Cream cheese

Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream. Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are typically added in industrial production. Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream. Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are typically added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines cream cheese as containing at least 33% milk fat with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9. Similarly, under Canadian Food and Drug Regulations cream cheese must contain at least 30% milk fat and a maximum of 55% moisture. In other countries, it is defined differently and may need a considerably higher fat content. Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neufchâtel. It is more comparable in taste, texture, and production methods to Boursin and mascarpone. Early types of cream cheese are mentioned in England as early as 1583 and in France as early as 1651. Recipes are recorded soon after 1754, particularly from Lincolnshire and the southwest of England. Recipes for cream cheese can be found in U.S. cookbooks and newspapers beginning in the mid-18th century. By the 1820s, dairy farms in the vicinity of Philadelphia and New York City had gained a reputation for producing the best examples of this cheese. Cream cheese was produced on family farms throughout the country, so quantities made and distributed were typically small. Around 1873 William A. Lawrence, a dairyman in Chester, New York, was the first to mass-produce cream cheese. In 1872, he purchased a Neufchâtel factory. By adding cream to the process, he developed a richer cheese that he called “cream cheese”. In 1877 Lawrence created the first brand of cream cheese: its logo was a silhouette of a cow followed by the words 'Neufchatel & Cream Cheese'. In 1879, to build a larger factory, Lawrence entered into an arrangement with Samuel S. Durland, another Chester merchant. In 1880, Alvah Reynolds, a New York cheese distributor, began to sell the cheese of Lawrence & Durland and called it 'Philadelphia Cream Cheese'. By the end of 1880, faced with increasing demand for his Philadelphia-brand cheese, Reynolds turned to Charles Green, a second Chester dairyman, who by 1880 had been manufacturing cream cheese as well. Some of Green’s cheese was also sold under the Philadelphia label. In 1892 Reynolds bought the Empire Cheese Co. of South Edmeston, New York, to produce cheese under his 'Philadelphia' label. When the Empire factory burned down in 1900, he asked the newly formed Phenix Cheese Company to produce his cheese, instead. In 1903 Reynolds sold rights to the 'Philadelphia' brand name to Phenix Cheese Company, which was under the direction of Jason F. Whitney, Sr. (It merged with Kraft in 1928). By the early 1880s Star cream cheese had emerged as Lawrence & Durland's brand, and Green made World and Globe brands of the cheese. At the turn of the 20th century, New York dairymen were producing cream cheese sold under a number of other brands, as well: Triple Cream (C. Percival), Eagle (F.X. Baumert), Empire (Phenix Cheese Co.), Mohican (International Cheese Co.), Monroe Cheese Co. (Gross & Hoffman), and Nabob (F.H. Legget). Cream cheese became popular in the Jewish cuisine of New York City, where it is commonly known as a 'schmear'. It is used on bagels, and is the basis of bagel and cream cheese, a common open-faced sandwich. Lox, capers, and other ingredients are often added to this dish. The basic bagel and cream cheese has become a ubiquitous breakfast and brunch food throughout the United States.