December 22, 2004
Basics of Making Cheese
How cheese is made, some parts gross and some pretty interesting.
Posted by maggie at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2004
Close Encounters of a Goat Kind*
Today I tried
"The little nugget of golden goat cheese with a mountain of flavor. When young, the taste is rustic and tangy, a perfect accompaniament for baguette and wine. But, as it ages, the flavor becomes piquant, meaty, robust and intense with a stronger, barnyard aroma. They can be matured until hard as charcoal, classicallly baked to go with a salad. In French, crottin actually means "horse dropping", referring only to the shape and dark color of that well-aged version. It's one for the ages!"
I ate this cheese with baguette and some grapes (didn't really feel like having wine tonight) and it was quite satisfying as a dinner. Even being small, it's very dense. Quite delicious too.
Note to self: people at Murray's are very nice and almost anxious to answer any cheese questions.
*I don't think I can keep coming up with punny headlines for long, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Posted by maggie at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2004
You Knew It Was Coming
You can't escape cheese. You go to France, you got Brie. You go to Greece, you got Feta. You climb up a stalk, you got Jack!
Posted by maggie at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2004
Murray's Cheese
What is a cheese expert without cheese? I've been looking around for some good cheese stores and was recommended Murray's Cheese which is conveniently located in West Village and at Grand Central. I go through the latter daily, so it will be a good stop for cheese.
A review of this and other stores will be posted at some point. Note: cheese store related posts will be under category "Stores".
Posted by maggie at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2004
Suddenly, An Interest In Cheese!
New Year's resolutions to lose weight are lame. Who cares to NOT eat food? Food is delicious and should be eaten. Thus, my New Year's resolution for 2005 is to become a cheese expert.
The overall plan is as follows:
- Gain familiarity with all types of cheeses. cheese.com, surprisingly, offers a pretty decent beginner overview of types of cheeses available. The idea is to try all of these at some point.
- Pick cheese families that tastes best and focus on those groups. This is obviously going to be very subjective, but no fear, I like a lot of different flavors and textures of cheese.
- In the process of the above, learn about how cheese is made and what affects flavor, texture, and goodness.
- Make own cheese at least once.
The main goal is to be able to tell cheeses apart while blindfolded. And I don't mean "this is brie and this is cheddar", more like "this is x type of edam and this edam obiously comes from area z". Levels of snootiness will soar!
P.S. I almost named this the "Dairy of a Cheese Expert to Be" but I'm not that cheesy...
Posted by maggie at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2004
About this blog
Diary of a Cheese Expert to Be tells the tale of one woman's quest for knowledge of cheese. Cheese reviews, cheese store adventures, references to cheese making and cheesy jokes are featured.
Maggie has decided to learn about cheese as a New Year's resolution for 2005 and so far she is keeping up with the resolution. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to cheese at maggietron.com.
The main source of cheese for this blog is Murray's Cheese in New York City.
Posted by maggie at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Bibliography
Printed material used for reference in the making of this blog:
- Jenkins, Steven. Cheese Primer. Workman Publishing. New York, 1996.
Online sources:
Please see links under del.icio.us/octopus/cheese and (less often), links from del.icio.us/tag/cheese. Any additional links will be posted here.
Posted by maggie at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Cheeses Explored
This is a listing of cheeses I have tried in my quest to become a cheese expert.
- Abbaye de Citeaux - France, soft cheese, cow milk. So far the most delicious soft cheese I've tried.
- Alpage Prattigau - Switzerland, hard cheese, cow milk.
- Bingham Hill's Harvest Moon - USA, soft cheese, raw cow milk.
- Crottin de Chavignol - France, soft to firm cheese (hardens with age), pasteurized and unpasteurized goat milk, edible natural rind.
- Gjetost - Norway, hard cheese, cow milk and goat milk mix. Tastes like caramel.
- Hoch Ybrig - Switzerland, washed in brine, pressed hard cheese, cow milk. Slightly sweet and nutty.
- Manchego, Aged - Spain, hard pressed cheese, raw sheep milk. Reminds me of Polish oszczypek.
- Morbier - France, hard, cow milk (two milkings!).
- Oka - Canada, semi-soft cheese with washed rind, cow milk.
- Robiola by Osella - Italy, soft (fresh) cheese, cow milk. Delicious!
- Saint-Marcellin - France, soft fresh cheese, cow milk. Mhm... nutty...
Posted by maggie at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Name-Controlled Cheeses
Certain cheeses are so great and such a pride to their countries that their production and quality are controlled by government agencies. As a general rule, the following are defined by law for particular kinds of cheeses:
- breed of animal that provides the milk for the cheese
- areas of milk origin and cheese production
- cheesemaking process and technique (including aging process)
- type of cheese - these are very strict guidelines defining structure of cheese, fat content, whether the cheese has a rind, etc.
- physical attributes of the cheese - shape, size, etc.
- specific attributes unique to the cheese - aroma, flavor, color, etc.
Below I am listing controlled cheeses by country. I will update this list as I get to try the cheeses listed. Yum!
Country: France
Governing agency: Appellation d'Origine Controlee
- Abondance
- Beaufort
- Bleu d'Auvergne
- Bleu de Gex-Haut-Jura
- Brie de Meaux
- Brie de Melun (illegal in the US)
- Camembert de Normandie (illegal in the US)
- Chabichou du Pitou
- Chaource
- Comte
- Crottin de Chavignol
- Epoisses de Bourgogne
- Fourme d'Ambert
- Fourme du Cantal, also called Cantal de Salers
- Langres (illegal in the US)
- Laguiole
- Livarot
- Maroilles
- Munster
- Neufchatel
- Ossau-Iraty Brebis Pyrenees
- Picodon de l'Ardeche (illegal in the US)
- Picodon de la Drome (illegal in the US)
- Pont-l'Eveque
- Pouligny-Saint-Pierre
- Reblechon
- Roquefort
- Saint-Nectaire
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine
- Salers
- Selles-sur-Cher
- Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, also known as Vacherin Mont d'Or (illegal in the US)
Country: Italy
Governing agency: Denominazione di Origine Controllata
- Asiago
- Bra
- Caciocavallo
- Canestrato Pugliese
- Casciotta d'Urbino
- Castelmagno
- Fiore Sardo
- Fontina d'Aosta
- Formai de Mut
- Gorgonzola
- Grana Padano
- Montasio
- Mozzarella di bufala
- Murazzano
- Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Pecorino Romano
- Pecorino Sardo
- Pecorino Siciliano
- Pecorino Toscano
- Pressato
- Provolone
- Ragusano
- Raschera
- Robiola di Roccaverano
- Taleggio
- Toma
Country: Spain
Governing agency: Quesos con Denominacion de Origen
- Cabrales
- Cantabria
- Idiazabal
- La Serena
- Manchego
- Mahon
- Quesos de Liebana, includes Ahumado de Aliva, Pido, Picon, and Quesuco
- Roncal
- Tetilla
- Zamorano
Country: Switzerland
Governing agency: ?
- Appenzell
- Emmentaler
- Gruyere
- Hard mountain cheeses: Sbrinz, Spalen, Saanen
- Raclette cheeses: Bagnes, Conches, Gomser, Orsieres
- Sapsago (also known as Glarner Schabzieger)
- Swiss Tilsit (also known as Royalp)
- Tete de Moine (also known as Bellelay)
- Vacherin Fribourgeois
- Vacherin Mont d'Or
Country: England
Governing agency: ?
- Stilton
Posted by maggie at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)