gariotin

There is a wonderful story about the Vento d'Estate, which means "wind of summer". The cheesemaker was taking a walk in the countryside in early summer, when the air was full of the sweet aroma of fresh-cut hay. He was inspired to create the cheese to recapture the experience - washed with white wine, and wrapped to age in fresh hay. Who knows if it is true, but an inspiring story.....

I am a purist - if you are trying to make a regional specialty, why would you do it without the real ingredients? Tartiflette is made with reblochon - there is no other cheese that is quite like it. Yes, it is washed rind, but certainly not stinky and runny like Epoisse, which would not be appropriate, as it is too big a flavor and texturally very different. I think any city in the US would have a cheesemonger who would sell reblo - if not, go on i-gourmet and get some sent. It's kind of like making beef wellington without beef and subbing tofu... (Waiting for flames....)

It is definitely for a special occasion, as it will put your cholesterol off the chart. But, hey....you have to go crazy once in a while. Yes, let us know...

San Francisco? You will definitely be able to find reblo. I would not sub gruyere - it will melt differently. Go to Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods, or a good cheesemonger - if you are going to the trouble to make (sigh) tartiflette (Homer Simpson "mmmmm"), you will be glad you got the real deal. Enjoy and pretend you are high in the Savoie somewhere.

That cheese course sounds pretty good and I am not surprised, as there is a great distributor in White River Jct. The Vt cheeses sound great. I think that Steve Jenkins' "Cheese Primer" is still a great book, altho I wish he would update it and provide pictures. He is very opinionated, and I don't always agree with him, but the info is still very solid. For French cheeses, there is the definitive "French Cheese", DK Eyewitness Guide, which is invaluable for the color photos. A good Italian guide is published by Slow Food. American cheeses are well served in Laura Werlin's"All American Cheese and Wine" and "The New American Cheese", but the newest is "American Artisan Cheese" by Jeffrey Roberts. I am also a huge fan of the books of Max McCalman: "The Cheese Plate" and "Cheese" not only give you wads of info, but tell you the best ways to serve and partner great cheeses. I have just recvd 2 new books - one is the "Murray's Cheese Handbook" by Rob Kaufelt and also "The Cheese Lover's Companion" by Sharon Tyler Herbst. Haven't actually checked them out yet, but there they are... Have at it...

What's the square one in the left front section of the tray, Dave? It doesn't look like goat - more like a smelly washed rind, but that might be the light. I was very very disappointed in a pasteurized Vacherin I bought at Whole Foods for a Thanksgiving selection. It looked fabulous with a beautiful rind. When I cut a hole in the top for the spoon to go in, the paste was a perfect creaminess, bordering on liquid. Everyone oohed and aahed and dove in. When I finally got in for a taste, I was heartbroken - it had NO flavor! How can something that beautiful be so tasteless??? An example of significant cheese sadness!

Hey Cheeseheads - I can't believe no one is eating great cheeses to share these days! Here's a couple of cheese events I've done recently: Did a tasting with about 10 people and knew in advance that half would be French. I purposely decided to avoid French cheese and focus on great cheeses from other countries, and especially American. I served: La Tur - wonderful sheep-cow creamy cheese from Langha region in Italy Cruccolo - cow milk, semi-soft from the Piedmont, I think. Has a little kick - very likable Tarantaise from Thistle HIll Farm in Vt - their take on mountain style cheeses like Beaufort or Comte - farmstead, with Jersey milk - really great. Grafton Village cloth-wrap ched - a new cheese for them, aged for 18 mos La Serena - sheep milk from Spain - very creamy and delicious Truffle Tremor from Cypress Grove - one of my new faves Stinking Bishop from UK - washed rind with pear brandy Echo Lake Blue from Rogue River - another of their outstanding blues from Oregon. I was very pleased that at the end, every single French person thanked me for opening their eyes about American cheeses and admitted that they had highly underestimated how good they could be! Yesterday, I had an early family Tgiving and served: Young Mahon - personal preference, I like it much better than aged Constant Bliss - great little soft-ripened cow's milk drum from Jasper HIll Farm in Vermont Truffle Tremor - I am just loving turning people on to this great cheese! Neal's Yard stilton - seemed so timely for this season. Served all with fig paste, roasted pecans, sliced apples, and various crackers. Everyone enjoyed it all, and I laughed when my niece explained to her new friend, "there is always great weird cheese at Aunt Linda's house!" That's a family tradition I'm happy to be known for. What are you all eating these days?????

My sis-in-law is a farm wife and she taught me a quick technique. Wash and dry all extra tomatoes and cut away any bruises, etc. Then just quarter them and put in a Ziploc freezer bag. eskay is right - the texture will never be the same, but you can use them just like canned tomatoes all winter long. Thaw them in a colander - once they are soft, you can peel the skins right off. I think it will not bring out the best in heirlooms - it is more a way to keep ahead of one's veg garden when it is really producing.

