Fromage goes to Brooklyn: A Dispatch from the Field

While traveling it is often difficult to purchase and maintain high quality cheese samples, especially since I prefer to travel light without all variety of fromage accoutrement. Clearly restaurants and friends' refrigerators are the primary source of cheese forage. The latter because they are free and the former because the potential for excellence exists. Anyhow I was pleased to find JakeWalk in Carroll gardens last Saturday night and then surprised to find a review of it in the Times on Sunday seemingly written by a high school intern. The review although positive is, in fact, so egregiously base that I suggest you only view the photograph associated with the article. The real point is the wide variety of excellent chesses on hand for $4 each. I was especially pleased to see them representing Fiscalini Farms on the east coast. This is a cheese maker I've been meaning to address for a while. I often get these cheeses from a local shop in San Diego and have seen them at a few restaurants in California. At JakeWalk I had the San Joaquin Gold: a mild, Fontina-esque cheese. I think the best part about this and another one of my favorites, the Bandaged Wrapped Cheddar (also from FF) is the subtle grassy taste that really compliments the other flavors (nutty, creamy, etc) . FF suggests melting or grating on salad, but I think the San Joaquin Gold really stands well on its own. Although subdued, I think the high quality production process comes through in the finished product. If you come I across it, I suggest you give it a spin. And if you're in Brooklyn, try it at JakeWalk. They've got good wine, good cheese, good service, and good ambiance. Just don't forget "Cotton dresses and flats for women; corduroy and denim for men." Otherwise you won't get in.

The Feta - No longer just Uncle Aristedes' favorite...

The modern Greeks have a healthy diet and a very long life-expectancy. And absolutely stunning views of the mountains and ocean. Maybe some of all of these things has to do with their beloved Feta cheese.

A story covered by the Daily-Mail describes a new study that came out in the past two weeks. It is from the work of a Greek researcher (of course!) at the University of Lincoln in the UK. Microbiologist Panagiotis Chanos reported to an esteemed microbiology society in England that Feta cheese has many natural, lactic-acid containing bacteria that function as strong antibiotics in the body. Panos studied the raw milk and feta cheese produced at 40 small farms, in the Macedonia region of northern Greece, and used samples of raw Feta from each for his experiments. He was able to demonstrate, in vitro, that the bacteria in Feta are able to kill many virulent, food-poisoning bacteria, like Listeria, that the human body has much difficulty with.

At Fromagedumois, we give our hat's off and three cheers to Dr. Chanos. We always suspected that something would come to justify the lovable, lactic-y Feta taste.

Verry Berri(chon): Traditional French Goat's Milk Cheese

If you are a fan of goat's milk cheese, you know how unique the flavor is. It is often something of a tangy, tartiness, and you usually seek it out, intentionally. You know what you are going to get and you do this mental comparison to a sharp cheddar or buttery manchego. Goat's milk cheese can usually provide that extra something. While it is tart, and maybe even bitter (thanks to the capric and caproic acids), it is absolutely refreshing.

Traditonally, goat’s milk cheese in made by hand; production has been mainly in areas where goats have been domesticated and in regions with farms or homesteads. In these places, agriculture is inveterate to the land, rather than new or transported in. Goat's milk cheese is made throughout the world, but predominantly in Europe, and includes subtlties from countries, including Greece, France, and England.

Some of the most famous and sought-after artisanal goat's milk cheeses (chevres) are from the French countryside, along the banks of the Loire River. The Loire begins in the Cevanne highlands, a mountainous region in south-central France, and it runs northwest for over a 1000 miles, cutting a path through central and western France. It ends at the Atlantic Ocean harbor town of Saint-Nazaire, but not before creating a vast system for irrigation and lush, fertile valleys. The climate in the Loire valleys is very moderate, which has made farming and wine-production home to the area since, likely, the 1st Century (C.E.).

Within these valleys, in the central part of France, is a region called "Berry", which makes up most of the political departments of Indre and Cher (The Cheese Primer, p. 88). And it is Berry, where cheese and food products are described as Berrichon, that is famous for its production of goat's milk cheeses. In the region, there are still numerous small herds of goats, at most of 40 animals per farm, who feed on the available, lush flora. It is thought that the cheese made here is especially rich because of this environment, containing "subtle nuances of clover, herbs, pine, and pepper." (The Cheese Primer, p. 89).

So, do you want to try some traditional, french, berrichon chevre? It may be difficult to find it in most U.S. stores. Steven Jenkins' writes that, "..The classical, French goat cheese is so special because the human touch involved in the process encourages the real, natural flavor to emerge. If the cheese is too encased in fancy, modern packaging and has a gaudy, costly label, it is nearly always the product of a commercial plant and should be passed up...". He continues that mottled, blud mold on the rind is okay, and is an indication of the natural process and even desirable. In addition, to maintain its flavor and robustness, cheesemongers argue that these chevres should be eaten within the first 2-3 weeks of production; exporting and selling on a large-scale is difficult in that time frame. However, if you can find the Selles-sur-Cher (A.O.C.) chevre or the (unpasteurized!) Crottin de Chavignol or Pouligny-Saitn-Pierre (both A.O.C.), and they are within 3-8 weeks old, then you are golden and you are getting the 'real deal'. Bonne chance.
(See our Fromage Resouces link to the left for more from The Cheese Primer)

I recently tried a more processed, French-imported, mass produced, 'traditional' chevre, complete with gaudy label and cute, smiling goat . And the truth is, it was pretty darn good. Especially, as an afternoon snack on Wheat Thins. I can only dream about what my first berrichon chevre will be like.

