When I first started my career in the cheese biz, I had no idea how many pecorinos there were. The category includes essentially all Italian sheep's milk cheeses. Pecora in Italian means "sheep." Most of them are produced in Tuscany and Sardinia. Calcagno is a pecorino that's hand crafted in Sardinia, and then, it's aged in southern Italy in the Campania region.
I find that most pecorinos are nutty and tend to dry out rather quickly. Calcagno is an exception. Cutting into a fresh wheel of Calcagno is like diving into a feathery bright green meadow with vibrant flowers and the smell of blossoms. The first characteristic I noticed about Calcagno was its exquisite floral aroma. Then, I was struck by its creamy texture and its crunchy protein crystals, the white dots in the cheese. Although it's a hard cheese, it seems to melt like butter on the palate. Finally, I was swept away by its complex finish ranging from flowers and cashew nuts to lemons and apricots.
We can trace Calcagno's brilliant flavor to its production. It's produced from the milk of sheep that are grazing on natural pasture and are sotto cielo, under the sky. Sotto Cielo has become a movement by farmers who want to preserve the tradtional ways of farming and taking care of their animals. Currently, there is a problem in Italy with many animals living on concrete indoors and rarely seeing the light of day. The sheep that produce the milk that creates Calcagno are living happily sotto cielo. Calcagno is aged for four to six months in natural caves in Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park by one of Italy's best affineurs -- Casa Madaio. Suggestions on the best way to enjoy Calcagno can be found after the jump.
Stichelton became a cheese celebrity this past winter when it was written up in the New York Times. It's a masterpiece of a cheese. It's a work of art! This succulent blue cheese has a unique earthiness, an intense fruitiness tasting of apples, a spiciness to play off the sweetness, and a rich creamy texture. There are only a few wheels of Stichelton that leave England for the United States. So, when I see it at a cheese shop I always purchase a piece.
Stichelton is a raw milk Stilton. Ever since 1989, Stilton was required to be produced with pasteurized cow's milk. Yearning for their raw milk Stilton, Randolph Hodgson of Neal's Yard Dairy and Joe Schneider, an American cheese maker, experimented with their first batches of what would become Stichelton. Before the cheese was perfected, they called it Worksop Blue. Finally, they came up with the name Stichelton, the ancient name of the village that would eventually be known as Stilton.
This cheese is sure to convert someone who is terrified of blue cheeses into someone who savors their many complicated delicious layers of sharpness and aroma. Recommendations on the best way to savor Stichelton's complexity can be found after the jump.
When you are entertaining, you should only take out the amount of cheese you plan on using. This may seem obvious. But, many times, we forget that even though we may have a half-pound of Stilton, it may not be the best idea to serve the entire piece unless we know it will all be eaten.
I'm not married, so I spend a lot of time thinking about my wedding cake-to-be. I often thumb through Martha's book on wedding cakes on the floor of Barnes & Noble, and I can't pass a window full of them without gazing longingly. They're just so beautiful.
In all of this fantasizing, it's never occurred to me to think about having a cake made out of something other than cake. Like, for example, cheese. But apparently cheese cakes are becoming trendy in countries like New Zealand -- layers and layers of gorgeous, decorated cheese. Has anyone ever actually witnessed or tasted one of these? Would you consider having one?
When we hear people talking about cheese, the word "affinage" often comes up. Affinage is arguably the most crucial step of cheese making and involves the aging process. Approximately 50 percent of the flavors you taste in a cheese can be attributed to the affinage. The affineur is the person in charge of the procedure. Cheese-makers will often send their cheeses to the best affineurs to age their cheeses, even if it means sending their cheese to the other side of the country. Why is affinage so important? Affineurs can be viewed as the foster parents of the cheese. They receive these cheeses completely fresh, before they've developed, and then, they take care of the cheeses in such a way that they each acquire their own unique characteristics. The affineur ages their cheeses in the right humidity and temperature, many times a cave. Depending on the type of cheese, they may brush, wash, and rotate the wheels. Affinage is a skill that takes many years to perfect. It's an art that involves a lot of labor.
