March 04, 2008
Just for fun, three cheese videos ...
Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling
The Cheese Trap
Cheese And Onions
February 26, 2008
[UPDATED] In our continuing effort to keep you apprised of developments on the frontiers of law and cheese, I note today's decision of the European Court of Justice holding that ["Parmesan" is not a generic product name.] "Parmigiano Reggiano" is a protected designation of origin [and only authentic "Parmigiano Reggiano" can be sold under the name "Parmesan."] According to the BBC story, authentic Parmesan is "made by fewer than 450 cheese-makers close to the Po River in northern Italy." In honor of the decision, take a look at this promotional video with a catchy jingle ...
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February 19, 2008
Gordon is in Wisconsin, conducting a survey of cheeseries, and I think it's fair to say that some people associated with this blog are pretty envious. My family happily received an airmailed wheel of Christmas Stilton from the UK, long before cheese was cool, but also long before I could reconcile myself to the idea of mold in my food.
Now I love the stuff. Should I move to the country and start producing my own? One Hudson Valley cheesemaker made his fortune first:
For Tom and Nancy Clark, an investment banker and an interior designer, the transition from weekenders to owners of the largest dairy sheep farm in the country began in 1979, when they bought property in Old Chatham, N.Y. ...[I]n 1993, the couple bought 600 acres nearby and began building barns for what is now the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, a storybook complex of a creamery and 1,200 crossbred Friesian dairy sheep, which produce sheep's-milk yogurt and 10 cheeses that are sold nationwide in cheese shops and whole foods markets.
Mr. Clark still commutes a few days a week to his investment firm in Greenwich, Conn., but "the rest of the time I'm here haying and driving tractors."
While another West Coast cheesemaker embraced the very concept of fortune reluctantly:
''I didn't believe in capitalism,'' [Stephen] Schack said, ''but my ideals have changed over 20 years.'' After studying cheese-making in France, the two came back to their Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol, on a hidden road overlooking Iron Horse Vineyards. Although they have been making goat's cheese for only three years, their Camembert-style Camellia is a standout.
And here's how some Texas A&M economists estimated the impact of a potential Texas panhandle cheese factory:
• Operation of the cheese plant creates 857 jobs in Lubbock county, 125 directly in the plant.
• County population increases by 935.
• School children increase by 210.
• Labor force increases by 614, net in-commuting increases by 116, and 127 unemployed take jobs.
• The county property tax base increases by $109.5 million.
• Tax revenues for all jurisdictions in the county increase by $2.28 million annually (nominal dollars).
• Inter-governmental revenues increase by $.45 million annually for all jurisdictions in the county (nominal dollars).
UPDATE: And here's the Times on the market niches for micro-dairies serving up everything but cheese: yogurt, butter, custard, ice cream ... yum!
A few years ago, while I was still at the University of Wisconsin, I started investigating the business of cheesemaking. Wisconsin has long been the leading producer of cheese in the United States, but as California has increased production, Wisconsin cheesemakers have turned increasingly to the production of specialty cheeses. I noticed that some of these specialty cheesemakers were organized as corporations or limited liability companies, while others were organized as cooperatives.
At roughly the same time that I was looking into cheesemaking, I had a couple of students who were interested in the law governing cooperatives. I did a bit of reading and started asking around in the local legal community. We never discuss cooperatives in Business Organizations, and very few legal scholars write about cooperatives (Henry Hansmann being the notable exception). I became fascinated by this lost corner of our law, which obviously still has some traction in the U.S.
So last year I recruited Brayden King and Marc Schneiberg, two organizational sociologists, as co-authors. We applied for and received a grant from the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. And I took the occasion of the Wisconsin Contracts Conference to visit some cheesemakers in southwest Wisconsin. This is my first time using interviews as a research methodology, and it's a lot more fun than sitting in my office hatching theories of fiduciary duty. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The only problem is the weather. A storm on Sunday -- rain followed by snow -- left the roads icy, and most of these cheesemakers reside in very small towns ... or in no town at all. They are accessible only by country roads, which are beautiful in the summer, but treacherous this week. Yesterday, I ended up in a snowbank on an unmarked curve. Fortunately, a cheesemaker named Ole (I am not making this up) had a truck and a chain and was able to pull me out.
My discussions with the cheesemakers are fascinating. I am constantly reminded of Stewart Macaulay's famous study of non-contractual relations because the smaller cheesemakers simply can't be bothered with formal contracts. If they come crosswise with a farmer who supplies them with milk or a distributor who sells their cheese, they just stop dealing with them. Simple.
UPDATE: If you want to get a feel for some disturbing local culture, this is one of the towns I visited yesterday.
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July 10, 2007
While my co-bloggers are busy offering insights about business law and related matters, I am still trying to find my way around Utah County. This morning, cheese junkie that I am, I had a craving for some good cheese. As longtime readers of the blog know, Madison's Whole Foods Market was one of my favorite hangouts, but when I searched for a Whole Foods Market near my Utah home, this was the result:
Hmm. I have never shopped at a Wild Oats store, but I know that Whole Foods has been trying to merge with Wild Oats. Perhaps they are in Utah and have some good cheese?
Well, 24 miles sure beats 339, but it's a long way to drive when I am not even sure about the payoff.
Plan B: Google. Google Maps is great on business searches, but "cheese" brings up Chuck E. Cheese, PJ Cheese (which I take it is related to Papa John's?), and Who Moved My Cheese (which seems to be a business consultancy based on that silly management book).
"Gourmet chesse" is not much better, returning among other things, Papa Murphy's Take N Bake Pizza and a business called "Pioneer Gourmet Food Provisions." (I think we can safely say that this is the sort of business you would only find in Utah!)
