Quick Research Update
The past couple of weeks have been a bit hectic to say the least. I got my first round of co-author revisions for my Iceland paper, which by the way, contains >165 comments (from one co-author...)! Some are minor sentence reconstructions and terminology edits. However, some comments ask me to recreate figures, reorganize paragraphs, remove sections and run statistical tests on my radar data (still trying to figure out if (1) it is feasible and (2) how to extract the same number of pixels for each lava facie). I am not going to lie, it is going to be a lot of work, but it is manageable.
About a week ago, I resubmitted my impact melt paper to the journal Geology so I am hoping to get an acceptance from the reviewers in the next month or so. If not an acceptance right away, just minor revisions would be nice. I have also written a new outline for restructuring the introduction chapter of my thesis, and I have now been assigned groups from the class I am TAing (took 2 months, but hey, profs fault, not mine). Now my weekend is filling with marking assignments...yay...
That is the research summary out of the way. I did not want this post to be only about my research update. I wanted to talk about a particular dessert, cheesecake! I made a cheesecake a few days ago for my girlfriend and I got to thinking, what other types of cheesecakes are there in the world? How did the concept of cheesecakes start? Is cream cheese the only base ingredient? I wanted to answer these questions, and so, I dove into the internet.
The cheesecake I made for my girlfriend :)
History of Cheesecake
When we all think of cheesecake, we think about the most popular type, New York style. A thick cream cheese filling with sugar, eggs and milk, baked on top of a thin buttery graham cookie crust. As much as the New Yorkers love to brag about their famous dessert, we need to appreciate where it originally came from, ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks used cheesecake (well, the original version of cheesecake) as a fuel source for athletes who competed in the Olympics. Cheesecakes were filling and helped the athletes compete in the intense games. Brides at Greek weddings used to bake cheesecakes as a gift. Even though then, it was not as savory as cheesecake we eat today (mainly composed of wheat, flour, honey and cheese), it was treated as a, well, a treat!
Cheesecake began to evolve when the Roman Empire occupied Greece and brought the concept of cheesecake across eastern Europe all the way to what is now Great Britain. The Romans did not change much to the recipe, mainly adding eggs and crushing the cheese before adding it to mixtures. Some European recipes soaked cheese in milk and added sugar and butter to the mixtures to make the cheesecakes taste sweeter. It was not until Europeans immigrated to the United States that cheesecake started to evolve to the beloved creamy cheesy goodness we know. The invention of cream cheese jumped started the beginning of modern day cheesecake. In 1872, American dairyman William Lawrence created cream cheese, but by accident! He originally wanted to re-create the French cheese Neufchâtel, which is a soft, crumply, mold-ripened cheese (very similar to brie), but ended up making a creamy cheese product. It took a few years, but he eventually was able to package cream cheese and sell them to stores across America as the well renowned brand Philadelphia Cream Cheese! Lawrence's business was bought twice in the early 20th century. First, by Phoenix Cheese Company in 1903, and then Kraft Cheese Company.
With the manufacturing of cream cheese and the introduction of new ingredients from the 'New World' and European immigrants in full swing in the mid-20th century, cheesecake started to take form and new variations were born. We are all familiar with New York style cheesecake, but there are actually 11 kinds of cheesecake! Time to take a step away from the Cheesecake Factory counter and look towards the bigger world of cheesecake.
Types of Cheesecake:
1. New York style
New York style is considered to be the ultimate cheesecake, and no others compare to it. I, myself, love a piece of New York cheesecake. Would I say it is the best. Hard to answer because I still have to try more of the other types of cheesecake. New York style is famous for its ultra smooth and creamy filling, on top of a sweet graham cracker crust. The cheesecake is smooth and its ingredients include cream cheese, egg yolks, eggs, sugar and heavy cream. Lemon is sometimes added to give it that little bit of tartness to help overcome the sweet flavour. Sour cream was introduced as an optional ingredient to make the cheesecake more resilient to freezing.
Helps you hold onto your cheesecake for longer :D
2. Chicago Style
A Chicago style is a firm baked cheesecake, with the center of the filling remaining smooth and creamy. Unlike other cheesecake bases, its is made of crushed shortbread instead of graham crackers. This gives it a more brittle structure, but an extra element of buttery goodness. The filling ingredients are similar to New York style, a mixture of cream cheese, whole eggs, egg yolks, sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract.
3. Philadelphia Style
Also called the “Philly Cheesecake”, the Philadelphia Style Cheesecake is believed to be a mythical cake with a lot more flavor and a super light texture. The Philly Cheesecake is airy compared to the New York style, and has richer flavouring in the filling. Funny enough, this style of cheesecake has no connection with the Pennsylvanian city at all! The creation of this cheesecake goes back to Ancient Greece, after which it evolved passing through medieval England and then Colonial America.