Rougie is very highly regarded - definitely one of the best labels exported. I have never been disappointed.

Can't help you with Frankfurt or Berlin, but if you go to Cologne, there is a wonderful old brewery/restaurant called Paffner, I think. It is just a bit out of the city center and wonderful experience. Kolnish beer is very unique - light, not much alcohol, served in distinctive small glasses. The restaurant is full of big tables that you share - food is traditional and good. My brother and I mused that perhaps our grandfather had hoisted one there before he set out for America...

Reading Delilah's recipe made my cholesterol go up about 100 points! Is it good - sounds like overkill? Cheese with stuff in it - I'm not a big fan in general, but agree with what seems to be the consensus here: savory items like herbs, garlic, horseradish are less offensive than sweets like dried fruit. That white stilton w/different fruits tastes like eating a piece of cheese cake - it is just too sweet for my palate. I second the vote for Truffle Tremor - made by Cypress Grove in California. It is good b/c it is not too truffley and does not overpower the chevre-riness of the paste of the cheese. (Is that a word?) And I do like cheeses with spirits - the Cahill Porter that was referred to earlier, with the veins of dark beer, is very pleasant. Cheeses washed in wines like the Drunken Goat, etc do not detract from the real flavor of the original product. There is an story told about how these wine-rinded cheeses came to be. They originate in the Veneto region of Italy, which was on the path of advancing and retreating armies. Farmers got sick of having their homes invaded and cheeses stolen, so they threw them into barrels of wine to hide them. Considering that invading armies would probably go for wine first, the historical basis is weak, but it's a good story.

Dave, I'll check out your post over the weekend when I have a little time - I'm sure you have some good tidbits. I discovered an interesting new cheese from one of my favorite American cheesemakers, Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove. She makes the Humboldt Fog, which I think is one of the very best American artisinal cheeses. This one is similar in texture and size and it is called Truffle Tremor. It is not overwhelmingly truffley, which I find to often be the case and a real turn off. This is just becoming available in stores, so check it out. Also, for the Cheddar vision fans, the site just won a Media Award at last week's British Cheese Awards! It was a special award for "Media Profiling British Cheese". So, I guess lots of people are watching. Sheena, I am going to look for Timberdoodle here around Boston - love that name. I think the rice flour one you are referring to is Franklin Peluso's Teleme. It IS very mild, but has a very milky, lactic flavor that pairs beautifully w/fresh fruit at the end of a meal. Steve Jenkins waxes rhapsodic about it in the Cheese Primer - he calls it an American treasure and has an entire page about it, so check it out. Hooligan is a wonderful washed rind cheese from Connecticut - hard to find, but worth the hunt.

Wegmans did a category review of their blue cheeses last winter and decided they had too many and some had to go. Roaring 40s was one of the casualties. Most Whole Foods stores carry it and also lots of independent cheese shops - it is a great blue.

I think you are definitely right about the wine - I am trying to restrict that as well for awhile! It's funny, I don't miss the bread or crackers, but that luscious, fatty cheese and the wonderful wine are my downfall. I'd rather eat a piece of cheese than a piece of chocolate any day of the week. We are still getting wonderful fresh tomatoes here in New England - they are perfect with a little piece of cheese. I am eating bits of Clochette and Roquefort, as well as a lovely quarter of La Tur with tomato slices - heaven! A little goes a long way and the tart acid of the tomato is so good with the soft rich cheese.

I think you are on the right track with the St. Marcellin - pairing with fruit would bring out the tart, lactic qualities in the cheese. With all the great summer fruits around right now, you could do a lot of experimenting. Dave, I wish I was eating cheese while I was on vacation - been trying to drop some pounds this summer and cheese is my downfall. I've been restricting my cheese, but sure am missing it!

Dante, Speaking of cheese & beer together, that was one of the most popular panels at the recent ACS conference. (Gee, I wonder why???) Here is a link to a good article about it in the Boston Globe last week: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/200...rs_competition/ (If the link doesn't work, go to Boston.com and click on food - scroll down for the article.) The guy who ran the panel thinks that beers are much more cheese-friendly than wine. You also mention "any decent soft goat cheese". For fresh goat logs, I think most are not too interesting, but the one made by Tournevent (they also make the Chevre Noir) is called Biquet and is the best I've ever tasted. They won the blind taste test in Cooks Illustrated for imported goat log - beat out every French one! Hard to find, but some Whole Foods carry it around New England.

Thanks for the link back to the shrimp chowder - you mention the end of local shrimp season. When is the local season in New England - I think it is hard to find local shrimp and I would like to know when to look for it.