Who are some affineurs I should be aware of? I highly recommend that you become familiar with the cheeses of Marcel Petite, Giorgio Cravero, and Hervé Mons. These three affineurs produce exquisite cheeses, and, with their craft, they have all revolutionized cheese-making and affinage. Marcel Petite is known for aging wheels of Comté in an old fortress, Fort Saint-Antoine, for longer than 12 months. His technique is aging the wheels for longer periods of time at lower temperatures through a strenuous attention to detail. Before Marcel Petite, the average age of a Comte was 12 months. Cravero's Parmigiano Reggiano is an absolute must-try. It's not nearly as dry as most Reggianos. Cravero's talent rests in his ability to hand-select the best wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano from the finest farms in Emilia-Romagna. Lastly, Hervé Mons' skill can be tasted in the many varieties of cheeses that he ages from all over France.
Ah, the ways we can display patriotism! Waving a flag, singing "The Star Spangled Banner," and, of course constructing a sculpture of Wisconsin celebrities, such as Bucky Badger, Musky (the state fish), a dairy cow, and more out of 5,000 pounds of Wisconsin cheddar cheese.
Sarah Kaufmann has been creating large and small sculptures out of cheese since 1981. This July 4th, Sarah is hand-sculpting cheddar cheese to design a scene (with a 15-foot circumference) of popular Wisconsin icons in a "Spirit of '76"-style parade. In the past, people have crowded around Sarah as she produced her cheese masterpieces. For the next couple of days, people can once again gather to see the cheese turn into three dimensional characters. Today through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the public is invited to the Madison, WI Sam's Club to taste the cheese and purchase their own piece of the 5,000-pound cheddar.
I thought Sarah was starting a patriotic trend. Apparently, carving cheeses has been done before as a way of expressing American patriotism. In 1802, Elder John Leland presented Thomas Jefferson with a four-foot wide 15-inch thick sculpted cheese to express his political support.
And just so you know, handcrafted cheese larger than 75 pounds is considered a mammoth cheese. View Sarah's mammoth cheeses in the gallery below. What do you think? Does this cheese look good enough to eat, or is it just a waste of food?
In my ginger shrimp post, Marianne asked about the Swedish vodka currant cheddar that I mentioned. Since I never pass up the opportunity to gush about all things Swedish, here's the low-down.
I first spotted this cheese in Ikea, of all places, years ago. However, I don't think it had the currant -- just Swedish vodka cheddar. It had a wonderful bite, and added an extra twist to the cheddar flavor. Unfortunately, it disappeared from Ikea's food department soon after. I've been on the hunt ever since. I've never found the same variety, but occasionally, Swedish vodka currant cheddar will pop up at cheese stores and some gourmet stores. Currently, I have VOD currant cheddar from Pusateri's in Toronto. (It's also available at igourmet.com.)
With the currant, it's pretty tasty. The currant flavor mixes with the bite of sharp cheddar for fruity kick without the lasting sweetness. It works extremely well with crackers -- especially ones covered in poppy and sesame seeds that can balance the fruitiness. However, if sweet is your thing, or you want to serve it for dessert, it's wonderful on its own with a good fruit beer.
The other day, while gnawing on a very hard 18-month-old Gouda, I wondered how this cheese's texture became so dense, so hard. Some of my favorite cheeses are the harder ones, such as Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Gran Riserva.
Hard cheeses develop their texture by being cooked and/or pressed. They are aged to remove more of their moisture so that the texture will become more solid and the flavors more concentrated.
I love the concentration of flavors and aromas emanating from just a small crumb of a hard cheese. Out of all the different styles of cheese, I enjoy this one the most because of its flavor density.
One of things that I find shocking when browsing through most cheese departments in supermarkets, like Whole Foods, is the large amount of industrial Goudas, such as Old Amsterdam. Don't get me wrong. I too love these Goudas for their butterscotch flavors and crunchy texture. But, they just do not compare to the handmade Goudas crafted throughout Holland. My current favorite is Reypenaer.
Reypenaer is like no other Gouda that has melted on my palate! Right away, I noticed how much creamier it was compared to many of the industrial Goudas that have a texture equivalent to chewy plastic. Reypenaer is bursting with complexities in flavor ranging from dried fruits to honey and caramel. One of the signs of a well made cheese is having several layers of taste. Reypenaer accomplishes this marvelously. What a gastronomic trip!