4. Roman Style
The Roman style is an odd ball because it doesn't usually have a crust. It is normally just the filling that is baked. The filling contains flour, eggs, honey, and fresh ricotta or farmers cheese (cheese that is consumed once made and dried). This cheesecake doesn’t usually contain a crust at the bottom, and the filling is basically a batter made of flour, eggs, honey, and fresh ricotta or farmer’s cheese.
Once the cheesecake is done baking, it is topped with a spice called ‘poppy seeds’ which is a key and well-known ingredient in the Roman Cuisine.
Fascinatingly, Romans eat this cheesecake as a part of secunda mesa (dessert), and it is also their most favorite and highly preferred sweets.
5. Swedish Style
If you could not guess, this style of cheesecake originates from Sweden, and it is the most unique out of all of the cheesecakes on this list. There are no layers in this cheesecake! It does not look like your typical cheesecake on a plate, and it is served with jam as a topping or side.
Another interesting thing about this cheesecake is that it is made by adding rennet (complex set of enzymes; helps separate milk into sold curds and liquid whey) to the milk after which the casein (related to phosphoproteins) is allowed to coagulate.
The procedure to curdle milk is a bit complex and a lot can go wrong. Alternative ingredients in these cheesecake recipes are cottage cheese. It has the similar texture and flavour needed to make Swedish cheesecakes taste authentic.
6. Vegan
This is the most popular type of cheesecake among most vegans and people with non-dairy food preferences. What makes vegan cheesecake fillings so soft and smooth is that they are made from soaked cashews that are blended with coconut milk. An addition of lemon or other citrus fruits is needed to make the filling taste more like a tradition cheesecake, but its texture is a close match. The base is exactly the same as a traditional cheesecake, except margarine or other butter alternatives are used to help keep the graham crackers or cookies together.
7. Japanese 'Cotton'
When you look at this cheesecake, your first thoughts might be "that doesn't look like cheesecake!". Well, the Japanese 'Cotton' cheesecake is very unique as its filling is the most spongey and airy out of all the cheesecakes. The consistency of the airy filling is thanks to glossy, beaten egg whites that are folded into the cake filling.
This cheesecake often ends up looking like a wobbly soufflé, hence giving it another common name called “Soufflé Cheesecake” in Japan.
Think of a souffle and now a cheesecake. Now think of the child a souffle and a cheesecake would have. That child would be the Japanese 'Cotton' cheesecake :P
8. No-bake
Scrap the oven and clear space in the fridge. This cheesecake requires no introduction because as the name suggests, no baking is required!
No-bake cheesecake filling contains the same ingredients as a baked New York style cheesecake. To ensure the filling is smooth and creamy, the cream cheese needs to be properly incorporated into the mixture. If not, then you will be met with number of cream cheese balls in your filling.
9. Ricotta
The Ricotta Cheesecake is an Italian-cheesecake that was used as a staple food for Romans when the Roman empire was in power in Europe. The cheesecake filling uses ricotta cheese as its starbase ingredient. Using ricotta as a star ingredient, the cheesecake has a less smooth and creamy texture and more of a granular texture. To overcome this, Italian bakers and chefs mix the ricotta cheese in milk to bring back a creamy texture to the filling. If you ever want to make your own Ricotta cheesecake, it is recommended to use homemade ricotta cheese. Using store bought cheese doesn't give you the creamy and smooth filling you want.
10. Classic
A "classic' style cheesecake is similar to a New York style, but the main difference is this cheesecake is baked in a water bath. Another key difference is its ratio of cream cheese to cream/sour cream is lower, meaning you will have a filling that is less cheesecake traditional and milkier.
In France, for example, the classic cheesecake often uses a base of mascarpone, chevre, or Neufchatel cheese instead of a pure cream cheese base. And in Italy, the most common choice of cheese for the base is mascarpone cheese.
The advantage of using the water bath technique when baking this cheesecake is you ensure a uniform temperature bake of the whole cheesecake. You will also get browned edges and a firmer filling, but the creaminess is not taken away by any means.
11. Savory
Savory cheesecakes are a dark horse. At first, you have doubts, and don't want to even consider. However, when you take a bite, you realize you have been missing out on a whole different experience. Savory cheesecakes, in a way, are similar to quiche, just minus the egg base :P
The crust or base of this delicious cheesecake is typically made of panko crumbs, breadcrumbs, or even cracker crumbs like herbed wafers or butter crackers. You can experiment with the crust by adding herbs, parmesan cheese or other savory toppings (e.g., seeds).
The filling typically uses cream cheese as its base, plus eggs. In addition, the filling is blended with other cheeses like blue cheese or Gouda cheese, garlic, caramelized onions, and additional seasonings such as cumin and paprika.
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