Gfron - yes, that is the company I thought it might be. They make beautiful cheeses from the Langa region. Your pix is great - but tell us...how did it taste? Sandy - you do my heart good - my company represents the Roaring 40s nationally. I also think it is a great cheese - even people who are not blue lovers like it. I probably wrote about this pages back, but the name refers to the geographical location of King Island, which is in a strait between Australia and Tasmania. It sits at the 40th parallel and the winds that whip off the ocean are called the Roaring 40s. The island has a long dairying tradition and supposedly has more cows than people. I attended the American Cheese Society annual conference in Burlington, Vt last weekend. There were 1200+ entries into the competition - officially made it the largest cheese competition in the US. The winner was a dark horse...and very delicious. It was an aged raclette from a small dairy in Northern Michigan called the Leelanau Cheese Company. Second was the Flagship cheddar from Beecher's in Seattle - a very interesting cheddar. The 4 day event featured panels on selling, merchanising, promoting American artisinal cheeses and had wonderful speakers from across the country - actually from around the world, now that I think of it. General sessions were held discussing the raw milk question, sustainability of small American dairy farms, affinage, etc. The Festival of Cheeses the final night is always the culmination of a great event and this one was no exception. Each of the 1200+ cheeses was plated and attractively displayed, grouped together by class. A professional carver had formed cheddar blocks into beautiful displays. Next year it will be in Chicago and we are celebrating the 25th anniversay of the group, so it is sure to be great!

Ha Ha - Moxie??? You might have to explain that one to folks outside of New England! Regional chowders - I discovered that there is a distinct Rhode Island style that uses only cooking stock from the clams. It is very briny and and intense when it is good. Tomato...bah! A cream based chowder is the real deal! As for the lobster pots - I always thought each trapper had their own marking on the buoys. Different colored stripes or something. Did I fall for a story...I am very gullible.

"Bugs" is right - if you do any diving around the cold waters of New England, Johnny will attest that they look really insect like as they splurt their way around under water. They kind of curl up and then sproing free to get motion - I loves to eat them, but they are not pretty in their habitat! Johnny - hope you comment on how the locals felt about the soap opera that preceded the Whole Foods that opened up there this winter. After banning the sales of lobstahs everywhere else in the country, they did allow them to be sold in Portland, but only after installing some kind of freakin expensive tank and special plastic holders to keep them from stressing each other out.

I look forward to your blog! As a Boston person, I agree that we have great New England food traditions and it will be fun to see your comments. Are you going to talk about the different regional styles of chow-dah?

I agree with everyone about REAL Wensleydale - it is a cheese with a wonderful history, great crumbly texture, and tart lactic flavor when it is good. (Was supposedly brought to England by French Cistercian monks in medieval times.) I don't know why more people here in the States don't sell the real thing...except that it loses quality quickly when cut and is hard for a small cheesemonger to sell thru fast enough. Yes, the Hawe's Dairy is a great tour and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, with the hills and dales. Let's demand more of the real thing and boycott the ones w/stuff in it! (By the way, MarketSt, I think that is a great cheese selection you won - I am sure it was a hit!) Dave, Blue de Gex, is fabulous - again, when it is good. We have problems getting it in good shape over here - mostly b/c it is a big wheel, about 7 kg as I remember, and pretty expensive, so it scares off small retailers. It is often sold old and dry, but when it looks like your pix, it is fab. I can't believe that Selles-sur-cher was only mediocre - the suggestion of ooziness in the pix had me salivating. I am getting ready for the American Cheese Society conference next week - rumor has it that over 1200 cheeses were submitted to judging, certainly the largest number ever. It will be quite a chore to do the Festival this year - every cheese submitted must be plated and presented for sampling in one big room for the event. We will begin at 7 AM and cross our fingers that we will be ready by the opening at 5! Will keep you posted. gfron - how was that Langa cheese? I looked for it around Boston, but havent' found it yet.

Welcome, Sharonb. It is great to see another poster chiming in from France - it makes us all jealous, but we love to live vicariously. I like your insight into Salers - I can't say I've ever seen a piece over here in decent shape, so probably couldn't test your theory until next trip to France. gfron, thanks for the report on the new cheese. I love all the products they make, so it is good to see a new one. Where did you buy it - DiBrunos?

Is it Italian? There is a great little company in the Langha region named Alta Langha - they make the La Tur, Rocchetta, and Brunet - all small, air-ripened wonderful cheeses. If it is one of theirs, it is probably delicious! Check it out and let us know!

Ditto - it has been a wonderful read. Hope to see you again soon on the cheese thread - Lindsay, where are you these days? I am at the Fancy Food Show in NYC this week and there is a lot of good cheese around!