Brie. Goat cheese. Parmesan. Each so very different from one another, and yet, all so tasty. If you’re a cheese lover like me, you’re in the right place. Today’s blog article is all about cheese and the microbes behind it. Here’s the breakdown: Steps of Cheesemaking Microbes Involved in Making Cheese Why Study Cheese Microbiology…
Category: Fermented Foods
Meet Botrytis cinerea: a fungus that gives us sweet wine grapes or moldy crops
This post is part of the Meet a Microbe series on the blog. Check it out to meet other microbes! The vineyard becomes the lab in investigations of Botrytis cinerea. It’s a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” type of fungus because it causes two very different types of infections. It produces sweet wine grapes during noble rot…
Salmonella in Your Eggnog? Microbiologists Find Out
In 2008, National Public Radio’s Science Friday searched the scientific literature to find answers to an important holiday question: does the alcohol in eggnog kill Salmonella? When the team couldn’t find the answers in the literature, they instead found a lab that routinely makes eggnog each year.
Sourdough Citizen Science: Does San Francisco Sourdough Stay in San Francisco?
Many claim that there is something special in the water or air that gives San Francisco sourdough bread its unique tang and local bakers often say that no one outside of the area can replicate the flavor and texture of San Francisco sourdough. Sourdough bread is made from a starter – a slurry of water…
Soybeans as a Versatile Fermentation Product
Soybeans became widely popular in the last few decades. Low in fat, high in protein, a good substitute for meat, and sometimes fermented. This unassuming little bean has plenty of creative uses. Unfermented types of soy products include tofu, soymilk and in its purest, unprocessed form, edamame. Microbes transform soybeans into products as different as…