The perfect cheese platter

It's Friday night, 6:30 p.m. and you need something quick and fabulous for some unexpected guests. A cheese platter and some pepper crackers or french bread is often the right answer, but what makes it just right?

One of the things I like most about cheese is that there is something for everyone, and your cheese platter should be crafted with this in mind. I'm a fan of color variety, with just enough unusual cheese choices to make your guests go "Ooh" but also a balance of traditional favorites.

Here's what you need:

A long platter
Four or five types of cheeses, refrigerated for easier slicing
(If you know your guests are coming ahead of time, do the slicing in the morning and all you'll need to do is assemble before serving)
One box of table crackers (pepper and poppy seed are my favorite, but anything from Triscuits to $25 stone ground wheat crackers will do) or a baguette of french, sourdough, Ciabatta or olive bread

I presented this platter last week for my Midwestern and culinary cautious in-laws, aiming for cheese that wouldn't scare them too badly.



From left to right, I included 10-16 slices, 1/4" thick and 2" long of:

New York Aged extra sharp cheddar
Gruyere
Sage (see below)
Pepper Jack
Smoked Gouda
Colby Jack

Had my guests been more adventurous, I would have included mustard gouda (preferably with red wax still on for some added color), garlic cheddar and some pungent blue cheese crumbles.

But I was very satisfied with myself because the Sage cheese was so delicious. Eastern Market in DC suffered from a major fire in April but is back in a temporary location with a vengeance. That morning I'd been perusing the fresh pasta when a woman slapped a slice of green cheese in my hand.



Its color offended a few, but it was so tasty - with the creaminess of blue cheese and a texture like colby. Divine!

Cheese in Literature

I was recently reading Tristan Jones’ Saga of a Wayward Sailor detailing his adventure after coming free of the arctic ice. There’s an outstanding tale of making passage through the dutch canals and meeting Dirk Van Scheltema, a warehouse security guard. They hit it off and Dirk offers to return to the boat with cheese for Tristan. True to his word he returns with 200 Edam cheeses (stolen). When he attempts to depart for France the extra weight of all the cheeses has sunk his ship into the mud. Instead of jettisoning the cheese, he chooses to heave his non-functioning engine overboard, removing enough weight to free him. In the next chapter, he reaches France and ends up trading much of the cheese for a brand new engine.

And actually I just found an excerpt on Google books: http://tinyurl.com/ypjsqj It’s a quick and entertaining read.

Anyone know of other cheese references in literature??

Wild about Parrano

I know it may be unorthodox to comment on a cheese without having everyone partake, but hopefully Fromage du Mois-heads will forgive me as a new member. I had the most fabulous cheese the other night and I just had to share.

At first I thought it was called Uniekaas, because that's the name that was on the label. But actually that is the name of a the Dutch cheese company that makes it.

Parrano was "created" 12 years ago by Uniekaas, which tries to market the cheese like it's Italian, even though it is actually made in Holland.

It's a type of gouda - creamy in taste, combining the right salty flavor and a pungent almost blue cheese-style strength. But it's the consistency - hard and crumbly, almost like parmesean - that's perfect.

As you can tell from my name, I'm partial to Greek cheeses, but I may have a new favorite.

We tried it with a simple panne bello loaf of bread and some light pepper-flavored table crackers. Delicious!

And just for fun, check out this cheese-loving dude I found.

Stay tuned: 'Taking back the Curd'...

As F.D.M. readers have guessed by lack of entries, there has been a hiatus in the world of amateur cheese-blogging. As lives tend to go, so do blogs, it seems; they ebb and flow with the normal tides of everyday emotions and motivations. Alas. I think I speak for all of our contributors and readers when I say,"It is all Ok."

The reality is that there is a natural order of things in this world. And it is on this trajectory that our feelings and desires evolved and gave birth to Fromage-du-Mois. It was organic and beautiful. And the spirit is still alive and strong!

The sensorium that is 'cheese' has but one choice in continuing to breath life into this project. So, on we go....There will likely be an upcoming F.D.M. resurgence. This post-hiatus era of the the FDM project may prospectively be referred to as 'Taking back [of] the Curd'...

Curious observation:
I imagine many Fromage-du-Mois contributors and readers alike have experienced what I have in the past 3 months, away from active cheese blogging. And that is this: the eating of cheese in our contemporary American life does not always happen as some 'planned event' or collective cheese tasting. We run across cheddars, swiss, muensters, fetas, ricottas, and the likes in our everyday, culinary lives. Does appreciation of the extraordinary beget awareness of the ordinary? Hmmm....

Post-hoc:
With unquenchable collective innovation, I have taken the liberty to display an artisitc rendition of our Fromage-du-Mois letters on this post. (c)2007.