Fromage du Mois

Fromage goes to Brooklyn: A Dispatch from the Field

2008-04-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-04-11T06:01:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

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'...

2007-08-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

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.

cheddar - right back to the farm

2007-06-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

In the fromage world, cheddar commands one of the heftiest purviews and may well be the most popular cheese. It spans the Kraft slices that end up on your burger to exotic English variants in snooty parlors. To understand fromage, we must begin to understand cheddar.
From a technical vantage point, cheddar is easy to summarize. A cow's milk cheese, cheddar is not named for the region of origin, but for an additional processing called "cheddaring". After the whey is drained from the curds, the blocks of cheese are turned and stacked to give cheddar is unique texture. The flavor of a cheddar should improve with age - so the older the better. You can make a good guess of a cheddar's origin based on the color. English cheddars are always their natural beige, Wisconsin cheddars have a distinctive orange color, and Vermont's are often very white.
From a gustatory vantage point, cheddar is an entirely different story. With such a long history and popularity, one cannot make blanket statements about this cheese. In particular, the availability of small production American cheddars and English Farm House cheddars provide an opportunity to experience the range of this venerable cheese.
In order to tame cheddar, the fromage du mois tasting plan was simply: pick a few cheddars and compare contrast. See the comments for details!

From Jenkins: "Cheese Precept 8 - The harder the cheese, the longer it will stay fresh."

Caerphilly

2007-04-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Our latest cheese selection comes from our ex-pat correspondent and British Isle cheese expert: Fontina Turner. This cheese hales from Wales, near the mouth of the Severn river. Caerphilly is a raw cow's milk fromage that matures extremely quickly (just three weeks or less). During the 19th century it was hugely popular with Welsh miners. It has a high salt content and is rumored to absorb inhaled toxins from the mines. A common miner lunch was Caerphilly wrapped up in cabbage leaves. Beige on the inside, gray on the outside, it also features a natural rind. You should always purchase Caerphilly directly from a wheel, not pre-sliced, so as to prevent excessive dryness. It will also dry up quickly on you, so never keep it on hand for more than a week.

Caerphilly is great example of the global struggle against processed cheeses. Although considered a pedestrian cheese, after a brief stint of mass production and bastardization of the name, it is now possible to get authentic Caerphilly from many smaller producers in Wales. This fromage should be available at finer cheese shops.

A Jenkin's cheese-storage footnote: "Cheese is best stored in the refrigerator as close to the bottom of the appliance as possible - the vegetable compartment is ideal." You should wrap up the cheese to allow it to breath and continue to age. Also it is OK to store many cheeses together. They will not contaminate each other...

Nor-cal Creaminess: From the Goats of Humboldt Bay...

2007-02-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

This Tasting...
When: Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Where: San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, DC, London
What: Northern California-produced ripened goat's milk cheeses (e.g. from Cypress Grove Chevre, Aracata, CA)
Who: Fromagedumois members, and the rest of illustrious cheese enthusiast world...

Did you know that, according to the American Dairy Goat Association (http://adga.org), more people drink goat's milk around the world than any other type of milk? That's easy for you to say ADGA.... :)

This bi-weekly tasting is the first of an American cheese that we have questrd for. It is an important part in our journey for amateur cheese excellence because the North America contributes its fair share to the market of the world's great cheeses. This journey begins about 200 miles north of San Francisco....

Humboldt County, California, is known for a bunch of things in the U.S., including an absoultely gorgeous surrounding outdoor playground and, of course, Chinese exploration in the late 1880s. But, lately, it has gained prominence for its growing number of dairy farmers who have earned some national reputations for making outstanding cheeses.

One standout producer in this region, Cypress Grove Chevre, has expanded in the past decade to encompass a number of farms and dozens of different goat's milk products. Despire it's growth, it still maintains its 'artisinal' cheese making process from its humble beginnings. All of the steps in the process of meticulously carried out by hand. (more details to come....)

Begin the tasting dialogue below!

