String cheese is the term used in context of cheese that can be peeled. When you peel string cheese, it comes off in strings or strips from the main cheese, thus the name 'string cheese'! Any cheese that has this quality can be termed as string cheese. Though string cheese is produced in various places, the name of Armenia, Syria and United States are worth mentioning. In Armenia, a white base, including black cumin and a middle-eastern spice known as 'mahleb' is used to make string cheese.
As for the type of milk used, it depends upon the local methods of production. The string cheese of Armenia comes in the form of a continual, braided loop. In this case, it is the way cheese is pulled during processing that leads to formation of strings. Syrian cheese is processed the same way and thus, has strings. The usual cheese is not pulled while processing, rather only cut and pressed. This is why it does not develop strings. Talking about United States, "string cheese" is usually taken to mean snack-sized servings of low-moisture mozzarella.
It has almost a cylindrical shape and is 6 inches (15 cm) in length and less than 1 inch (2 cm) in diameter. US sting cheese is cut and packaged, either independently or as a package of several lengths. Though, majority of the times, it is a form of mozzarella, it might be another semi-soft cheese also. While eating this type of string cheese, you need to pull strips from the cylinder, along its length. These strips are then either bitten or chewed. Incidentally, string cheese is one of the favorite snack foods of Hilary Clinton.
String Cheese Nutrition Facts
- Calories - 80
- Total Fat - 6.0 gm
- Saturated Fat - 3.0 gm
- Cholesterol - 15 mg
- Sodium - 190 mg
- Total Carbohydrates - 1.0 gm
- Protein - 7.0 gm