"Imported cheese"? More pizza or other Italian restaurants.
Based on my prior conversations with BYU professors, I am pretty sure that people here eat good cheese, but it looks like I am going to have to use old-fashioned methods to find it. Like blogging for help! (Of course, I will also ask around in my neighborhood and at the office, but if one of our readers happens to know of a good cheese shop in Utah County, I would be grateful to hear about it.)
February 06, 2007
In real time!
Thanks to Eric Goldman for the pointer.
April 28, 2006
At dinner with several of the bloggership participants tonight, I ordered a selection of three "farmhouse" cheeses (two French and one Italian). What is a "farmhouse" cheese? Though I have heard the term often, I had never actually tracked down its meaning. Here's a definition from Hormel food glossary:
A term commonly applied to European cheeses referring to any of the different types of cheeses that are made by traditional cheese making methods and produced from the raw milk of animals such as cows, goats or sheep raised on a small regional farm, a mountain chalet farm or mountain hut. The quantities produced from these methods are small in volume. When approved for production by the Eurpoean AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee) the cheese is categorized as a fermier or farmhouse variety. Although this term was derived in Europe, it is also often used to classify domestic varieties of cheese.
Now we both know.
UPDATE: Here is a photo of the farmhouse cheeses, courtesy of Ann Althouse:
April 03, 2006
Christine reminded me the other day that we haven't had a cheese post in awhile, so I stopped at Whole Foods on the way to work today. Among other things, Whole Foods was featuring Cheshire cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy. This is a crumbly, tangy cheese produced by Appleby's Farm. The name of the cheese dervies from the county of Cheshire in England. It's flavor is similar to a sharp cheddar, but Cheshire is typically aged only six weeks to six months.
According to the Appleby's website, "Cheshire is considered to be the oldest British cheese, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and probably dates back even further to Roman times." Some people are taken by the saltiness of the cheese. Appleby's attributes the saltiness to the Cheshire land, but assures us that they have happy cows:
Our herd of cows graze the salty summer pastures at the edge of the Cheshire Plain. In the winter they are housed indoors on straw beds. Our cows are milked every day at 5am and 3pm using a floating rotary parlour. The modern technology we use helps to ensure our milk is of the highest quality and our cows are happy and relaxed.
In the U.S., the most distinctive feature of the cheese is its crumbly texture, which gives it the appearance of a much older cheese. In the U.K., however, the most distinctive feature is its color. Though Cheshire comes in three varieties -- white, red (actually, we Americans would call this "orange," the result of annatto dye), and bue-veined (also called Shropshire cheese) -- the orange version is the one usually associated with the name Cheshire. Teddington Cheesemongers offers this anecdote about the orange color:
Although Cheshire is naturally a light golden colour, it is more often dyed to a rich orange using annatto. Legend has it that because its reputation was so good, some Welsh farmers labelled their own cheese as Cheshire and sold it to coach travellers on the Hollyhead to London route. The Londoners were unhappy when they tasted the inferior cheese back at home and thus the name of Cheshire cheese began to fall into disrepute. The Welsh farmers were told to dye their cheese in order to distinguish it from real Cheshire. However, the new coloured cheese quickly became fashionable and the Cheshire makers soon found themselves having to follow suit. Thus, red Cheshire was born.
Of course, the orange color is most distinctive in a cheese display without the orange cheddars that tend to dominate American groceries.
December 04, 2005
This is a Swiss-type cheese, but it is produced in the Loire Valley of France. I am told that "Fol Epi" means "wild wheat stalk" or "crazy wheat," and this cheese is made in a mold to create the distinctive wheat markings on the side. The rind is brown, having been dusted with toasted wheat flour. It feels and tastes like Emmenthaler, and it is sometimes referred to as an "emmenthaler imitation." Our wedge didn't last very long, and I just skipped the crackers.
November 14, 2005
A friend who had lived in Italy introduced me to Taleggio cheese, and it now makes regular appearances in my home. Yesterday, I opened a slice for my family's customary Sunday afternoon cheese munching, and it was gone within minutes.
This cow's-milk cheese originates from Val Taleggio in Bergamo, and it is listed on the EU's Protected Designations of Origin. Taleggio cheese is formed in squares. The rind is rose-orange colored, and it usually has spots of greenish mold. The paste is yellow and creamy, but not runny. As the cheese ages, the paste gets darker and the smell becomes more pungent. It is a slightly salty cheese, but generally mild. If you enjoy brie or camembert, you will love this cheese.
November 08, 2005
As a guest here, I know to be respectful of my hosts. And I mean to be – I am. So I don’t want you to think I’m being cheeky with this post. I’m not. I’m being quite serious.
Fine cheese. Like Gordon, I have a penchant for it. Why just the other day at the Portland Farmer’s Market I bought a delectable artisan lavender farmer’s cheese. It’s the sort of cheese Gordon would blog about. It’s a little like this one.
But should the highbrow cheeses really get all the attention? Some may be loath to admit it, but there’s some real quality in the lowbrow stuff, too. And, as it turns out, I can be quite lowbrow.
Take, for instance, port wine cold pack cheese food.
It’s delicious stuff. Really. Spread it on a Wheat Thin (a low-brow cracker, of course) and savor the piquant, creamy flavor. Or slather it on a crusty baguette and pretend it’s cheap-wine-soaked camembert. Whatever gets you over that initial revulsion. Sure, it may come in a plastic tub. It may merit its own CFR entry distinguishing it from actual “cheese.” It may be Day-glo orange and pink. But it’s delicious nonetheless.
