Greg - Thank you and I am honored by your participation. Enjoy the new Home. At least you found your cigars. :thumbs:
Wilkey, thank you for the kudos, but honestly it is mostly due to all of the participating BOTL's flexibility & generosity!
Although I do like to move projects (passes) forward.
I need to catch up on my prize pack mailings. ??? and
CheesUcation is about to launch.
All the CheesUcation that is needed at this point is all the "yummy" is gone! Not that I am complaining or anything like that...........
CheesUcation!
Topic #1: What makes cheese "yummy"
Pesented by: Professor Putz
Assignment - Charlie, could we please get a brief (or lengthy) essay on what makes a cheese "yummy" in YOUR opinion. ???
This will be for everyone's
Cheddafication!
Hey! Thanks Jeff for the opportunity to share!
I will keep this brief. Or as brief as a "Wilkey Dissertation"! :sign: I actually have condensed it from what it originally was (thus my time from challenge to post). This IS the Cliff Note version.
Milk + bacterial culture + rennet = yummy
Milk + bacterial culture + rennet + mold = yummy x2
Milk + bacterial culture + rennet + mold + time = SUPER YUMMY CHEESE!!! (The younger the cheese is the less flavor it will impart)
Much like wine or cigars cheese preference is subjective to an individual's taste. Some like strong flavored and some like milder flavors. It could be determined by what you are pairing with it with white or red wine, jellies or jams, hard meats such as salami and other or using as a compliment to a salad, melting over a steak, etc.
I personally enjoy stinky, strong, pungent cheeses. I love eating raw milk cheeses that have aged over 60 days (legal in the US) unlike the pasteurized alternative.
Here are some simple pointers when approaching cheese:
1. Cheese is a living breathing substance.
2. Find yourself a good cheesemonger.
3. You can judge a cheese by it's exterior (rind or crust).
4. The younger the cheese the less flavor it will impart .
5. Cheese should be cut fresh, avoid prepackaged.
6. The edibility of a cheese's rind or crust is taste and common sense.
7. Cheese should be stored in the refrigerator as close to the bottom as possible.
8. The harder the cheese, the longer it will stay fresh.
9. Cheese suffers enormously from being frozen.
10. Cheese must be brought to room temperature before serving.
11. When serving two or more cheeses, select cheeses of divergent milks (cow, goat, sheep, etc.), textures, and flavor intensities without regard for shape, color or origin.
12. Serious cheese requires serious bread.
13. Choosing wine to serve with the cheese is not something to get worked up about. Cheese is partnered best with the wine produced from the same region.
14. A great cheese will make an average wine seem greater than it is and an average cheese will drag down a great wine.
15. In recipes cheese should be added at the end.
16. Best cheeses come from animals that graze on organic grasses, flowers, plants
17. Best cheese accompaniments are fruit, olives & nuts
18. Best appetizer cheeses are fresh chevres
19. Best dessert cheeses are washed rinds & blues
20. Best way to eat a flight of cheese is on order of strength, from mild to wild
21. Best way to taste hard, sharp cheeses is with the tip of the tongue
22. Best way to taste softer & blue cheese is pressed to the roof of the mouth
How much to buy:
* Typical cheese serving = 3 ounces per person
6 guests x 3 ounces = 18 ounces / 16 ounces per lb = 1.125 pounds needed
* 1 ounce ungrated cheese = 1/4 cup grated cheese
* 2 ounces ungrated cheese = 1/2 cup grated cheese
* 4 ounces (1/4 lb) ungrated cheese = 1 cup grated cheese
* 8 ounces (1/2 lb) ungrated cheese = 2 cups grated cheese
* 16 ounces (1 lb) ungrated cheese = 4 cups grated cheese
Types of cheeses and
suggested pairings:
* Fresh - uncooked, unripened curds which are usually mild & moist (curds, ricotta, stracchino) - try sweet wines, dry wines, roses
* Bloomy Rind - surface is exposed to molds that make them ripen inward & become creamy (brie, camembert, saint andre) - try medium reds, ciders
* Washed Rind - washed or brushed with salt-water brine, wine or beer to promote sticky rind with “stinky” quality (epoisses, munster, red hawk) - try dry white wines, beers & ales, full-bodied reds
* Natural Rind - self-made rind with an appearance of lichen-covered rock (stilton, ossau-iraty, castelrosso)
* Uncooked/Pressed - curds are not cooked, and whey is removed by pressing (saint nectaire, port salut, tome de savoie) - try medium reds
* Cooked/Pressed - curds are cooked until solidified, then pressed (parmigiano, gruyere, gouda) - try fruity whites, full-bodied reds
* Semi-Hard/Hard - cooked and pressed, with our without rinds, then aged usually 1-2 years (cheddar, emmenthaller, gouda) - try spicy & racy reds
* Blue - infused with penicillin mold spores, then aged in caves or cellars (gorgonzola, roquefort) - try sweet wines, port, light
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LIST OF CHEESES<--------------
My best experience with cheese was dinning at
Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy where the new wifely unit and I and survived eight courses and 4 hours of dining followed by a cigar in the cigar lounge! One of the courses was a cheese plate just before the desert course! :thumbs:
