WHAT IS APPENZELLER? This hard cheese is made from the milk of Swiss Brown cows. It is then aged in a top secret herbal brine (it’s cloves, tarragon, juniper, rosemary, sage and white wine). Yeah, I just gave away their top secret recipe. I know I suck. While I’m at it here is KFC’s secret […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FOOD
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Reblochon
WHAT IS REBLOCHON? This fromage is made in the French Savoie region of France. Only the milk from Abondance, Montbeliard and Tarine cows is used. Reblochon is a bit unusual in that its rind is washed with whey. After the cheese has been aged for about a month, a nutty, yellow interior balances out the […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Danish Blue
WHAT IS DANISH BLUE? Danish blue cheese wheels in are creamy and semi-soft. These ost (cheese) have a beautiful yellowish white paste and blue green veining. The same penicillium mold used in Roquefort creates the bacterial marbling of this cheese. And if you buy a salad at a restaurant, 50-50 chance that the blue is […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Gouda
WHAT IS GOUDA? This waxed Dutch cheese can be consumed from 1 month to 5 years old. It is almost always made from pasteurized cow’s milk and cooked curds. The traditional raw milk version is still made but under a different cheese (boerenkaas). Gouda is classified by age. The first of the 7 stages is […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Humboldt Fog
WHAT IS HUMBOLDT FOG? So Europe has a long tradition of cheese making. And for many years, there weren’t many non-European cheese that could compete. Humboldt Fog is a goat’s milk cheese created by Mary Keehn in the 1970’s and changed that. This soft-ripened cheese with its beauty mark line of ash gives even the […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Feta
WHAT IS FETA? Long ago in Greece this was traditionally a mixed milk cheese. Shepherds would have a flock of sheep with a goat or two milked into the mix. And if you were a Greek sailing the ocean and conquering islands, what better cheese to bring with you then a block of solid milk […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Mozzarella di Buffalo
WHAT IS MOZZARELLA? Long ago in the U.S.A. lobsters used to only be fed to prisoners in the States. In a similar vein, once upon a time in Italy buffalo would roam the southern swamps. Poor Italian peasants would milk them, return home and make this cheese. How times have changed, today buffalo mozzarella is […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Grana Padano
WHAT IS GRANA PADANO? The name Grana Padano is sometimes used incorrectly as a generic term (like the word “tomme” for French alpine cheeses). Grana Padano is if anything one of the more unique cheeses in the world. It is one of the few Italian cheeses that can give Parmesan Reggiano a run for its […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Parmesan Reggiano
WHAT IS PARMESAN? You think you’re tough? You think you know hard? You know nothing John Snow! Er, I mean whoever you are. Anyway, much like Game of Thrones, knives are your diplomatic tool of choice when attacking a wheel of Parmesan. However most knives will snap in two if you try to use one […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Radiatori
WHAT IS RADIATORI? If there is an engineer in the house, this is the pasta for you. These cuts look like old-school radiators from either the early 1900’s or most New York City rental apartments. Popular since World War II radiatori, like their heating namesakes, maximize surface area. This allows for the efficient transfer of […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Spaghetti & Spaghettini
WHAT IS SPAGHETTI? The name of this pasta is from the word “spago” or string. If any food can be said to be the symbol of an entire people, spaghetti would be it. From fishing villages in Mexico to the heart of Africa, you can find this food anywhere as Italy’s most ubiquitous ambassador (usually […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Bucatini
WHAT IS BUCATINI? This cut is like spaghetti on the outside but hollow on the inside. Bucatini’s name is derived from “Buco”, the Italian word for “hole”. This tubed pasta was invented in an attempt to allow boiling water to cook the pasta from the inside out. Also known as perciatelli, these fragile sticks of […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Roquefort
WHAT IS ROQUEFORT? It’s a French sheep’s milk blue cheese named after the Combalou caverns in which they’re aged. Roquefort is a foil wrapped, rindless raw milk cheese. Long ago, blue mold was introduced by throwing a loaf of bread infused with penicillium roqueforti into a cave next to the cheese. TO BUY THIS CHEESE […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Époisses
WHAT IS ÉPOISSES ? Originally made by monks, Époisses de Bourgogne is a washed rind, cow’s milk cheese. It is often just called “Époisses”. A local pomace (grape leftovers from winemaking) brandy called marc de Bourgogne is used to repeatedly “wash” the cheese. This gives it a distinctive appearance and stinky smell. TO BUY THIS […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Comte
WHAT IS COMTE? Do you know the remake of that Culture Club song “Comte Chameleon?” No, nor does anyone else, I just made it up (sigh, only 158 more words to write!) Comte had a huge influence on 19th century thought and seduced famous social activists like Karl Marx, Falco and John Stuart Mill. No […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Gorgonzola
WHAT IS GORGONZOLA? It is a cow’s milk cheese with the blue-green marbling inherent to blue cheese. Dating back to the 9th century, this traditional P.D.O. comes in two types – Dolce (younger) and Piccante (older). The latter is also known as “Mountain Gorgonzola” though I personally think farmers were just trying to make the […]