And there’s some incredible, lowbrow cheese-related foods that shouldn’t be neglected. We all know about Philly cheesesteaks and other lowbrow cheese-related sandwiches, but have you tried poutine? It’s – now stick with me here – french fries, covered with cheese curds, and topped with gravy. It’s a Quebecois delicacy, and, perhaps, "Canada’s most pervasive contribution to world cuisine" (whatever that means). It's so good, it's easily worth the 3 months each order takes off your life. Even without the fries and gravy (but with the addition of a little beer batter and oil) deep fried cheese curds may be the very apotheosis—the eidos, if you will—of low-brow, cheese-related cuisine.
(On a related note, this seems like a good time to mention that Montreal may be home to the most wonderful collection of junk food in the world. In addition to poutine, there's smoked meat sandwiches, May Wests, and the Wilensky's special, each a stand-out in it's class).
I could go on. Suffice it to say fine cuisine is not necessarily haute cuisine.
UPDATE: My friend Dave points out that I neglected to pair the appropriate wine with my recommendation. He corrects the oversight.
October 25, 2005
That was Hans Bender of the Danish Dairy Board after the European Court of Justice upheld the name "feta" as a protected designation of origin for Greece. Bender wonders, "What will be next? Will the Italians demand that pizza become a protected product that no one can make?" (W$J)
So what will happen? Non-Greek producers of feta will continue to produce the cheese, but they will use other names. What would you call your feta if you couldn't call it "feta"?
October 15, 2005
Do you know quark? Not the subatomic particle, but the German cheese (which appears to have been the indirect inspiration for the name of the particle). I first encountered it in Austria, where it is called topfen. It looks like cream cheese, but it is a bit drier (almost chalky) and not as flavorful. Still, it is one of my favorite treats on my trips to central Europe. I spread it on toasted bread, then top it off with strawberry jam, but quark is also used as an ingredient in many German desserts.
The W$J mentions quark in an article on German cuisine, "Another typically German product, quark, a soft white cheese often made in the U.S., is appearing in chefs' recipes in place of cream cheese." The article quotes Chef Marcel Biró, who has an upscale German restaurant called Biró in Sheboygan.
I feel the sudden need for a road trip!
September 23, 2005
How do you store your cheese? Like most people, I use that little drawer in the middle of my refrigerator. As of next year, we will have other refrigeration options (via the W$J):
At least two companies are developing cheese refrigeration units for the home. Next year, food and kitchenware retailer NapaStyle will offer a countertop cheese refrigerator with four compartments for different cheeses, each with its own temperature and humidity controls. The appliance, roughly the size of a toaster oven, will cost about $300, says the company's owner, Michael Chiarello. Kitchen-appliance manufacturer Viking Range Corp. also says it is developing a cheese refrigerator.
But why stop there? Steve Bainbridge has his wine cellar. Why not a cheese room?
In Atherton, Calif., home builder Sam Benzacar recently started construction on a 16,000-square-foot house that will have a 300-square-foot cheese room adjacent to the wine cellar. The room -- which has multiple refrigeration units and is designed to hold hundreds of pounds of cheese -- is likely to add $50,000 to the cost of the home, which doesn't yet have a buyer, Mr. Benzacar says. Meanwhile, Daphne Zepos, director of cheese maturing at the Artisanal Cheese Center, a New York importer and retailer, says she recently reviewed plans for a country house in northern California's Lake County that will have a subterranean stone cave for aging and storage, built around a natural artesian well that will provide cheese-friendly humidity levels. The room, she says, will be reminiscent of giant cheese-aging caves in France.
The problem here is that cheese is picky about how it should be stored. Different cheeses thrive in different temperatures and at different humidity levels. If you don't have $50,000 for a cheese room, therefore, take heart.
While home cheese-aging has long been popular in Europe and is becoming more popular in America, some cheese experts say it isn't worth the trouble. Steven Jenkins, author of "Cheese Primer" and a cheese specialist at Manhattan's Fairway Market, calls the idea "really silly." People who bring home cheese to store "are simply drying out their cheeses," he says. He recommends buying cheese in small amounts from cheese-mongers who know when it's ready to eat.
Thanks to John Surdyk for the tip.
September 19, 2005
During my commute home on Friday, I heard on the radio this story about a study linking types of cheeses to types of dreams. The British Cheese Board studied 200 cheese-eaters and found that eating specific cheeses may determine the sleeper's dreams. Cheshire cheese led to no dreaming, while Stilton blue cheese gave sleepers the wackiest of all dreams. While most of the cheeses tested were popular in Britain, cheddar was also tested. Interestingly, eaters of cheddar cheese, the most popular cheese in the U.S., dreamed of celebrities.
September 18, 2005
"Ubriaco" is Italian for drunk or intoxicated, which suits this cheese because it is bathed in Cabernet, Merlot and Raboso must for three months, creating a bruise-colored rind and a very fruity flavor. It has a sweet fragrance, and the cheese itself is semi-soft, white and creamy. The Piave is a river in northern Italy.
September 12, 2005
In my entry on Brunkow Cheese Cooperative yesterday, I mentioned visiting two cheese factories on my way home from Iowa. The second was Carr Cheese Factory, home of Gile (pronounced just like "guile") Cheese in Cuba City, Wisconsin, Pop. 2074.* The factory is named for the family that donated the land, but the cheese is named after the family that makes the cheese. Cletus Gile bought the factory in 1946. That photo shows Cletus' father, who worked at the factory from its founding in 1921. One of Cletus' sons, Tim, was manning the retail store when I dropped in for some aged cheddar, and he described the history of his business, of which he is rightly proud. You can read more about that here, on their company website.
