Cheese is a dairy product derived from milk that is produced in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. Cheese is valued for its portability, long life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is more compact and has a longer shelf life than milk, although how long a cheese will keep depends on the type of cheese. (Wikipedia)
Now we come to the main concern about the cheese, that is about it’s overuse in our eating habits. Whenever we go out to some restaurant or cafe we find innumerable dishes having cheese filling or topping. Cheese has become almost omnipresent in every fast food, even our traditional dishes are not left now. Putting cheese in everything has become a trend that is only on the rise. Cheese attracts people even if it is used where it is not required.
An ingredient in any dish is used to enhance its taste but sometimes cheese is used just to hide the flaws of the dish. I must have had many dishes that were not good at all but were famous in the area. Why, just because the vendor used loads of cheese to compensate for the lack of taste. Maggi is as simple dish as it can get to cook, but some people destroy that too and then there go to is cheese to cover everything up.
Cheese does help these restaurants and cafes in one more way, that is by creating more value in terms of pricing. A simple nacho packet costs about 40 Rupees in India but restaurants just by putting a little cheese on the top can sell it for average 300 Rupees. A cheese slice costs about 15 rupees for the best Indian brands but some will charge 40-50 for the same. This shows that cheese is used to maximize the profits without much taste to offer through it.
I am not against the use of the cheese in any dish. My only concern is put it where it is required to enhance the taste and not to hide the flaws. Some traditional dishes that are already tasty and healthy should not be spoiled by the obsession with the cheese. Cheese should be consumed in a healthy manner. A dish having cheese is not necessarily good in taste, judge the dish without the cheese if cheese is not the primary ingredient of the dish.
Eat everything but know where to stop.
Food Junktion 