Charles White: Artisan of the Ages

2007-02-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

This very special post concerns not only amateur cheese tasting, but amateur cheese production as well. Charles White, a long time friend of Fromage du Mois and true polymath, recently sent an advanced shipment of his latest artisan Parmigiano-Reggiano. White Farms does more than just cheese. Charlie also specializes in beer / wine production, and can grow anything that you hand him. When Charlie heard we were doing a Parmesan tasting, he immediately jumped at the chance...

First some background on the fromage under scrutiny. Parmesan is a cow's milk cheese from Reggio, Italy, with strict rules concerning production. In particular:

Parmesan can only be made in four provinces of Italy

Parmesan can only be made between 15April and 11November

Wheels of Parmesan must weigh between 66lbs and 88lbs

Parmesan must be aged at least 14 months and can be consumed up to three years

Each pressing combines two separate milkings

Parmesan is relatively low in fat content and should be yellowish white in color. According to Jenkins, there are few American producers worth tasting, but it's safe to say that Jenkins has not tasted Charlie White's recent entry. The 2% milk for Charlie's cheese comes from the finest, grass-fed cattle in Ohio and was pasteurized just prior to cheesemaking. Once pressed, the cheese is salted in brine solution for 24 hours before aging 10 months.

Read on for the tasting comments!

le penicillium roqueforti

2007-01-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

Roquefort (Carles, France). Unpasteurized sheep's milk,
aged 3 months, semi-hard.

Perhaps it’s best that we keep the penicillium roqueforti on the back burner until we get some basics down, no? We’re dealing with the second most popular cheese in France, a raw sheep’s milk, stinky, salty, green mess of goodness. With such money on the line the “appellation d’orgine contrôlée" is of course in full swing, though lest you think that Roquefort is an invention of shrewd late 20th century marketing, Charles VI accorded the inhabitants of Roquefort a monopoly on the unique production process in 1411, and Pliny the Elder seems to have had some kind words for a cheese bearing a striking resemblance to our current stinky subject.

The trick is to drop some specially made rye bread into a cave in the south of France, leave it there for six to eight weeks, and then harvest the mold. Fresh white cheese is brought into the “cave,” the aforementioned penicillium spores are released into the air (rather than directly into the cheese, so that the fermentation happens evenly), and the tell-tale green ashy flakes start showing up in a few weeks. Three months in, the color is most evident, and then as the cheese ages, some of the green mold flakes start to disappear.

For my tasting I had to choose between a Roquefort Carles and a Roquefort Societé Bée, and I went with the former because it seemed a bit less dry, more sloppy, and, for better or worse, a dollar more. I like the ammonia aftertaste that makes your eyes squint, but I have to admit that I think that I prefer my blues a bit less salty. The pungency is, however, down right glorious, and I think that armed with the right baguette (crackers don’t seem to carry the mold, perhaps), Roquerfort would be a good way to end a cheese platter, a place to work up to through some more mild or subtle options.

Feta Kuti, 30 Januray 2007

The return of a 'blue': Lombardy's Gorgonzola

2007-01-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ricky and M.Boster discover a 'fromage gem' in the Del Ray neighborhood of Arlington, VA. Cheesetique offered two creamy Gorgonzola cheeses, both of the lesser-aged 'dolce' type. (comments on these 2 within).

Stay tuned here for some basic gorgonzola facts.....see Comments for our tasters' thoughts....

Stilton!

2006-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

"Blue cheese contains natural amphetamines. Why are students not informed about this?"
-Mark E. Smith, Lead singer of a UK 'post-punk' band "The Fall"

This is a ridiculous quote of course, but it is a nonetheless interesting fact. And, why not use it as an awkward and delicious segway in this world classic: Stilton. Stilton is a name-protected, classic, English blue cow's milk cheese made in the countryside areas of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire (central England, about 120 miles northwest of London). 3 points....