According to Tim, two cheeses are their most popular (and award winning): Baby Swiss and Colby. I bought some of both, and while I was there, I purchased some eight-year-old cheddar, too. Baby Swiss is very mild, usually a bit too mild for my taste. I will write more about that in a future post. Colby Cheese is also very mild. It was developed in Colby, Wisconsin, and I will hold off writing more about that until I visit the source. For this entry, I will focus on aged cheddar.
In "The Cheese Shop," Monty Python observes that Cheddar is "the single most popular cheese in the world." That may be true, but mozzarella has surpassed cheddar as the most popular cheese in the U.S. Still, cheddar is a wonderfully flexible cheese, and it is very popular in Wisconsin. Of course, it is named for a village in England, where it has been manufactured for at least 800 years. It's taste can range from very mild to very sharp, with aging being the primary driver of sharpness. Also, as the cheese ages, its texture turns from creamy to crumbly.
If you are accustomed to purchasing cheddar in a grocery store, you are familiar with the designations "mild," "medium," "sharp," and "extra sharp." To give you some sense of the aging, Tillamook ages its cheddars as follows: medium cheddar (60 days), sharp cheddar (minimum of 9 months), extra sharp cheddar (minimum of 15 months). Tillamook doesn't sell a mild, but you can assume that mild cheddars are aged from a couple of weeks to a few months.
When you are buying aged cheddar, you are buying "sharp" or "extra sharp" cheese, and these descriptions lose their value in distinguishing among the various forms of aged cheddar. In this market, the main descriptor is the number of years the cheese is aged. The most popular aged cheddars are no more than five years old. Unless you have developed a keen taste for aged cheddar, going beyond five-year-old cheese could be a shock to your taste buds.
The eight-year-old cheddar from Gile Cheese was outstanding. Sharp and crumbly, but not dry. Cheese of that age contains calcium lactate crystals, which occur naturally during aging. Both calcium and lactose are found in cow’s milk, and during the production process, the lactose ferments, becoming lactic acid, which associates with the calcium to form a salt crystal. In addition to enhancing the sharpness of the cheese, the crystals make aged cheddar crunchy.
* According to Tim Gile, Cuba City was first called "Yuba," but when the city's founders discovered that "Yuba" had already been taken by a small town to the north, they searched for a new name by beginning at the top of the alphabet and rhyming with Yuba. "Auba"? No. "Buba"? Definitely not. "Cuba"? Cuba!
"City" was added to the end of the town's name by the person who made the sign for the railroad station. He wrote "Cuba City," and it stuck. Apparently, they get visitors now and then from Havana, who want to buy t-shirts.
September 11, 2005
A few weeks ago, I found a map of Wisconsin designed for cheese tasters. Talk about an invitation I could not refuse! So today, driving home from Iowa, I took a few back roads and visited two cheese factories. One of them was the Brunkow Cheese Cooperative, which is located outside of Darlington, Wisconsin.
If you want to know the Wisconsin that I know, avoid the interstate highways. In fact, avoid any road identified by numbers. Drive the county roads (perhaps misleadingly called "highways"), which are designated by letters. (My early years were spent on a farm on a Trempeleau County road called "Highway NN." My parents still refer to those years as "living on double-N.") At the intersection of two such roads -- Highway F and Highway G in Lafayette County -- you will find the Brunkow Cheese Cooperative.
Here is a brief history of the cooperative:
In 1899, a group of Wisconsin dairy farmers gathered to make plans to build a cheese factory, which would provide them with a market for their milk. They wanted a plant which would be built close to their farms, so that they could reduce the time and effort required getting their product to market ... for them and their horses. The cheese factory was built as a co-op, with each farmer pledging money or labor to build the factory for his share in the co-op. It was named Brunkow Cheese Co-op for the farmer who donated the land. A cheesemaker was hired. He furnished the machinery, tools and labor necessary to produce the cheese, and, once the cheese was sold, was paid a percentage of the money from the sale. A small amount of money was set aside for upkeep of the building, and what money remained was paid to the individual farmer members for each hundred pounds of milk he had delivered to the cheese factory for the month.
Brunkow still operates as a cooperative, and if you can't travel to rural Darlington, you can find their cheese at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays in Madison. (I didn't realize that until I walked into their store an saw a familiar label.) Although Brunkow mades a wide variety of cheeses, I know them for their cheddar cheese curds and aged cheese spreads, so I bought some of both.
Cheese curds are bite-sized chunks of cheddar cheese as they appear before being pressed into blocks and aged. In other words, this is fresh cheese. When you obtain them straight from the factory, as I did today, they are rubbery and they squeak when you bite them. Because they lose their freshness rapidly, Wisconsinites have taken to deep-fat frying them (coated in batter), which must be a fairly rapid route to a heart attack.
I rarely eat cheese spreads, which normally are a horrid imitation of real cheese. The Brunkow cheese spreads, on the other hand, are quite tasty. Their website explains why:
Our special blend of aged (over 100 days) raw milk Cheddar cheese, whey, cream, water and flavorings can enhance any meal or snack. We add no preservatives or artificial colors. Brunkow Cheese Co-op Cold Pack cheese is live, natural cheese with no relation to pasteurized, process cheeses. There is no heat involved, therefore the full flavor of the cheese remains. Some spreads contain extra salt, stabilizers or added sugar, but not Brunkow Cheese Co-op Cold Pack Cheese Spread. The whey (with its own milk sugar) and cream make our spread naturally sweet. The flavor is exceptionally full-bodied.
Now I'm hungry again ...
