Smoking
Exposing cheese to wood smoke, which colours its rind, adds flavour and once helped it keep.
Also: smoked cheese, affumicato, Räucherkäse
Cheese has been smoked for as long as it has been stored above a fire. In the shepherd huts of the Tatra, oscypek is hung in the rafters; in the Basque Country, Idiazabal was once aged in the smoke of the chimney; in Bengal, Bandel cheese discs are smoked. Smoking today is done cold, below about thirty degrees, so the cheese does not melt, for hours or days over hardwood, beech, oak or fruitwoods. The smoke tans the rind golden to brown, adds a smoky flavour and dries the surface, slowing mould. Smoked versions of mozzarella (scamorza and provola), Gouda, cheddar, chechil, korbáčik and hard churpi are all common.