Silkworm poop as cheese whitener?

[TMOliver]

rejohnsn at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 30 Mar 1999, Doug Yanega wrote:
> 
> > The subject says it all. I got an urgent question a few minutes ago as to
> > whether it was true that silkworm feces, which is high in chlorophyll, was
> > used as a whitening agent during cheese manufacturing. This seems a little
> > too weird to be an urban myth, but I'd like to confirm it one way or the
> > other.
> 
> My understanding of cheese color is that most, if not all, cheese starts
> out white, and then acquires color through aging or additives (i.e.,
> annatto [sp?] in a lot of mass-produced "cheddars").
>
Annato, a red seed popular as both a flavoring agent (toasted) and
color-additive (cheap substitute for saffron) in Caribbean, Mexican and
Central American cookery, makes a fine choice for cheese-coloring ('cuz
traditonal customers like orange "cheddar" and "merkin").

The "flavor" which adds to its use as a spice is mild/non-existent until
after toasting, so I suspect the coloring task is carried out by
untoasted versions.  For folks who make "Spanish Rice" or the Mexican
restaurant standard "sopa seca", among traditionalists annatto, not
tomato juice/paste/sauce, is the coloring agent, and while high class
"Yellow Rice" and "Paella" might be touched by saffron's angel thread
(muy caro), most places rely on cheap annatto.

It's "natural" and accepted by folks who would claim that the artificial
stuff will give your offspring 6 digits and skewed/none at all
perspectives. 
-- 
TMOliver, el pelon sinverguenza
>From a small observatory overlooking McLennan Crossing

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