Who doesn't love cheese? I love it all; smooth and creamy, sharp and pungent. All except taleggio. That smells and tastes like a dirty diaper. Anyway, the Tasty Tuesday All-Stars embarked on a discussion about vegetable ash and cheese last night that made me curious. And that made me remember my idea of making cheese at home, inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
So, in that vein, I have decided to feature a new cheese every week. Of course, I will give my candid observations but more importantly, I will research and provide more thorough information on cheesemaking in general. It's one thing to savor cheese but quite another to actually understand the reason why vegetable ash is used in some cheeses or the chemical reaction between lactic acid, alcohol and carbon dioxide. As a cheese lover, I realize I am pretty uneducated in this field.
This week, I picked up Yancey's Fancy XXX-Sharp Cheddar. Yancey's makes artisanal cheese, not far from here in Corfu, New York. I can't wait to make a trip out there. My thoughts on the cheddar are mixed. I made a quesadilla last night and-I can't believe I'm saying this-it was too intensely cheesy. It overwhelmed all other elements of the quesadilla. However, it was sharp and pungent and quite nice on its own with a glass of wine. My verdict: Excellent for small bites, too much for anything else.
1 comment:
I look forward to your weekly cheese feature. I am quite the ignoramus in this department, though I love the stuff; hard, soft, creamy, peppery, aged, young, and on and on....
My consciousness only knows that white cheddar is to be preferred over orange and that orange cheese in general is OUT. Remember, I grew up in an era when cheese-wiz was introduced. We all thought it was the bomb!
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