PROCESS FOR PREPARING SEMI-HARD TO HARD CHEESE PRODUCT AND CHEESE PRODUCT OBTAINABLE BY SUCH PROCESS

The present invention is concerned with a process for preparing a semi-hard to hard cheese product containing less than 40% by weight of fat of saturated fatty acid residues, comprising the following steps: (a) combining a fatty composition with an aqueous composition so as to obtain a filled milk containing from 1.2-40 wt.% of fat, said fat comprising less than 40 wt.%, preferably less than 30 wt.% of saturated fatty acid residues, (b) adding a starter culture and/or coagulant so as to coagulate the filled milk, (c) cutting the coagulum to provide curd particules in whey, (d) separating the whey from the curd, (e) adding a particulate flavour concentrate obtained by fermentation of cheese or a cheese component, (f) filling the remaining curd into a mould; (g) pressing the curd, and (h) ripening, The cheese products obtained by the present process have an excellent cheese flavour which is almost indistinguishable from the flavour of similar cheese types, prepared from natural milk.