Crystals
The small crunchy white specks found in aged cheeses such as Parmigiano, old Gouda, Comté and cheddar.
Also: cheese crystals, crunch, protein crystals
Crystals are a mark of long ageing. Inside very old Gouda, Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Comté and Gruyère, slow breakdown of protein frees amino acids, and one of them, tyrosine, is so poorly soluble that it gathers into small hard white clusters that crunch between the teeth. On the cut surface or outside of aged cheddar and Gouda, another kind forms from calcium lactate. Neither is salt, though they are often called salt crystals. Both are harmless, and many cheese lovers prize the crunch as a sign of patient ageing. Crystals are rare in cheeses younger than about a year.