A couple of weeks ago I bought a boxed set of Monty Python at B&N for 50% off. One of my favorite sketches from that show is the “Cheese Shop” sketch. A few days after I bought the DVDs, in a case of pure synchronicity, I bought a copy of Andrew Dalby’s Cheese: A Global History. It is part of “The Edible Series” published by Reaktion Books, each featuring a different food. Cheese features virtually every variety mentioned in the Python sketch (except perhaps “Venezuelan Beaver Cheese”) and many other kinds as well.
In the days since, I’ve been experimenting with different cheeses every time we go to the grocery store. I’ll be reporting my finding here (supplemented by selections from the book) in the days to come, but in the meantime, I invite one and all to share their thoughts on their favorite “cheesy comestibles.”
Longhorn Colby and Muenster are my favorite "eating a hunk" cheeses.
For deli meat sandwiches, I like Muester (again) or Provolone. For a burger, a nice Bleu cheese - the stronger the better.
I used to be a strict Mozzarella man for pizza and Italian dishes, but I've been discovering that I can get some interesting tastes by substituting Monterey Jack, or a Jack/Mozzarella mixture. (Swiss is interesting too, but it does not brown well.)
Feta, goat cheese and Ricotta all have their place in the right dishes.
Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not sure I ever met a cheese I didn't like.
Oh, boy, do I love cheese. I once belonged to a Cheese Lover's Club that would ship me a new cheese variety monthly, so I've tried a lot of varieties. My high cholesterol has greatly reduced my consumption, but it's still a favorite part of my diet (just in smaller quantities). My least favorite varieties are blue cheeses and soft ripened cheeses (like Camembert), but I've still enjoyed some of them. I love firm, sharp Cheddar, and my favorite of that type is Double Gloucester. My favorite for eating on crackers is Havarti; it's also firm enough to slice for sandwiches, and I like it that way, too. For sandwiches I use Swiss (Jarlsberg if I'm splurging), Muenster, Provolone, and lately Gouda. I'll stop there, because it's making me hungry!
Speaking of pizza cheese and speaking of Provolone, did you know there is a “St. Louis Style” pizza? It’s not as well-known nationally as its New York and Chicago counterparts, but the secret is Provolone cheese. Longhorn Colby is an long-time favorite of mine. My favorite Swiss is Lorraine (or a.k.a. “lacy”). I like a good “Black and Blue” burger, too (a blackened hamburger with Blue cheese). Last weekend I was all set to try Norwegian Jarlsberg when I spied a free sample of Canadian Cheddar.
Canadian Cheddar has little to do with traditional Cheddar beyond the name, a likeness of flavor and the technique of “cheddaring.” According to Andrew Dalby, “By the end of the nineteenth century European cheeses were exported in large quantity to the Americas.” He goes on to say, “The imitations, too, were available for export, with perhaps unexpected results. Britons found that they preferred American or Canadian Cheddar.”
Actually, I cribbed that from the section of Dalby book dealing with Cheddar (far too lengthy to quote in its entirety), and I’m afraid I may have misrepresented his point by not precisely quoting him, and doing so out of context. Speaking of English cheeses which began to appear under local names, he said “…the name of Cheddar appears, for the first time in 1635… According to Danial Defoe, writing in 1725, Cheddar was England’s best cheese. It fetched up to eight pence a pound, fourtimes the price of Cheshire… The priceit fetched was sp tempting that imitators set to work… By the mid-twentieth century the original cheese was overshadowed by its imitators.” He then goes on to discuss various other “imitators” in addition to Canadian, and it was those which he was generalizing. Actually, Canadian Cheddar, while quite good, tastes nothing like the traditional English variety.
Canadian Cheddar is new to me, too. And I've never heard of “St. Louis Style” pizza, either. I'd love to try it, because I never met a pizza I didn't like at least a little!
A good friend of mine is a personal chef and he and his wife used to have me over to their house for dinner quite frequently back in my bachelor days. He was the one who first impressed upon me the importance of grating my own Parmesan cheese. He was a good cook, but often served “skeezy cheeses that I can’t describe” and had the unfortunate tendency of referring to them by their smell. It’s a little off-putting to eat dishes made with “feet cheese” and “ass cheese” (among others even less palatable). But his descriptions had nothing on those in the book I’m reading. Parmesan’s “unique organoleptic trait” is described, for example, as “its faint and appetizing odor of baby’s vomit.” Also, the book includes unfavorable comparisons of provatura with “an old man’s testicle” and of caciocavallo with “a sagging breast.” I don’t think I’ll be sampling either of those anytime soon.
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In the days since, I’ve been experimenting with different cheeses every time we go to the grocery store. I’ll be reporting my finding here (supplemented by selections from the book) in the days to come, but in the meantime, I invite one and all to share their thoughts on their favorite “cheesy comestibles.”
For deli meat sandwiches, I like Muester (again) or Provolone. For a burger, a nice Bleu cheese - the stronger the better.
I used to be a strict Mozzarella man for pizza and Italian dishes, but I've been discovering that I can get some interesting tastes by substituting Monterey Jack, or a Jack/Mozzarella mixture. (Swiss is interesting too, but it does not brown well.)
Feta, goat cheese and Ricotta all have their place in the right dishes.
Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not sure I ever met a cheese I didn't like.
Canadian Cheddar has little to do with traditional Cheddar beyond the name, a likeness of flavor and the technique of “cheddaring.” According to Andrew Dalby, “By the end of the nineteenth century European cheeses were exported in large quantity to the Americas.” He goes on to say, “The imitations, too, were available for export, with perhaps unexpected results. Britons found that they preferred American or Canadian Cheddar.”
So ... apart from what they're called, how they're made and what they taste like, they really have nothing in common? OK. :)
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