WHAT IS BURRATA? This is Buffalo di Mozzarella’s #1 rival for your adulterous love of latte di mucca (cow’s milk). The stretching of curd technique used to make both cheeses is called pasta filata. The major difference between the two cheeses is the use of cow vs. buffalo milk, and burrata’s delicious filling, This is […]
Archaeology of Cheese
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Camembert
WHAT IS CAMEMBERT? Cow’s milk is skimmed, curded, and pressed into small 8 oz wheels. They are then flipped a few times over half a day (think of them as the Normandy equivalent of flapjacks). Camembert’s snow white bloomy rind or “fleurie” gradually envelops this eight ounce wheel of cheese. A good, fuzzy fleurie takes longer […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Ricotta
WHAT IS RICOTTA? The name ricotta is from the Latin recocta or “re-cooked”. Originally it was a short shelf life cheese consumed by shepherds in old Rome. Today, like American Velveeta, ricotta is a byproduct of cheese production. Whey that is drained from the pressed curds of cheese isn’t thrown away. This powdery white liquid […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE- Beaufort
WHAT IS BEAUFORT? The Swiss have long been renowned for monster-sized cheeses. But their Alpine neighbors, the Savoie French, were not to be outdone. They created the raw milk cheese Beaufort. One wheel can easily weigh close to 100 lbs. And of course being La France, Beaufort is creamier and richer (having a higher fat […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Red Leicester
WHAT IS RED LEICESTER? The toughest thing about this cheese is pronouncing the name correctly when you don’t have an English accent. Formerly known as Leicestershire cheese, this is a crumblier, redder version of Cheddar. Typically aged for around 3 to 12 months, it is made in both block form and natural rind. Its’ unique […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Stilton
WHAT IS STILTON? For quite a while, England really only had one great blue cheese to call its’ own. It is made from pasteurized cow’s milk and mixed with Penicillium roqueforti blue mold (merci France). Stilton was and still is an English cultural icon. The classic marble veining inside the blue cheese is distinctive, whereas […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Cheddar
WHAT IS CHEDDAR? What mozzarella is to the Italians, Cheddar is to the English. It is named after the village of its’ birth in Somerset, England. Much like the British empire, Cheddar cheese colonized much of the Western world since its’ inception in the 12th century. Originally made from cow’s milk, there are so many […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Cantal
WHAT IS CANTAL? It is a A French cow’s milk, semi-hard mountain cheese. It comes in two versions. There is Fermier (farmhouse aka raw milk) and Laitier (I turned your farmhouse into a parking lot for my big factory aka pasteurized). Inside this brown, pebbled, rind lies only the milk of Salers cows. Silage (hay) is […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Manchego
WHAT IS MANCHEGO? It is one of Spains most popular cheeses. Spanish Farmers have been making Manchego well before Don Quixote was beating the crap out of local windmills. Using only the pasteurized or raw milk of Manchega sheep, this queso is then aged for around 3 (semi-curado), 6 (curado) or 12 months (viejo). Grass basket weave […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Idiazabal
WHAT IS IDIAZABAL? It is a Spanish, farmhouse cheese that is made from raw milk. Like most mountainous Basque cheeses, Idiazabal is made from Latxa or Carranza sheep’s milk. This natural rind queso is aged for 2 to 10 months, and Unlike most Spanish cheeses that seem to have a boring obsession with basket-weave molds, […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Taleggio
WHAT IS TALEGGIO? This washed rind, cow’s milk cheese is one of the more intimidating dairy delicacies for newbies. While it was invented thousands of years ago, the method of production hasn’t changed that much. The skin of this formaggio is washed in a salt brine. Then, like with Muenster, it is smeared with bacteria […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Pecorino
WHAT IS PECORINO? Pecorino is a generic term used for Italian cheeses that are 100% sheep’s milk. It is often used as a grating cheese over pasta and other warm dishes. However the term “pecorino” is a sad little orphan without the family it grew up in. There are pecorinos made in Romano (Rome), Toscano […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Fontina Val d’Aosta
WHAT IS FONTINA VAL D’AOSTA? This is another Italian, cow’s milk cheese that was born in the 12th century. Outside of Italy, most of us have grown up on mild imitations of Fontina. This formaggio will blow your mind. Fontina Valle d’Aosta is named after the Aosta Valley it comes from. It is a washed […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Gruyere
WHAT IS GRUYERE? This raw, cow’s milk cheese was awarded an A.O.C. (name controlled status) in 2001, thus preventing any of their neighbors from using the same name (hello French Comte or Greek Graviera). The milk is heated in large, copper vats. Rennet is added, and the curds are then chopped up and heated again. […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Cornish Yarg
WHAT IS CORNISH YARG? This semi-hard cheese is made from pasteurized cow’s milk. Today Cornwall’s crumbly delight is produced by the Lynher Dairy. The origin of Cornish Yarg goes back to the 1980’s. A farmer by the name of Alan Gray was rummaging around his attic when he stumbled across a cheese making recipe from […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Vacherin
WHAT IS VACHERIN? This fromage is known as Vacherin Mont d’Or or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs. It is a cow’s milk, washed rind cheese that is in the brie family. A creamy cheese, when mature and at room temperature Vacherin can almost be eaten like a fondue. Today this cheese is made in both France and […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Garrotxa
WHAT IS GARROTXA? This semi-hard queso is made from the pasteurized milk of Murciana goats (though cow’s milk is sometimes used as well). Garrotxa is aged on average for 1 to 2 months in the Pyrenees mountains. The rind has a light grey mold covering a creamy and crumbly interior. Think of this cheese as […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Delice de Bourgogne
WHAT IS DELICE DE BOURGOGNE? Delice is a triple creme French cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk with fresh cream. It is a newcomer to the European cheese scene having been invented in 1975 from Fromagerie Lincet. A soft-ripened cheese, it has the same bloomy white fleurie (Penicilium Candidum) as brie. Unlike most brie which […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Chevrot
WHAT IS CHEVROT? This delicious, creamy dream is a goat cheese that is made from both raw and pasteurized (for Americans) milk. Geotricum is introduced into the rind which gives it a bizarrely cerebral look. As chevrot ages the chalky heart eventually breaks down into a soupy mess that delights the tongue. This used to […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Bitto
WHAT IS BITTO? This cow’s milk cheese is made from summer milk in mountain dairies that border the Bitto valley. A small amount of goat’s milk is added along with some calf rennet (an enzyme scraped off the lining of the animal’s stomach that causes milk to clump into curds). The rind is a pale […]