Not an animal milk cheese, but a vegetable one, made by boiling and straining the pulp of the cactuslike p.r.i.c.kly pear fruit to cheeselike consistency. It is chocolate-color and sharp, piquantly pleasant when hard and dry. It is sometimes enriched with nuts, spices and/or flowers. It will keep for a very long time and has been a dessert or confection in Mexico for centuries.

Tuscano _Italy_

Semihard; cream color; a sort of Tuscany Parmesan.

Twdr Sir _Serbia_

Semisoft sheep skim-milk cheese with small holes and a sharp taste.

Pressed in forms two by ten to twelve inches in diameter. Similar to Brick or Limburger.

Twin Cheese _U.S.A._

Outstanding American Cheddar marketed by Joannes Brothers, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Tworog _Russia_

Semihard sour milk farm (not factory) made. It is used in the cheese bread called Notruschki.

Tybo _Denmark_

Made in Copenhagen from pasteurized skim milk.

Tyrol Sour _German_

A typical Tyrolean hand cheese.

Tzgone _Dalmatia_

The opposite number of Tzigen, just below.

Tzigenkase _Austria_

Semisoft; skimmed sheep, goat or cow milk. White; sharp and salty; originated in Dalmatia.

U

Urda _Rumania_

Creamy; sweet; mild.

Uri _Switzerland_

Hard; brittle; white; tangy. Made in the Canton of Uri. Eight by eight to twelve inches, weight twenty to forty pounds.

Urseren _Switzerland_

Mild flavored. Cooked curd.

Urt, Fromage d'

Soft Port-Salut type of the Basque country.

V

Vacherin _France and Switzerland_

I. Vacherin a la Main. Savoy, France. Firm, leathery rind, soft interior like Brie or Camembert; round, five to six by twelve inches in diameter. Made in summer to eat in winter. When fully ripe it is almost a cold version of the great dish called Fondue. Inside the hard-rind container is a velvety, spicy, aromatic cream, more runny than Brie, so it can be eaten with a spoon, dunked in, or spread on bread. The local name is Tome de Montague.

II. Vacherin Fondu, or Spiced Fondu. Switzerland. Although called Fondu from being melted, the No. I Vacherin comes much closer to our conception of the dish Fondue, which we spell with an "e."

Vacherin No. II might be called a re-cooked and spiced Emmentaler, for the original cheese is made, and ripened about the same as the Swiss cla.s.sic and is afterward melted, spiced and reformed into Vacherin.

Val-d'Andorre, Fromage du _Andorra, France_

Sheep milk.

Valdeblore, le _Nice, France_

Hard, dried, small Alpine goat cheese.

Valencay, or Fromage de Valencay _Touraine, France_

Soft; cream; goat milk; similar to Saint-Maure. In season from May to December. This was a favorite with Francis I.

Valio _Finland_

One-ounce wedges, six to a box, labeled pasteurized process Swiss cheese, made by the Cooperative b.u.t.ter Export a.s.sociation, Helsinki, Finland, to sell to North Americans to help them forget what real cheese is.

Valsic _Albania_

Crumbly and sharp.

Varalpenland _Germany_

Alpine. Piquant, strong in flavor and smell.

Varennes, Fromage de _France_

Soft, fine, strong variety from Upper Burgundy.

Vasterbottenost _West Bothnia_

Slow-maturing. One to one-and-a-half years in ripening to a pungent, almost bitter taste.

Vastgotaost _West Gothland, Sweden_