September 04, 2005
This cheese -- whose name means "medium dry" -- has an ivory-colored paste and a brown rind. My first impression on spotting the cheese in the store was "Manchego," but it really isn't much like Manchego. Mezzo Secco is made from cow's milk, not sheep's milk, and has a milder flavor than most Manchego that I have tasted. The Cowgirl Creamery describes the cheese as "a version of Monterey Jack is aged for 3-4 months," and that tells you more about its taste than any adjectives I can conjure. In addition to eating it from a cheese board, my wife and I added slices to a chicken breast sandwich, and that seemed like just the right touch. It bears a remote resemblance to Parmesan and I could imagine it tasting good with pasta. The aroma is slightly sweet and despite the reference to "dryness" in its name, the texture is creamy.
August 29, 2005
It has been a long time since I have posted about cheese, but with fall approaching, the smell of cheese is in the air. Over on the Cheese Forum, a new blog about cheese where I will be cross-posting my entries from here, Rusty started an open thread on cheese shops. If I were allowed to visit any cheese shop in the world, I would have to choose Neal's Yard Dairy, which has two locations in London. Last year, Neal's Yard (via Whole Foods) introduced me to Isle of Mull Cheddar, which remains one of my favorite cheeses ever. This weekend, I discovered two new cheeses from Neal's Yard: Westcombe Cheddar (orange) and Llangloffan (white). Both are hard cheeses made from raw cow's milk, and both pack a punch, especially the Llangloffan.
Westcombe Cheddar is made by the Calvert family at Westcombe Farm in Somerset County, England. It is a traditional, cloth-bound cheddar, and although it is generally described as "fruity," our wedge was nicely sharp. If you would like to see photos of Westcombe Farm and their cheesemaking operations, check out the list of cheeses at the NYD website, click on "Cheddar - Westcombe," and scroll down.
Llangloffan is produced by the Downey family near Pembrokeshire, Wales (which displays a surfer on its tourist sight, by the way). The Downey's have a story to tell about how they came to cheesemaking. Leon Downey was co-principal viola in the Hallé Orchestra and Joan Downey was a secretary when moved to Wales to make cheese. A big part of why I love cheese relates to stories like this. The Downey's are cheese people, and they have created an outstanding cheese. Our wedge was a slightly crumbly, and the taste was spicy. It's bite made my children wince, but I was happy that they left most of it for me. Photos of the Llangloffan Welsh Farmhouse are available here.
June 20, 2005
June 16, 2005
Continuing our Swedish lessons, this entry's word is Ost. Cheese! Lund has a small cheese shop called Bengtson's, and we visited yesterday. At the recommendation of one of our hosts, we purchased some Västerbotten cheese (which Bengtson's spelled Wästerbotten). Västerbotten is a county in northern Sweden, and this cheese reminds me of Dubliner cheese, though a bit more cumbly. We also purchased some Swedish cheddar (I didn't realize that Swedes made cheddar), which my son intends to use for macaroni and cheese later this week.
June 02, 2005
I would have taken a photo of my own slice of Brie de Meaux and posted it, but that would have required me to let go of the knife and extract my fingers from my mouth. Not to mention that I would have had to snap fast, as the slice was gone in about 10 minutes. I love this cheese.
It has been nicknamed the King of Cheeses or, alternatively, the Cheese of Kings. The origin of this nickname apparently dates to the Congress of Vienna, where Talleyrand reportedly challenged ambassadors from other European nations to a cheese duel. Talleyrand selected Brie de Meaux to represent France, and, of course, the cheese prevailed. (If it hadn't I wouldn't be telling this story.)
Brie de Meaux is manufactured only in certain parts of the Ile-de-France, the region that includes Paris. As you can see in the photo, it has a white mold rind and a creamy paste, which is quite mild. My favorite description of the taste: "It will cause a sensation in your mouth similar to that of licking the bottom of a freshly emptied butter churn (which, we're sure, many of you out there are familiar with)." Having never licked the bottom of a butter churn, I am hard-pressed to gainsay the comparison.
May 23, 2005
The first thing you notice about this cheese is the bark band, which is used to provide structure for the cheese, though it doesn't seem to require it. This cheese is made from pasteurized milk, and it seems to hold its shape well. The unpasteurized parent of L'Edel de Cleron is Vacherin Mont d'Or (indeed, L'Edel de Cleron is sometimes called "faux Vacherin"), which is seriously runny and (unfortunately) not to be found in the U.S. Both cheeses are made in Franche-Comte in eastern France. L'Edel de Cleron is produced in Cleron in the Loue Valley. The bark is not merely for structure, but it enhances the flavor of this cheese, which is often described as "resinous" or "balsamic."
May 20, 2005
"The site for cheese pronunciation." Brace yourself.
This fellow must love cheese.
May 05, 2005
Happy Cinco de Mayo! I'm sure Gordon will hate me for tarnishing his "cheese" category, but I have to stop and salute the Queen of Cinco de Mayo festivities -- Velveeta. We Texicans like to bring out the Velveeta to celebrate the most important holidays, including this one. So, I introduced my Wisconsin Bunco girlfriends this week to the wonders of Velveeta & Rotel. We call it "queso" back home, but you can just call it "yummy."
April 30, 2005
We don't use polls much around here and this post isn't really a poll, but rather a quiz.
For a chart that reveals the correct answer, see here.
