Tom's Quality Foods

Tom's Quality Foods assures that all foods they manufacture are highly satisfactory to its consumers. They value factors that would range from its appearance and texture to its flavor and federal grade standards.

Food quality is a vital food manufacturing requirement. This assures the consumers that the foods they order are free from any form of contaminants that usually occur during the manufacturing and packing process. Most consumers rely on these manufacturing and processing standards to know the ingredients present in the food they will purchase, especially if it concerns nutritional and dietary requirements and medical conditions.

To ensure the quality of food, they have surpassed the standards of sanitation, assuring everyone that the foods processed are clean and safe. The products are also traceable when it comes to its packaging suppliers and ingredients.

Gourmet Cheese

Cheeses play an important role in most gourmet food. They come in different flavors and sizes. There are various specialty cheeses you will find at stores, supermarkets or even online. Here are the different types of gourmet cheeses:

First is soft cheese. It includes Port Salut, Feta and Havarti. This is usually aged for not more than 60 days. You can easily cut it using a fork and its shelf life would not exceed 2 months once you remove it from its protective packaging. They are less tangy as compared to their aged counterparts and they provide creamier, smoother flavors. Thus, it melts well because of its high fat and water content.

Another one is fresh cheese. This would include cream cheese, mascarpone and ricotta. They are not ripened and very easy to spoon. Their shelf life does not exceed 3 weeks. Contrary to other cheeses wherein they are aged in order to improve their quality, fresh cheeses are best consumed right away. They have a mild flavor and high quality milk is used in their production.

Semi-Soft Cheese would include young Gouda, young cheddar and young manchego. They have a contrasting texture. They are either hard or soft, depending on their age. However, they do not age well due to their high fat content. If they are not more than 3 months old, they are considered semi-soft but if they are aged for more than two months, their texture becomes harder. Thus, these types of cheese can be easily sliced using a dull knife.

Blue cheese is another kind. It is aged with the growth of the Penicillium bacteria which creates edible green or blue streaks inside its wheels. Aging takes a longer time for molds to develop more fully. This would include Gorgonzola, Maytag, Cabrales and Roquefort.

In the case of Gorgonzola and Stilton, mold spores are injected into the cheese. For Roquefort, mold naturally enters the cheese and it caves as well as ages on the spores' natural location. This kind is usually used in salads or immersed in sauces or dips.

There is also the processed cheese. This variety is made from whey and cooking it at extremely high temperatures. This kills all the microflora and bacteria in the product. However, the technique also eradicates the flavor, requiring the cheese maker to add some flavor onto it after cooking. A good advantage is that refrigeration is no longer necessary, giving the cheese a very long shelf life. A disadvantage is that it has no healthy properties, character and it features a gummy unpleasant texture. This would include Laughing Cow and Kraft Singles.