A: Hello, everyone! My name is Laurie and I want to welcome you to this course. We will learn all about one of the oldest yet most delicious foods on this planet: cheese! Let's get started! 大家好，我是Laurie！歡迎參加我們的課程。今天我們將要學到一種最古老也是最美味的食物：奶酪！我們開始吧！

A: Cheese is usually categorized into four types: soft, semi-soft semi-hard and hard. The designation refers to the amount of moisture in the cheese, which directly affects its texture.  Making cheese is an ancient practice, dating back thousands of years, and the home cheese maker can usually find recipes for cheese that falls into any of the four categories. 奶酪通常分為四種：軟奶酪、偏軟奶酪、偏硬奶酪和硬奶酪。這些命名是針對奶酪中所含水分的不同，這一因素直接影響了奶酪的質地。做奶酪是一項非常古老的工藝，可以追溯到數千年前。制作者通常能夠輕易地找到制作這四種奶酪中任意一種的訣竅。

A: Soft cheese includes cottage cheese, cream cheese, ricotta, brie, bleu, roquefort, mozzarella, meunster and similar cheeses.  These cheeses generally pair well with fruit or meats, or can be used as breakfast cheeses in an omelette nor as pasta fillings. They are usually mildly flavored and very high in moisture. 軟奶酪包括白干酪、乳脂酪、意大利鄉村軟酪、布里干酪、法國藍莓乳酪、意大利白干酪以及相似的奶酪。這些奶酪大都可以很好地與水果或肉類搭配食用，也可當做早餐奶酪，或是加入到意大利面中。這些奶酪通常都味道溫和且水分較多。

A: American, Colby, co-jack and similar cheeses are in the semi-soft category. These are slightly stronger in flavor and cover a wide range of uses. Co-jack cheese, a blend of Colby and Monterrey jack is one of the most popular. This allows the sharper flavor of Colby to be combined with the milder jack cheese, and also melts better than plain Colby. Grilled cheese sandwiches often use American cheese, and Mexican cheeses such as Asadero and Queso Fresco are becoming more popular. 偏軟奶酪主要有American、Colby、co-jack 等。它們的味道要稍微濃一些，用途也更廣。Co-jack 奶酪是其中最受歡迎的一種，它是由Colby和Monterrey jack 兩種奶酪混合而成的。這就使前者濃烈的味道被后者的柔和所中和，它也比單純的Colby更易于融化。鍋貼乳酪三明治通常選用American奶酪和Mexican奶酪，例如Asadero 和Queso Fresco，這些都十分受歡迎。

A: Hard cheeses include Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, Swiss,  and others.  Parmesan and Romano are most familiar as the grated powder used to top spaghetti, but they are also used as accopaniments for fruit, wine, nuts and other appetizer items. Swiss is a popular sandwich cheese and melts well, unlike some other hard cheeses. 硬乳酪包括Parmesan、Romano、Asiago、 Swiss、Gruyere等等。其中Parmesan和Romano最常被磨成粉加到意大利面上。不過它也被用于搭配水果、葡萄酒、堅果以及其他開胃菜。Swiss 作為一種三明治用奶酪也十分受歡迎。并且和其他硬奶酪不同的是，這種奶酪易于融化。

詞匯注釋

categorize vt. 分類，加以分類，使歸入……的范疇

designation n. 命名，稱號

recipe n. 烹飪法，食譜，制作方法；訣竅

pair v. 搭配，使成對

melt vi. 融化

accompaniment n. 伴隨物，附加物

appetizer n. 開胃菜