I shouldn't be surprised at this, I suppose, but I am. Pizza was a big part of my childhood, and I thought it was pretty popular in the 1970s. But look at this from the USDA's website:
Mozzarella—the main cheese in pizza—overtook Cheddar in 2002 to become America's favorite cheese. In 2003, Mozzarella consumption reached 9.6 pounds per person, more than 8 times the 1970 level. From 1970 to 2003, consumption of Cheddar cheese increased 62 percent to 9.4 pounds per capita, making it America's second favorite cheese. Cream cheese overtook Swiss in the late 1980s—in part due to an explosion in the popularity of bagels—to become America's third favorite cheese, at 2.3 pounds consumed per person in 2003 (nearly 4 times the 1970 level).
The article suggests that Mozzarella consumption may have peaked, because an aging population will consume less pizza. But this is good news for cheese lovers: "Likely to continue increasing, however, are the diversity, quality, and availability of cheeses in both supermarkets and specialty shops dedicated to artisanal and farmhouse cheeses."
April 28, 2005
Known as the "delight of Burgundy," this mild, brie-like cheese is unbelievably rich and delicious. It is a "triple cream" (Fromage à trois), meaning that extra cream is added to the curd during production. It is this step that distinguishes the triple cream cheeses from ordinary Brie or Camembert. Technically, a "triple cream" must contain at least 72% fat. No wonder! Here is a nice review of Délice de Bourgogne from the Gourmet Foodstore.
April 26, 2005
The NYT has a feature article on cheese obsession in New York City, which it calls "a center of cheese enthusiasm." (Amusing how often Saul Steinberg's "A View of the World from Ninth Avenue" comes to mind when reading the NYT.) I like to say nice things in my cheese entries, but I will make an exception in this instance: this article could not have been written by a cheese lover because she affords so little space to cheese! The article is about people who love cheese, but if you are one of those people, you cannot go so long without writing something more heartfelt about the cheese itself. Yes, the article is sprinkled with occasional references to this or that cheese, but the focus is always on what people are doing with the cheese rather than on the cheese itself. For example:
One recent morning, Mr. Liss transferred Fleur-de-Lis, a triple cream from Louisiana that looks like a large white Hershey's Kiss with the top lopped off, onto racks in one of five Artisanal's aging caves, which are like walk-in coolers with a funky aroma.
Or this ...
Hard-core enthusiasts may seek out formaggio di fossa, an Italian sheep's milk cheese that is aged in the ground, but few would go as far as Cielo Peralta, a worker at Murray's since 1995 who has had one buried in his backyard in Bushwick, Brooklyn, for a year. He lovingly slathers pumpkinseed oil on its mottled surface every few months.
Some interesting stories, but the article gives almost no sense for why these folks are obsessed with cheese. Why, for example, would Diana Pittet quit teaching Latin to work at Neal's Yard Dairy, then start a dissertation about American cheddars at New York University? Because cheese is about history, romance, sensual pleasure, discovery, craft, etc. You will not find any of that in this article. But you might like the slideshow.
March 25, 2005
Brennan's is selling cheeses from the United States Championship Cheese Contest, held last week in Milwaukee. (See here for the list of winners.) Tonight, I devoured a round of Camembert from Old Europe Cheese, Inc. in Benton Harbor, Michigan. That's right. Michigan. Not a state known for great cheeses, but this cheese was excellent, earning a third prize in the contest.
Camembert is as recognizable as any French cheese, with the familiar white rind and yellow paste. Named for village of Camembert, this cheese is made from fresh cow's milk, which is curdled and ladled into circular molds. Salt is added on the second day of production, thus accounting for usual salty taste. After being covered with bacteria, the cheese is ripened for at least three weeks. When brought to room temperature, the cheese should ooze slightly, unless is has been aged four or five weeks, in which case it will ooze a lot!
People do all sorts of fancy things with Camembert, but I prefer to keep it simple, with bread or crackers.
February 16, 2005
Nina asked me this afternoon why I hadn't blogged about cheese in awhile, and the answer is ... I don't know. I have been eating cheese, but just not blogging it. So on the way home from work I made a quick detour to Whole Foods, looking for something new and different. I found two cheeses from the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative, which is comprised of farms in northern Wisconsin, very near my home town of Osseo.
Dante is a Manchego-style cheese, though slightly more grassy and less oily than an aged Manchego. The cheese I brought home, however, was Mona. Mona is a blend of sheep's milk and cow's milk, which makes it creamier and milder than Dante. The texture is dense, but slightly crumbly. These are interesting cheeses that are not widely distributed, though you can buy them online through the WSDC website.
December 18, 2004
Surely, you recognize this line from George Costanza. You can read the script here or listen to George on this page.
I am not sure whether anyone has ever collected great movie and television lines about cheese. Maybe I will start with this post. This episode of Seinfeld has two references to eating cheese, both associated with bachelorhood.
Here is the first exchange, between George and Jerry on the street, shortly after George's fiance has expired from ingesting envolope glue:
GEORGE: (inhales deeply) I tell you, Jerry, I'm feeling something. Something I haven't felt in a long time.JERRY: Pride?
GEORGE: No. Autonomy, complete and total autonomy.
JERRY: Well, you're your own boss now.
GEORGE: I wanna go to a tractor pull.
JERRY: Go ahead.
GEORGE: I am staying out all night!
JERRY: Who's stopping you?
GEORGE: I wanna bite into a big hunk of cheese, just bite into it like it's an apple.
JERRY: Whatever.
Then, after learning that his would-have-been inlaws were inspired by Jerry's remarks from a Star Trek movie to establish a foundation in honor of their deceased daughter and have asked him to sit on the board of directors, George and Jerry have this conversation:
JERRY: Hey.GEORGE: Hey. How's your day, good?
JERRY: Actually, yeah. I'm meeting Mulva here in a few minutes.
GEORGE: So uh... Wrath of Khan, huh?
JERRY: Yeah. Was that a beauty or what?