After experiencing Reypenaer, I felt compelled to discover as much as I could about the cheese. I found out that it's a Fabriekskaas Gouda that is made from pasteurized cow's milk. Fabriekskaas Goudas age naturally in a historic cheese aging warehouse on the Rhine river in the village of Woerden. The facility permits natural fluctuations of temperature to affect the aging process. It's in this environment that Reypenaer ages for about two years. Information concerning the cheese's producer, how to eat Reypenaer, and where you can purchase it can be found after the jump.
A question one often asks when buying cheeses is how much to bring home. Although it may be tempting to purchase a quarter wheel of Manchego, cheeses are best eaten when cut fresh, it's a better to buy cheeses that you'll be able to eat that week.
Posted Jun 17th 2008 4:57PM by Max Shrem Filed under: Cheese
I'll admit that when I was a child, the thought of eating blue cheese made me squeamish. Everything from its blue and green color to its stinky aroma repelled me. Overall, I think I was most disgusted by its mold. It was not until I moved to France and lived with a French family that I fell head over heels for this delectable category of cheeses.
Yes. It's true that blue cheeses contain different strains of molds (usually Penicillium roqueforti), but this should hardly be off-putting when you consider the fact that all cheeses are made up of bacteria. I guarantee that you'll forget about the molds, the smell, and the bacteria after you try an assortment of blue cheeses. In fact, you'll start to love all those traits that turned you off from them in the first place.
I love the diversity of blue cheeses. While some are earthy, firm, and mildly spicy, others are creamy, sweet, and salty. I find it hard to understand when someone states that they do not like any blue cheeses. There are so many various styles of blue that I find it inconceivable that someone would not find at least one pleasing. Four of my absolute favorites can be found after the jump.
Pairing cheeses with condiments and/or drinks is all about creating a harmony of flavors. For example, you would want to match a pungent creamy blue cheese with a sweet condiment that would balance out some of the cheese's piquancy. It's all about unifying two foods that bring out each other's strengths.
One suggestion might be to focus on region. Many times, the perfect pairing involves cheese and wine from the same region. Also, there's a school of thought that says you must match a cheese and a condiment with equal intensities. This rule is not entirely universal, however. In fact, many of my favorite combinations involve stronger cheeses with lighter more delicate jams.
Below is a quick cheat sheet of 8 fool-proof pairings that are guaranteed to make your taste buds happy:
I am fascinated by Mimolette. This bright orange French cheese is the size of a bowling ball. Its appearance is breathtaking. It looks like a giant cantaloupe. After I first tried Mimolette, I was struck by its firm texture and sweet caramel-like taste. In addition, I was intrigued by its remarkable similarities with many of the aged Dutch cheeses I've tried in the past. And so, after looking into its history, I was not surprised that it was first produced to model a Dutch cheese, called Edam.
The history of Mimolette -
During the 17th century, Louis XIV-the Sun King-had both a cultural and economic plan for France. The goal was to decrease all imports and increase all exports. The theory was that it would benefit French economy, because other countries would be purchasing French products. Culturally, Louis XIV wanted France to produce the best of everything, from clothing to food. France was to become the European trend setter. How did these laws initiate and encourage the production of Mimolette?
Regions of France along the borders were culturally affected by the king's agenda. For example, in northeastern France, Flanders, people ate Dutch food. Their diet consisted of foods imported from Holland. In the northern French city of Lille, Edam was probably the most common cheese, the most popular at the time.
However, in response to Louis XIV's laws forbidding the importation of Edam, French people in and around Lille created their own Edam-like cheese – Mimolette. So what's the difference? The cheese is produced same way as Edam with the addition of annatto, a natural food coloring agent. Although they both have a spherical shape and same texture, Mimolette has a natural rind (no wax) and an intense orange color due to the annatto.
Have you noticed how hard and dry goat's milk cheeses become after spending a couple of weeks in the fridge? They may seem as though they are ready to be thrown away. Although they will not taste as good on their own, there are several ways you could use these dried out morsels of cheese to add flavor to a dish.
I'm not married, so I spend a lot of time thinking about my wedding cake-to-be. I often thumb through 
I am fascinated by Mimolette. This bright orange French cheese is the size of a bowling ball. Its appearance is breathtaking. It looks like a giant cantaloupe. After I first tried Mimolette, I was struck by its firm texture and sweet caramel-like taste. In addition, I was intrigued by its remarkable similarities with many of the aged Dutch cheeses I've tried in the past. And so, after looking into its history, I was not surprised that it was first produced to model a Dutch cheese, called Edam. 
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