I am back. Sorry for the missing column last month.
Things got a little backlogged while trying to get out the new Cape May Magazine column. (Shameless plug time.) If you want more recipes and culinary rambling, check out Cape May Magazine, where you can actually see what the dishes are supposed to look like. Sorry, the technology is not there yet to let you see how they taste.
Time to get back to talking about food that I love. There are very few foods I don’t enjoy – never trust a skinny chef – but one thing I love more than others is cheese. And the stinkier the better.
One of my favorite meals on an evening off is cheese, good bread, and a bottle of wine. Throw in a few olives, roasted peppers and some cured meats or sausages and I am in Bohemian Heaven. Fare like that used to be considered farmers or peasant food. Maybe, but the peasants eat real food from the land and that is the real backbone of the epicurean world.
To put cheese in perspective, two of my all time favorite food quotes revolve around “fromage.”
Charles DeGaulle said “How can You expect to govern a country that has 246 types of cheese.”
And the great American chef and food pioneer James Beard remarked, “Any cheese that needs refrigerating is not worth eating.”
As for the first quote, may France be in political turmoil forever as long as they continue to produce wonderful cheeses from simple young Chevre (goat cheese), creamy fat laden brie to intense and powerful blues, such as Roquefort and St.Augur, as well as many others such as St.André with a butterfat content so high that each wheel should be accompanied by a list of local cardiologists. Morbier is a cousin of gruyere with a distinctive line of ash running through it and a strong nutty flavor which begs to be consumed with fresh pears and merlot – the real kind not the massed produced Kool-Ade variety that has invaded this country in recent years. I can go on forever (friends and family will attest that I can and do).
The second quote refers to the American habit of serving cheeses cold. This is an insult to the cow, sheep or goat that donated her precious milk and to the time and skill of the cheese artisan who crafted it. Let cheese come to room temperature. Taste the difference between a piece of cheese straight from the fridge and one that has been allowed to sit for 10-20 minutes. The flavors open like a flower on a warm spring day.
There are a many great cheeses around the world with different uses and flavor profiles. Some of my favorites: Garrotxa (an aged Spanish goat cheese); Cabrales, a maple leaf wrapped bleu from Spain with strong intense flavors that matches the wines from that region. Any of the Truffle cheeses from Italy are a good choice especially when imbibed with a glass of big, bold Barolo and a loaf of ciabbatta bread. Creamy mountain Gorgonzola’s which have been produced in the same manner since 897 A.D. rank high on my cheese list. Also, Pecorinos, Riccotta, and salata-ripe Taleggio. Even England, which is much maligned in the world of gastronomy, gives us the noble Cheddar and Stilton, the “king of cheeses.” And what about: Kashkavili and Feta’s from the Balkans, Raclette and Emmentaler from Switzerland? Danish Fontina. Goudas (smoked and plain) and Edam from Holland.
I could travel the world eating nothing but cheese. The varieties of flavors hitting my palate would be more excessive than the numbers on Donald Trump’s bank statement. Then, I could come back to America and sample ever increasing varietals of domestic artisan cheeses such as Maytag and Point Reyes Bleus; Cheddars from New York and Vermont and the Pacific Northwest. Let’s not forget Wisconsin. This state alone produces enough types of cheese to make a Frenchman jealous.
I haven’t even mentioned German Cambozola or cheeses of the Mediterranean and middle-east, where cheese is said to have originated thousands of years ago by accident when a traveler on a journey through the desert put his milk ration in a container made from sheep’s stomach
( Pre-Wal-Mart era. He couldn’t just buy a thermos) and the rennet, combined with milk and the heat of the desert, separated the curds and whey. Thus, the first cheese was born. And cheese – the most ancient of foods and milks – leaps towards immortality.
Like with wine, when people ask; “What are the best cheeses,” my reply is; “The ones you enjoy.”
So, go to your cheese monger and sample some new varieties. Until next month, bon appétit.
