Must... investigate... delicious... cheese...

P.S. Welcome back! The cheese quest is back on!

It was a little cheese-empowering to read this guide since my cheese knowledge seems to have increased rapidly since I started with the cheese expert endeavor. And yet, it was still nice to read about the basic characteristics of the types of cheeses you are most likely to find in a non-gourmet or "regular" grocery store.

The New York Times had an article few months back saying that people are more interested in wine and cheese (and especially cheese) over the past few years. Maybe the fact that Cook's Illustrated had a cheese article is just a symptom of this trend. I am glad though that cheese consumption is on the rise - the more cheese is liked, the more cheese will be available. (And maybe one day we can import unpasteurized cheeses to the U.S., mhm....)

While researching random cheese-related things on the interweb, I stumbled upon this blog entry (via del.icio.us) featuring a glorious recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich with sauerkraut on rye bread. Oh, man, it looks so good, if it weren't so dreadfully hot today, I'd have one for dinner.

Speaking of grilled cheese, check out the website for the Greatest Grilled Cheese Sandwich in America Contest. Good pictures and awesome-looking recipes.

It's probably somewhat of a heresy to grill some cheeses, such as morbier, but frankly, there's nothing better than hot cheese (well, maybe except raspberries or pickled herring).

To make blue cheese blue, you have to add the mold to it. This, at least in the case of Roquefort, is accomplished by adding Pennicillium Roqueforti mold. It is added to the cheese curds contained in powdered bread. Then there's the process of aging the cheese, usually in caves. To make the blue part permeate throughout the whole mass of cheese, some flipping of the cheese is required. Since blue cheese is crumbly, this requires a careful approach.

The result is a very sharp cheese with a very specific, almost overpowering flavor. I am learning to overcome it, but it's coming slowly. So far, I have tried French Roquefort, but I will branch out into the milder blue cheeses as well as the more full-flavored ones. Reviews coming soon.

People who claim that cheese is only for appetizers, snacks, or to be melted on things are plain wrong.

This link has been forwarded to me by Josh. A lot of my friends are very supportive of my learning about cheese and some have even tried to make cheese themselves. I am afraid that cheese making is in my future. Any tips?

The registration fee is about $350 for the whole conference (early bird) or about $200 per day at the site. It looks really interesting.

The ACS is made up mostly of cheese makers and retailers, but individuals interested in cheese (e.g. cheese writers and cheese experts-to-be) are also welcome to join. The annual cost of membership for an individual is $90 or $160, depending on the kind of benefits one wants to receive.

In addition to all sorts of talks about cheese marketing, starting and running a cheese-making business, etc, the agenda for the conference contains talks such as "From Center Plate to Center Stage: American Artisan Cheese Takes the Spotlight", "Cheddar: from the British Traditional to the American Original" and "Traditional Cheese Styles Compared: American Artisanal Cheeses and Their Models".

The conference brochure lists recommended audiences for each presentation, so you can refer to it to find the cheese-enthusiast presentations instead of being bored by marketing babble in cheese retail presentations.

Best of all, "over 700 cheeses will be on display and available for tasting, along with specialty foods, wines and dishes prepared by some of Louisville's premier chefs."

Link for more information.

• Matching Cheese and Wine - A pretty good list of cheeses and related general and specific wine recommendations. (Bonus! If you scroll down, you see a picture of Saint Marcellin like the one I reviewed last.)
• Bingham Hill - Colorado cheese makers. I've already tried their Harvest Moon and soon will review another one of their cheeses so stay tuned!
• I Love Cheese. Period. (And make sure to check out their Cheesemakers Map of the USA!)

Let me give you a little background. Saint-Marcellin and Banon are two cheeses which used to be made primarily from goat or milk. Nowadays, Saint-Marcellin is usually made from cow's milk while Banon can be either cow or goat milk. They are both French cheeses, soft, so soft that they might actually fall apart if not handled carefully. I guess this explains the little dish that the Saint-Marcellin I got came in. However, the more traditional way of providing structure to this cheese is by wrapping it in grape or chestnut leaves. The leaves are usually pre-dipped in wine. This gives the cheese a very deep flavor, almost bitter, but in fact very nutty and fruity. (I don't know, maybe these descriptions such as "nutty" and "fruity" come natural to a cheese expert. It is starting to seem that it just kind of clicks - learning about cheese as an epiphany!) It spreads on bread like soft butter and tastes delicious!

• Most cheese stores have a minimum when it comes to cheese purchases. Murray's Cheese, for example, expects that you buy at least a quarter of a pound of each type of cheese. That much cheese is really all one person can eat in one sitting, but, if you have friends over for cheese tasting, you can get lots of different kinds of cheese and not end up feeling sick from overeating. Hooray!


• As a relative beginner to the cheese world, it is difficult to come up with correct words to describe the cheese you're eating. Comments from your friends will allow you to better understand the cheese (how profound!)


• Eating alone kind of sucks.

A few weeks ago, I invited friends for dinner to taste four cheeses:

• Fromage d'Affinois - cow milk, soft, young (2-3 weeks) cheese. Made without using rennet and ripened in a humid cellar. Kind of like Brie, but better.


• Fresh Crottin - sheep milk, soft, fresh cheese. Great with white wine!


• Oka - cow milk, semi-soft, washed-rind cheese. Comes from the village Oka near Montreal, Canada and has been made since 1881 (originally by monks, but not anymore). Aged 2 months, lower fat as far as cheeses go. Sports a "full, fruity, earthy flavor", according to Murray's Cheese. Delicious. It's supposed to resemble Avergne and Savoie traditional in flavor, so I'll have to check those out.


• Hoch Ybrig - cow milk, washed in brine with white wine, pressed cheese. This Swiss cheese comes from a little town near Zurich called Ybrig. It's definitely fun to say. Takes slightly sweet and a bit nutty. Good with heavy red wines.

I am not sure yet, but I think I am developing a taste for what cheese experts describe as "nutty" cheeses. I'm also partial to soft cheeses, like the above-mentioned Fromage d'Affinois, but it seems that soft cheeses are liked by more people than hard cheeses with very defined and strong flavors.

Ok, so manchego, aged - not a bad cheese. It is a pressed cheese from Spain made from raw sheep's milk using only the milk of La Manchega sheep. It is aged over a year and ends up being creamy with a little big of tang to it. It would probably be delicious with dried fruit, like figs. However, it's not extremely remarkable - that is, you can use it in bigger amounts than other, more adventurous cheeses. I feel that this un-remarkableness (is that a word, even?) makes it pretty good for sandwiches. Yes, I could go for an aged manchego sandwich for lunch today...

I'm thinking of Chase having a thought balloon - any ideas what it should say?