{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }
No longer raw: Buttermilk Blue from Roth Cheese
International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day is Saturday, October 19. But as our former President might say, “So what?” If nothing else, the occasion is a reminder that the freedom to make and sell raw-milk cheese is not guaranteed. This election year, especially, we’re hyper-aware that laws can change and restrict or retract rights we’ve had forever.
Read more
Hootenanny from Goat Rodeo (left) and cumin-scented Dutch Leyden
I’ve often told others that the best way to find a good cheese is to ask the people behind the counter what they’re loving. The good mongers are sampling all day long and they know what’s in great shape. So when a local cheese merchant all but grabbed my arm recently to steer me to a new arrival she loved, how could I leave without some? And I’m in perfect agreement. This aged American Gouda is a sure-fire pleaser and a no-brainer for autumn cheese plates with apples and pears. For a slam-dunk pairing, open a malty Oktoberfest brew.
Read more
People often ask me whether they can freeze cheese. “Sure,” I reply. “But it won’t be the same when it thaws.” Putting cheese in the freezer is almost never a good idea—it alters the texture—although I can think of a couple of exceptions. If you like to stockpile Parmigiano Reggiano rinds for making broth or enhancing a pot of beans, by all means keep your collection in the freezer (although the rinds will also be fine in the fridge). But with the onset of autumn, I’m reminded of a little trick with frozen cheese that I learned from celebrity chef Michael Chiarello.
Read more
When I lose cheeses in the back of my fridge, they rarely emerge the better for it. Once or twice, I’ve unintentionally improved an uncut wheel by forgetting I had it, but I generally prefer to leave the aging to the experts. Even they can be surprised by what happens. The Swiss cheese pictured above was a happy accident. Wheels misplaced in the creamery’s cellar and discovered months later had evolved in spectacular fashion. The cheese didn’t get dryer, as one would have expected. It got creamier.
Read more
When it comes to Brian Civitello at Mystic Cheese, I’m a fan girl. Civitello is a student of history who finds inspiration in cheeses of the past. He’s a risk taker. But most important, he is exceptionally skilled. Everything I’ve tasted from his Connecticut creamery has been captivating, unusual and memorable, including the newcomer pictured above. It won a blue ribbon at the American Cheese Society competition this year.
Read moreMy eggplant crop was a runaway success this year—not always the case—and frankly I’m getting a little tired of baba ghanoush. I’ve cooked eggplant with pasta every conceivable way and still I have eggplant. For Labor Day, when normal people were grilling burgers, we grilled eggplant. That’s when I was reminded how much I enjoy this pasta-free riff on cannelloni, which I developed for a Sur La Table cookbook several years ago. Eggplant and tomato are a proven love match; add ricotta and prosciutto to the mix and you hit it out of the park.
Read more
Do you recall your first encounter with burrata? I do, and I can’t believe it was only 20 years ago. It seems like this embellished mozzarella has always been with us, surprising and seducing us with its luscious interior. But it’s a relative newcomer, all but unknown in the U.S. until the early 2000s. Now it’s everywhere, a fan favorite on Italian menus from Pasadena to Poughkeepsie. A cheese counter without burrata—why would you do that? Being a minimalist, I’m happy with a plate of toast, a naked ball of burrata and a pepper grinder, but even I enjoy a burrata dressed up on occasion.
Read more
Recently I did a presentation on West Coast cheeses for a group of visiting chefs from Asia. After a guided tasting of the dozen cheeses I had selected, they had questions. The only one that stumped me was, “What’s your favorite West Coast creamery?” I didn’t have a ready answer but, in thinking about it afterward, one producer did keep coming to mind for its back story, its values and the consistent high quality of its cheeses. I could never name the favorite among the many worthy creameries on the Left Coast, but Cascadia Creamery is definitely on the short list.
Read more
Opting to follow the crowds instead of the guidebooks, my husband and I ended up in a packed working-class lunch spot in Naples a few years ago. After a glance around, we decided to have what everyone else was having: rigatoni in tomato sauce topped with a dollop of snow-white ricotta. Eyeing the other diners, we did what they did, stirring in the fluffy ricotta before diving in. The cheese made the tomato sauce so mellow and creamy. If you’re preparing pasta with tomato sauce in the weeks ahead, please try this technique. If your sauce also has eggplant, zucchini or sweet peppers, so much the better.
Read more
Where goat cheese begins: California cheesemaker Erika McKenzie-Chapter of California’s Pennyroyal Farm
After decades of effort by U.S. creameries, “American cheese” is no longer a laugh line. Consumers know that our country produces many exceptional cheeses that rival those from Europe. But these days it’s not always clear what “American cheese” means. If a fresh goat cheese is made in California with imported frozen curd from Spain, is it still American? Is it even, to be perfectly literal, fresh cheese?
Read more