There are only a handful of dairies that have made this cheese, many for over 90 years, and it remains name-protected by the bylaws of the Stilton Cheese Maker's Association. It is a cow's milk blue cheese that is usually well-aged (at least 6 months) and should be slightly crumbly yet smooth in texture. It has been described, by Steven Jenkins, as "smooth, rich, and creamy...with layers and folds of honey..and molasses".The bacteria that produce some of these flavors and, of course the blueing, actually occur naturally in the milk and in the air around the processing dairies.
As is the issue in many countries, English dairy law has by-and-large transformed the process of using raw milk to make traditional English farmhouse cheeses (like Stilton and Chesire). Many Stilton dairies tried to steer clear of the mass milk-collecting and cheese-producing efforts, that started in the 1930s in England with the Milk Marketing Board in attempt to centralize the growing, dairy commerce. But this effort collapsed with ongoing central government pressures. According to Steven Jenkins, you could not buy unpastuerized Stilton cheese in 1996 (and the Stilton Cheese Makers Assoc. Website, updated in 2006, corroborates this point to the present day).
As a general note on blue cheeses: future blue cheese curds are not cooked at high temperatures during production, like they are for many other cheeses, during the stage that involves 'concentrating' the curd by removing the cloudy, liquid whey protein. Heating at high temperatures causes the curds to clump and tighten into a more string-like structure. These non-cooked 'Blues' are merely concentrated and then left to ripen (or 'spoil', in a controlled setting) which allows the visible holes and fissures to promote and fill with bacterial growth. For Stilton, the 'blueing' process starts off naturally and then, often, long needles are often used to aerate the inner curds.

manchego

2006-12-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome cyberspace friends! Maintaining our recent Spanish theme but switching genus (now ovis) our third cheese under consideration is the widely popular Manchego! Due to La Mancha’s proximity to Madrid, this cheese has received lavish approbation and international distribution. Coupled with time, these factors have allowed the Manchego to eclipse most other Spanish cheeses. Jenkins takes a rather harsh view of Manchego, specifically for this reason. His primary concern is that "Spain is going to lose her gastronomic majesty". We here at Fromage du Mois hope this is erroneous. Nonetheless, we shall forge ahead and discover what all the fuss is about! Read on…

Manchego Fun Facts

The unique cross-hatch pattern on the rind was once formed by molds of woven grass. These molds have since been replaced by plastic!
The rind can be of differing colors. These colors have no bearing on the properties of the cheese.
Manchego comes aged up to two years. Watch out for an overly "sheepy" taste. This means your fromage specimen is not fresh!
It's best to stick to white wine or sherry with younger manchego's - save the red wine for older ones.

Murcia al Vino ("The Drunken Goat")

2006-11-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ricky Ricotta selects the next experience for Fromage du Mois: an elegant and tasty goat's milk cheese, originally from the southeast Spanish coast. Called Murcia al Vino, and fortuitously available in the US under the pseudonym "The Drunken Goat", it features a wash in red wine as part of the production process. Curiously, the Spanish name sounds more elegant. Jenkins describes the queso de murcia (the basic cheese) as a "very agreeable, moist, smooth goat's milk cheese". The incredible notion of soaking cheese in wine resulted from government pressure in 1986 on local cheesemakers to innovate a unique and delicious cheese to put Murcia on the fromage map, so to speak. This cheese was has only recently become available in the United States. As such, after a conservative start with the venerable Emmenthaler, we celebrate our first venture into the unexplored outback of cheese!

Emmentaler

2006-10-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

Today witnessed the inaugural tasting by the fromage du mois triumvirate. The simple, yet classic Emmantaler was selected by our very own Fontina Turner. The curdled milk of this fromage originates from the Emme valley in Switzerland, a highly bucolic region known for dairy farming and the robust Emme river. Although endemic to this valley the name Emmantaler is also used to describe cheeses originating in France and Bavaria. The common variant found in the United States, known as Swiss cheese, is not authentic Emmantaler. The "eyes" of the cheese are created by bacteria off-gassing carbon dioxide during the aging process. The larger the "eyes", the longer the cheese has been aged. Larger "eyes" make the cheese harder to slice, however, which is why the American variant is typically younger. It behooves the amateur cheese lover the recognize the distinction between this holey cheese found in delis and mom's fridge and the true Emmantaler. The Emmental is readily found in American grocery stores as well as specialty wine and cheese shops. Other countries have produced similar cheeses such as Jarlsberg (Norway) and Leerdammer (Netherlands). The Emmentalers sampled ranged in price from $5.99 to $7.99 US dollars / pound.