distinctive holes. Once P. shermani is added to the cheese mixture and warmed, bubbles of carbon dioxide form. These bubbles become holes in the final product. Cheesemakers can control the size of the holes by changing the acidity, temperature, and curing time of the mixture. Incidentally, those holes are technically called "eyes," and the proper Swiss name for the cheese is Emmentaler (also spelled Emmental or Emmenthaler).

Swiss cheese has been in the news recently because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created new guidelines that regulate the hole size of domestically produced Swiss cheese. The USDA reduced the standard size of the holes by half because new cheese-slicing machinery got caught on larger holes. The Swiss weren't pleased by the revised guidelines and insist that Emmentaler must have large holes. Considering how iconic those eyes are, we think they have a good point.

（英语点津 Annabel 编辑）

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