GEORGE: What was that line again? Something about finding your way in a shadow?
JERRY: No, no, no, it's... "She's not really dead if we find a way to remember her."
GEORGE: That's it. That's the line... (squirts mustard into Jerry's coffee and stirs it) ...that destroyed my life.
JERRY: (stares into coffee cup and looks back at George) Problem?
GEORGE: The Rosses have started up a foundation, Jerry, and I have to sit on the board of directors.
JERRY: Hey, board of directors. Look at you!
GEORGE: Yeah! Look at me! I was free and clear! I was living the dream! I was stripped to the waist, eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery!
JERRY: Before we go any further, I'd just like to point out how disturbing it is that you equate eating a block of cheese with some sort of bachelor paradise.
GEORGE: Don't you see? I'm back in.
JERRY: All because of Wrath of Khan?
GEORGE: Yes!
JERRY: Well, it was the best of those movies.
I am not sure if reading the script does this justice, but that show was the best comedy ever on television, in my view.
December 13, 2004
As long as I am talking about cheese, I thought I should write about Mimolette, which I tried for the first time last week. I had seen this cheese from time to time at Whole Foods, but I was not attracted by its similarity to a cantalope, with a hard, pockmarked rind and a bright orange center. I should have tried it earlier.
This French cow's milk cheese is sometimes called Boule de Lille after the city of its birth in French Flanders, and it was purportedly a favorite of Charles De Gaulle. It is relatively sharp and very firm, not too creamy except at the very center. Almost everyone notes its relationship to Edam, but it is aged for six to nine months, unlike most Edam sold in the United States.
This cow's milk cheese comes from southwest France. It is a relatively modern creation, having been first manufactured in 1976 as a milder version of Camembert. Although typically sold in wedges, the whole cheese is shaped like a flower. This is a pressed cheese which is washed in brine and aged only two weeks. The result is cheese that smells to high heaven, but is creamy and mild. Some reviewers descriped it as "spicy" or "tangy," but it is significantly less bold than Camembert, in my view. Bottom line: this is one of my favorite snacking cheeses ... and that's saying something!
November 18, 2004
While cruising around the internet looking for information on Chaumes cheese, I found a fun site on French chesse called Frencheese. Check it out.
Apparently, Chaumes cheese is a popular table cheese, but I am not a fan. Neither were my cheese-tasting daughters. We traditionally eat a substantial wedge of cheese each Sunday after church, and this one was never finished. Two days later, I discarded the remains.
This cheese is made from cow's milk. "Chaumes" is French for stubble, and this seems to connect the color of the cheese to the color of the stubble fields in this part of France. Folks around the internet use typical adjectives like "nutty" and "creamy" to describe this cheese, but mine was almost sour. Bad wedge? Perhaps. But I will be trying something new this week.
November 07, 2004
Oh, my! This is good cheese! Harlech is a Welsh cheese named after Harlech Castle in Northern Wales. (For some reason, Whole Foods had a whole selection of Welsh cheeses on my last visit, and I also tried some Red Dragon.) This is a cheddar flavored with horseradish and parsley. My daughter describes it as "zesty," and it has a bit of a punch. I haven't tried it in cooking, but it will definitely be on my next cheeseboard.
October 26, 2004
Spanish chesses are a mixed bag for me. I am a mild fan of Manchego, a sheep's milk cheese, and Majorero, from goat's milk. Today, I picked up a Mahon cheese, which is made from cow's milk in Mahon, and I am a big fan. Mahon is the capital and port of Menorca, the most northerly of the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea. At this fine website, I learned that Mahon "is ... the name given to all cow's milk cheeses produced on the island, as all cheese were exported from Mahon via the Mediterranean Sea." My cheese was creamy and just slightly salty, with a tangy aftertaste. Indeed, after my first bite, the inside of my mouth was tingling. It would make a great board cheese.
September 29, 2004
In my latest cheese mood swing, I have been eating a lot of French. Fromager d'Affinois is a soft, creamy cheese. It is a ripened cheese with a white, edible rind. The cheese is variously described as "ethereal" and "addictive." My slice had been supplemented with garlic and herbs, and it was amazingly good.
September 21, 2004
Maggi Hambling, artist, on the decision by Morley College (London) to review its policy of displaying nudes: "If a student does a piece of work - drawing or painting - that's good enough to have on the wall, then of course it should be exhibited. It's no different than if it is a tree, or a piece of cheese." Just to be clear, when I say that I love cheese, I am not implying anything beyond that.
August 27, 2004
My friend Scott Rankin is a food scientist in Babcock Hall, which locals associate with great ice cream and cheese. Scott's website says that his research focuses on the "characterization of primarily dairy food flavor with sensory and instrumental techniques." I think that means that he tries to figure out how to improve the taste of dairy products. In any event, I know that he knows a lot about cheese, and he just tipped me off on the World Cheese Exchange database. (When you go to this site, click "Technical Resources" and then "CDR World Cheese Exchange.") The database is searchable and browseable, by name and by country of origin. Some of the cheeses have pictures, and all of them have information about the country of origin, milk type, flavor, and apprearance. Cheese lovers rejoice!
August 24, 2004
This cheese comes from the Auvergne region in south-central France. With volcanic mountains, crater lakes, and the Tronais forest, the Auvergne region is one of the most beautiful in France. They make good cheese, too.
Saint Nectaire cheese is a pressed, cow's-milk cheese that is traditionally ripened in rye straw. It has a pink-orange rind with white mold. The cheese itself is yellow with small holes. My slice was nearly bursting from its cellophane, like a yeasty bread dough that was rising.
