"Bluebrie"

So I walked to Il Nicastro this after noon and asked for some Cambozola -- trying not to sound like a snob or a noob. Turns out they'd just run out, but the helpful server suggested I try something similar from Quebec appropriately called "blue-brie". And... its pretty wicked. Its pretty much as you would imagine it; very mild with a bluish sort of taste.

Beaver Cheese!

A little fermented curd will do the trick!

The Cheese Shop

And here's a site dedicated to finding and reviewing the cheeses mentioned in the sketch.

Beaver Cheese

Nick Lowe with cheese?

Nick Lowe played an excellent show in mtl. last night. He is amazing. Sitting there drinking my wine (both of the wines were Malbec for some reason (XD!)), I had the best idea ever. We need to start bringing a cheese spread with us to shows!
I know, I'm very smart.

Taleggio

Just picked up some taleggio (Lomow G. Fromaggio's favourite cheese) from Luciano's. It is so lovely.

Chasing the Cheese

So this is what it looks like when groups of people chase cheese down a hill.

You clever housewffe!

Salty ball of string cheese that I couldn't keep my hands off of, courtesy of A. Gorgonzola, from this magical place.
Which is where I also found this handy tool. An essential item that every housewffe needs.

Cheese for Anna!

Thanks to Guy Formaggio for bringing these fabulous cheeses for us to enjoy!
(He can also tell you what they are and where he got them.)

Cambozola

I had this one in Germany and loved it... it was a very spreadable mild blue-ish cheese :) Wish I knew the names of some of the others that I had, I promise to be a little more diligent next time and ask the servers!

Cambozola

Cambozola, which is made by Kasseri Champignon in Bavaria, is a rich and creamy Camembert-type cheese with a bloomy white rind. Beneath its crust, one finds streaks of tangy blue. Hence its name: the marriage of Camembert and Gorgonzola gives us Cambozola. Very popular all over the world, Cambozola is the perfect addition to the after-dinner cheese course and pairs well with fruit and nuts.

Grilled Halloumi

Halloumi Chesse

the cheese my dreams are made of

So, of course, there is an American Cheese Society. They have a competition every year and cheeses from all over are pitted against one another for various prizes. This year's best-in-show cheese is an aged Raclette from the Leelanau Cheese Company in Sutton Bay Michigan. (Note: the photo shows the star cheese becoming age-ed. Oh celebrity cheese, you and I could be so happy together.)

- The American Cheese Society
- Leelaneau Cheese Company

the history of cheese

From what I've read, the first cheese was made in the Middle East (big surprise since that is where sheep, cattle, and goats were first domesticated). Of course the first step in cheese making is getting some domesticated animals and miking them. All reports seem to indicate that the first farming and animal husbandry happened in the Fertile Crescent due to a combination of favourable plant and animal species, as well as a mild climate in the wake of retreating glaciers.


People came to utilize the abundance of wild grains in the area, and captured sheep and goats to bring along with them on their wandering . Next they settled in sites close to native wild grains, later planting and encouraging these grains to grow. With permanent settlements these people would have been able to keep animals as an easily accessible source of meat and milk. Although milk was a great boon to these Neolithic people (new stone age people) there was the slight problem that refrigeration was still a couple of thousand years away. Meat could be dried, smoked, or salted, but what of milk?


One legendary story tells that cheese was first created by a wandering nomad. He is said to have filled a saddlebag with milk to bring with him on a journey. After several hours riding he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find that the milk had separated into a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps. Because the saddlebag, which was made from the stomach of a young animal (very common they are great waterproof pouches) contained an enzyme known as rennin, the milk had been separated into curds and whey. Of course this is not necessarily the case, (I think cheese might proceede the domistication of horses) and since writing was not yet invented, we can never be sure, but it is a plausible explanation...


We do know that neolithic people used animal stomachs to carry fluids, and the rennet in the stomach would separate the milk into curds and whey. From there people would have experiment in preserving the curds. Luckily sun-dried curds did not take off, but the addition of salt as a preservative and smoking (think Gouda - mmmm yum) did the trick. Cheese, an ingenious method for taking a liquid perishable protein and turning into a tasty, transportable and easy to preserve treat!

This Changes Everything

It's time the cheese makers graduate to pressed cheeses. Here is a link to a DYI press apparatus that makes the pressin' free.

Press it at home

Cheese Biotics Will Save Us

Not only does cheese taste great. It's the future. Scientists are putting probiotics in cheese to make us better.

The most interesting thing in this article is that in 2005 Italy consumed 1,368,000 US tons of cheese. Seems like a lot of cheese. Although it is really only 23.4 kg per capita. That's only a third of my weight in a year. Not nearly enough cheese.

Chr Hansen probiotics launched in Italian cheese

I learned of this trend from curdnerds. We're gonna have to start a blog roll. There is a whole network of cheese blogs waiting to be discovered.

Cheese Quiz!

Cheese Quiz

Very obscure and little known, random, useless facts about cheese.
I got %50.
Good luck!

Flan de Queso!

Once we get our mesophilic starter in, we can make cream cheese to make this!

Taleggio will make you happy

For those that like softer cheeses, you will enjoy a nice Taleggio from northern Italy. It's made from tired cows milk, so it's better than your ordinary soft cheese.

Know not of this great cheese? Wikipedia will learn ya.

Yay for cheese.

well well. I've been added as a contributor to this here cheese blog. I feel so honoured. I am in fact a great fan of the cheese. Both literal and culinary.

I like to indulge in just about any kind of cheese, but nothing pleases the taste buds like a really fine and aged cheddar. Sometimes it's nice to keep it simple. gocheese!

Goat's Milk Ricotta

cheese porn

First cheese.
Lemon cheese, very dry but nice on a salad!

Dairy Goodness

Nourish your day with beer and cheese!
"There's nothing more comforting and more thirst-quenching than an elegant tray of assorted cheeses and beer sparkling in pretty glasses!"

Dairy Goodness

Current favourite cheeses

I'm thinking of bringing a cheese or two to Jason's birthday party. What are the current favourites?

-St. André

Etymology

"The origin of the word cheese appears to be the Latin caseus, from which the modern word casein is closely derived. The earliest source is probably from the proto-Indo-European root *kwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour".

In the English language, the modern word cheese comes from chese (in Middle English) and cīese or cēse (in Old English). Similar words are shared by other West Germanic languages — Frisian tsiis, Dutch kaas, German Käse, Old High German chāsi — all of which probably come from the reconstructed West-Germanic root *kasjus, which in turn is an early borrowing from Latin.

The Latin word caseus is also the source from which are derived the Spanish queso, Portuguese queijo, Malay/Indonesian Language keju (a borrowing from the Portuguese word queijo), Romanian caş and Italian cacio.

The Celtic root which gives the Irish cáis and the Welsh caws are also related.

When the Romans began to make hard cheeses for their legionaries' supplies, a new word started to be used: formaticum, from caseus formatus, or "molded cheese". It is from this word that we get the French fromage, Italian formaggio, Catalan formatge, Breton fourmaj and Provençal furmo. Cheese itself is occasionally employed in a sense that means "molded" or "formed". Head cheese uses the word in this sense."
~ according to Wikipedia

a cheese's place

When the working woman
Takes her midday lunch,
It is a piece of Gruyère
Which for her takes the place of roast.

-Victor Meusy
(lifted from The Complete Book of Cheese by Robert Carlton Brown)