"cheddar cheese" news and stories

As someone who's had the pleasure of making ricotta and usually keeps a hunk of double-crème brie in the fridge I can't possibly see why anyone would be opposed to a cheese museum.

Apparently New York State legislators and pundits don't feel the same way. When the state paid over $100,000 in 1986 to help create the New York State Cheese Museum in Rome, N.Y., many cited it as an example of pork-barrel spending. State Governor Pataki even came out against  "cheese museums" last fall when  talking about the budget.

As it turns out, the museum in Rome has been less than successful. But now $5,000 has been earmarked by the legislature for a museum in Cuba, N.Y. At one time the national price for cheddar was set in the town. Pork and politics aside, I hope this  museum is more successful than the first.

[photo: The New York Times]

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The penne pasta is al dente and hanging out in a colander on the counter. When I was growing up, my mother whipped me with a wet noodle if ever I forgot to rinse cooked spaghetti under cold water. Only recently have I found out that this is actually a bad idea (thanks, Mario, though I'm not exactly sure why it's bad), but still, I feel a little weird about leaving my penne unrinsed.

Now begins the sauce part, but here is where I have learned lesson #648 about Holiday cooking. Never assume that the satellite kitchen in which you're going to cook the Holiday ham ("satellite" meaning not your home base) is going to have all the equipment you need.

But in the deep recesses of my mother's "tupperware cabinet," I found a Benriner, the Japanese version of a mandoline. I grated a block of medium cheddar and Monterey jack that had been shoved in the freezer for a half hour to make it easier to grate to make 5 cups of shredded cheese. On the Benriner, the cheese actually came out looking more like long, flat noodles.