The official website of Saint Nectaire tells the fascinating history of the cheese, including the following:
[T]he 18th century saw an attempt to make Gruyère in the Mont Dore area, spurred by Lieutenant Trudaine who attracted Swiss cheese makers there. The Auvergne peasants' contempt for Gruyère caused the Swiss to leave. For their part, producers managed to improve the making of Saint-Nectaire.
During the wars from 1792 to 1815, young Auvergnat soldiers discovered Holland. On their return, they put into practice the cheese-making methods they had found there. A committee of Auvergnat cheese-makers then went to Holland to perfect the application of the Dutch methods to the making of Saint-Nectaire.
Interesting to see the French giving credit to the Dutch for their contribution to this ancient cheese. By the way, if you are interesting in reading about the origins of the name Saint Nectaire -- a story that involves Louis XIV -- look here.
August 22, 2004
This is an Italian truffle cheese preserved in ashes ("Sottocenere" literally means "under ash" in Italian). Does that sound tasty? Not to me, and my skepticism was heightened when I unwrapped the cheese, which has a distinctly stale smell. But I liked the look of it -- the gray rind and black specks (the truffles) give it a very classy look -- so I pressed on. It turned out to be a very flavorful, mild cheese.
From reading about this cheese around the internet, I gather that the use of ashes in preserving cheese is old Venetian custom, and the ash ingredients for this cheese include nutmeg, cloves coriander, cinnamon, licorice and fennel. It is a semi-soft, cow's milk cheese, and we enjoyed it with some simple crackers.
August 18, 2004
Aged gouda is one of my favorite cheeses, so my fondness for Parrano Originale cheese was preordained. Another product of the Netherlands, this aged cheese is smooth and creamy like Gouda, but nuttier. It is often described as Italian in taste, somewhat like Parmesan. The company website describes it as a "deanery" cheese: "This is a type of cheese that uses a special coagulant to give it a slightly sweet, nut-flavored taste." I don't know about you, but talk of coagulants doesn't set off my salivary glands. Anyway, unlike most of my favorite cheeses, this one is of recent origin, so there is no cool story about the region of its birth. Still, it makes for a very tasty snack.
July 13, 2004
Neal's Yard Dairy started as a small dairy in a London courtyard. Today, they buy cheeses from all over the British Isles. Last week our local Whole Foods Market received of shipment of NYD's Isle of Mull Cheddar, and today I was able to purchase one of the last slices. This cheese is not from Cheddar, but from Scotland (thus, the Isle of Mull). It has just a touch of blue toward the edge of the cheese, which produces a tangy aftertaste. Awesome with crackers.
July 10, 2004
In 1992 the European Union produced a very long list of food products whose regional names were to receive protection within the EU. That is, products using a registered name were required to have a specified connection to the region associated with the name. The registered names are referred to as a Protected Designation of Origin ("covers the term used to describe foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognised know-how") or a Protected Geographical Indication ("the geographical link must occur in at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation").
Last year the European Union produced a shorter list of 41 names that it wanted to "recuperate" in TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) negotiations. Under the EU Proposal, registration of "geographical indication" would establish a presumption that the name is worthy of protection in all WTO countries. The presumption could be refuted by evidence that the name had become generic. Thirteen cheeses made the shortlist. How many can you name? (Click "more ..." for the answer.)
Asiago
Comté
Feta
Fontina
Gorgonzola
Grana Padano
Manchego
Mozzarella di Bufala Campana
Parmigiano Reggiano
Pecorino Romano
Queijo São Jorge
Reblochon
Roquefort
Mmmm. Makes me hungry just reading it.
June 24, 2004
For my last post from Germany, I thought I should talk a little about our visit to the Appenzeller cheese factory in Switzerland. Appenzell is the region in Switzerland from which the cheese originates. This is traditional Swiss cheese, without the large holes. It is sold in three varieties, differentiated by the amount of aging: classic (at least three months), surchoix (at least four months), and extra (at least six months). None of the options is incredibly sharp, but all three are "uniquely spicy" (the company's tagline).
The cheese factory in Appenzeller is a Schaukäserei, which means that the public is allowed to view the production process. Here are a couple of pictures of the production process. We were mesmerized as we followed each step. (Could it be that I am training a new generation of cheese fanatics?) Afterwards, we purchased some souvenirs and some cheese, which was excellent. We skipped the Restaurant, which had the lamest children's menu I have ever seen ... and that is an achievement.
June 11, 2004
Quick -- name a German cheese! Other than Limburger (which actually originated in Belgium). Maybe you thought of Tilsit, but that is from a town that now lies in Russia. The only other one I came up with was Muenster, but that is from a town in Alsace, which is now part of France.
Perhaps these modern national borders should not dictate the country of cheese origin, but the fact remains: Germany is not a cheese rich country. France, of course, is notorious for having many cheeses. Switzerland is not far behind. Spain and England also hold their own, but Germany is pathetic in the cheese department.
So much so that when I went to the local grocery earlier this week and asked for a "genuine German cheese," I felt like I had just stumped the band. The cheese assistant -- who knew her cheeses -- at first tried to persuade me to purchase something from France or Switzerland, but when I insisted on German cheese, she tried to rise to the challenge. She just didn't have much to work with. We ended up with a Swiss-like cheese and some Butterkäse ("butter cheese"), which may have been made with milk from German cows, but isn't distinctively German. To overcome this drought, I am headed for Switzerland tomorrow.
June 01, 2004
Face it. If you have a blog, you have been tempted to blog about cheese. I do it regularly. Sua Sponte occasionally indulges ("No dietary regime can ever be made fully livable without cheese.") If you are not lactose intolerant