WHAT IS CABRALES? Cabrales is a cave-aged Spanish blue cheese. It is a blend of raw cow with sheep and or goat’s milk (the percentages varying depending how much of each milk the small farmer has on hand). This queso is exclusively made in the mountains of Picos de Europa. Traditionally cabrales is then wrapped […]
Archaeology of Cheese
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Ubriaco
WHAT IS UBRIACO? This aged cow’s milk cheese is traditionally soaked in the grape remnants of wine making. The name “Ubriaco” translates as drunk in Italian. Apparently inWorld War I, Italian farmers started hiding their cheeses in wine barrels. This style of cheese can be found in various versions from the Spanish “Drunken Goat” to […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Raclette
WHAT IS RACLETTE? This natural rind, semi-hard, cow’s milk cheese is made in the Alps bordering Switzerland and France. Of the two types, Swiss raclette is more often made from unpasteurized milk. The flesh of the cheese doesn’t tend to separate when melted leading to its’ popularity in fondues. To buy this cheese click here! […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Neufchatel
WHAT IS NEUFCHATEL? A soft-ripened cow’s milk cheese from Normandy, Neufchatel is a fun cheese that is over 1,000 years old. But honestly, cheese has taken great leaps since the early middle ages. Neufchatel doesn’t rank up there with the top 10 “Great” fromages. Ironically Philadelphia cream cheese was invented as a failed attempt to make […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Bleu d’Auvergne
WHAT IS BLEU D’AUVERGNE? Bleu d’Auvergne is a pasteurized or raw cow’s milk blue cheese. Unlike many other blues it has a close to non-existent rind. The flesh is a pale white to yellow paste with cyan veining. These days though you tend to see this cheese a lot more in foodservice. Usually restaurants choose […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Castelmagno
WHAT IS CASTELMAGNO? This mixed milk blue cheese dates back to the 12th century. Back then it was used as a form of payment by farmers to work their land. A spicy, pungent formaggio, this is due in part to its’ washed rind. Castelmagno tends to be mostly cow’s milk with a dash of sheep […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Maasdam
WHAT IS MAASDAM? This cow’s milk cheese was created in the 1980s as a local equivalent to the Swiss original. Maasdam is named after the Maas river that flows through the Netherlands, emptying into the North Sea. The second half of the name “dam” refers to a wall that holds back water. Maasdam is very […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Roncal
WHAT IS RONCAL? This Basque cheese is made between December and July. Its’ natural rind molds easily, but can be quickly removed with a bit of vinegar or oil. A P.D.O. cheese, it is crafted from the sheep’s milk of Rasa, Latxa and Latxa Milchschaf cross breeds. The fat and protein composition of the cheese […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Huntsman
WHAT IS HUNTSMAN? This English bastard is an offspring of Stilton and Double Gloucester . It is basically a pasteurized cheese sandwich. Huntsman is a blend of a spicy 3 month old blue between 2 slabs of a mellower, 36 month old Double Gloucester. The actual name of this type of cheese is Double Gloucester with […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Valencay
WHAT IS VALENCAY? Valencay’s origin is rumored to have sprung from Napoleon almost killing French politician Talleyrand in the 18th century. This civil servant was famous for his survival skills. At the time, Talleyrand was hosting a dinner in Napoleon’s honor. The feast was to celebrate the French army’s return from a campaign in Egypt. […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Havarti
WHAT IS HAVARTI? So if you have whiny kids, melt some havarti on toast and watch their palettes grudgingly expand. This block of cheese looks like a loaf of yellow bread with lots of tiny eye holes. It is soft but firm enough to peel for a thin slice in a nice cucumber and dill […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Chaumes
WHAT IS CHAUMES? Nicknamed “stubble”, this cow’s milk cheese looks like a cross between an orange and a pancake. It is a Trappiste-style cheese made in the South West of France since 1971. Despite being a washed rind cheese (giving it notes of hazelnut), it is popular with French children. This is due to its […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Livarot
WHAT IS LIVAROT? This pungent, washed rind cheese stars on only the most famous restaurant cheese plates. Its faint, orange wheels of this faint are usually just under a pound in size. Livarot’s color nowadays often comes from annatto die. Even in France today most of the cheeses produced are pasteurized cow’s milk. During production […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Maroilles
WHAT IS MAROILLES? Created over a thousand years ago in the Abbey of Maroilles, this fromage is another member of France’s orange, washed rind cheese community. Maroilles is a bit bigger and so will last longer from production then Livarot. The cheese has different names depending on its size, small being called a Quart (quarter), […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Formaggio di Fossa
WHAT IS FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA? The Italian name of this little known cheese translates as “cheese of the pit.” It is made from either cow or a cow/sheep’s milk. Originally in the 13th century these subterranean silos were used to store grain. But farmers started hiding their precious cheese in their underground granarys every time […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Brillat-Savarin
WHO WAS BRILLAT-SAVARIN? At the end of the 19th century, Henri Androuet named this cheese after French gastronome and physiologist Brillat-Savarin. Born over 100 years earlier, he was the author of such famous statements as “Dessert without cheese is like a beauty with only one eye”. Think of him as the bachelor gourmet precursor to […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Caciocavallo
WHAT IS CACIOCAVALLO? Caciocavallo looks like a cheese that was made into a sad pear. Normally you don’t hear the term “strung up” outside of 50 Shades of Grey. But this cheese is hung from the ceiling while drying. With the neck of the cheese hanging from a rope, gravity causes the formaggio to stretch. […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Myzithra
WHAT IS MYZITHRA? Myzithra is made from a mix of either raw cow, sheep and or goat’s milk and half as much whey. Associated most strongly with Crete, it comes in two types. There is the fresh, less salty fresh version called xinomizythra which looks like a granular cream cheese. It’s fermented to varying degrees […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Durrus
WHAT IS DURRUS? Durrus is a raw cow’s milk, semi-soft cheese created by Ms. Jeffa Gill in her West Cork farmhouse. Ms. Gill was a part of the revival of artisanal Irish cheese making that occurred in the late 1970’s. Aged for about a month, Durrus has a creamy paste and pink yellow rind due […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Sainte Maure
WHAT IS SAINT MAURE? Named after its’ hometown of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, this log of semi-soft goat cheese is rolled in ash, giving a blue-grey coloration. A stick runs through its center, making it the French equivalent of a very heavy lolly pop. It uses very little rennet and relies on lactic fermentation of the milk to […]