OMG. LEAP DAY = 366 DAYS OF CHEESE.
Your cheese-induced seizure of the day, courtesy of murrayscheese:
photos from Murray’s
February 2012
35 posts
Master Class: Exploring the Biology of Cheese
California People, take note. The Cheese School of San Francisco is offering what looks to be a very interesting class:
Master Class: Exploring the Biology of Cheese
June 10In this class, you’ll explore the science of cheese, from the action of starter cultures and rennet on milk, to the microbes that transform fresh cheese into aged masterpieces. You will learn in detail how the fat, protein, and sugar are converted, through the action of microbes and enzymes, into the incredible diversity of tastes, smells and textures that are found in cheese. The lecture will be complemented by a cheese tasting to experience some of these amazing transformations.
What makes it especially interesting is that it will be taught by Harvard Microbiologist Rachel Dutton, PhD, previously featured on Cheese Notes here after she was profiled in the Boston Globe for her groundbreaking work on microbiological ecosystems of cheese rinds with fellow researcher Benjamin Wolfe, PhD.
This is a class(instructor included!) I’d love to see come to NYC.
(photo copyright ©2012 The Boston Globe)
Salon du Fromage 2012, Paris
Taking place in Paris this week, February 26th-29th: The Salon du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers (Salon of Cheese and Dairy Products), one of the big annual conferences for the cheese industry.
As we speak, cheese buyers from all the major cheese stores in NYC are probably in flight or already in Paris, getting ready to see what European and UK cheese and dairy producers have to offer, so they can bring it back for us to purchase and enjoy.
Yeah, I’m jealous! ;)
Photos ©2012 and courtesy of salon-fromage.com
Grilled Cheese Grill-Off
Via Open House Gallery:
The Big Cheesy returns! A two-day pop up to declare the best grilled cheese in the city.
Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26, we bring together seven of the best grilled cheese posts in the city for The Big Cheesy, a two-day pop up to declare the best sandwich in the city. The Big Cheesy is an ode to the grilled cheese. An homage to fromage we’ve created to celebrate grilled cheese sandwiches. Two days! And then it’s gone. And then it’s back to Subway sandwiches for lunch and overpriced soups and that place around the corner we go to cause it’s fast and it’s cheap.
Participating in the celebration are Murray’s, Big Daddy’s, Casellula, Little Muenster, Lucy’s Whey, Melt Shop and Tartinery. They’ll be making seven exquisite takes on the grilled cheese and you’ll be pairing the tasting with a 16 oz. tallboy of Sixpoint Sweet Action, Righteous Ale, Crisp Pilsner or Bengali Tiger IPA. Or, for underagers, Bella Lula. You’ll also get one ping pong, one vote, to drop in the jar at your favorite table. The winning chefs will get a half-page ad in Edible Manhattan, a big certificate and the crown of best sandwich in the city.
The Big Cheesy runs from 1-7 pm both days and tickets are $25. To purchase tickets, go to Time Out New York Offers & Experiences. To try your hand at free tickets, visit our Facebook page all week and submit your cheesiest joke. Each week day from now until Friday February 24, we’ll be giving away a pair of tickets.
To purchase tickets before they sell out, GO HERE!
To get free tickets by submitting your favorite joke, GO HERE!
Study: Goats Can Have "Accents"? →
nbcchicago.com
via lukecaseinpoint:
Oi! Oy’m a goat frum Angland!
Seeing as I’ve been feeding goats every day for the past week I wonder if they’d respond differently if I speak to them in a German accent during tomorrow morning’s breakfast feed. Sam, the billy has a completely different baaa to his harem of 14 ladies. Much lower and surprisingly quieter. ”Researchers found that as goats grew older and moved with different herds, their voices changed to adopt the specific call of their new herd”….
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/weird/Goats-Have-Accents—139439808.html#ixzz1mkwFDkCR
New Brie made for US Limitations?
via @CheeseSchoolSF, the San Francisco Chronicle reports on a new “Brie”, designed to make the most of the limitations imposed by America’s nonsensical raw milk laws. I’ll be curious to try it, and in the meanwhile keep dreaming of proper Brie…
…The truth is, we’ll have to go to France to find a Brie that would please a connoisseur. But in the meantime, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Brie l’Original, a new cheese from a large French producer.
Two years of research went into its development, with the aim of creating a non-stabilized wheel in the classic 3-kilo size (roughly 6 1/2 pounds) that would achieve peak ripeness at about six weeks, the time it takes to reach American cheese counters.
Compared with stabilized Brie, which relies on a lot of rennet for quick coagulation, the Brie l’Original recipe uses minimal rennet. Instead, the cheese makers depend on carefully chosen cultures to ferment the milk slowly, producing lactic acid and replacing the flavor-generating enzymes lost when milk is pasteurized. The cheese is matured for 12 days at the dairy, then it begins its three- to four-week journey to the United States.
Brie l’Original does have cream added to boost the milk fat, giving it a more luscious, supple texture than classic Brie.
What I admire so much isn’t the texture but the room-filling mushroom and truffle aroma. In the two samples I tried, the rind wasn’t ammoniated, and many Brie lovers would probably have eaten it. I cut it away, but it’s no faux pas to keep it intact.
Photo ©2012 San Francisco Chronicle
Don’t Mock the Artisanal-Pickle Makers →
nytimes.com
Via the New York Times, an interesting editorial on Artisanal and Craft businesses and their potential to engender change in the American economy:
It’s tempting to look at craft businesses as simply a rejection of modern industrial capitalism. But the craft approach is actually something new — a happy refinement of the excesses of our industrial era plus a return to the vision laid out by capitalism’s godfather, Adam Smith. One of his central insights in “The Wealth of Nations” is the importance of specialization. When everyone does everything — sews their own clothes, harvests their own crops, bakes their own bread — each act becomes inefficient, because generalists are rarely as quick or able as specialists.
Illustration ©2012 New York Times
Cutting the Curd - Episode 90 - Cheese History with Paul Kindstedt
Anne Saxelby
On the latest episode of her podcast Cutting The Curd, Anne Saxelby talks to Paul Kindstedt about his newest book, Cheese and Culture, due to hit the shelves in the Spring. Kindstedt is PhD Professor at UVM and co-director of VIAC and author of the required-reading American Farmstead Cheese, which includes a chapter on the history of cheese from which this book was expanded.
Update: You can now pre-order the book on Amazon!
Cutting the Curd - Episode 90 - Cheese History with Paul Kindstedt
Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are joined by author Paul Kindstedt, who’s latest book “Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its place in Western Civilization”, explores the 11,000 year old history of cheese! Tune in to learn about everything from maritime trade, ancient pottery and religion as they relate to cheese on an especially historical episode of the best Cheese radio show in the world! This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.
You can listen to it here, but you should really subscribe to it via iTunes or listen via the Heritage Radio Network, home to many other great foodie podcasts in addition to Cutting The Curd.
