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Sakura Cheese?


sizzleteeth

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Anyone ever had this?

Know where I can order some online?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakura_cheese

http://cheeserland.com/2004/11/cheese-news/

Edited by sizzleteeth (log)

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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I did some searching around and found that they produce cheese up until June and start taking orders in March. This is the contact information for the producer, which I think is actually a school of agriculture:

共働学舎新得農場

住所 〒081-0038 北海道上川郡新得町字新得9-1

TEL 0156-69-5600(チーズ等お問い合わせ)

販売期間 6月まで

※3月中旬から注文集中のため、入手困難な可能性があります。ご了承下さい。

賞味期間 製造から約2週間

I couldn't find any American sites selling it. But you might ask a good cheese shop or cheese counter if they can order it through their distributor. I found several Japanese sites selling it but I doubt they ship internationally.

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I found some closeup photos of it here.

What are you up to next, sizzleteeth? :biggrin:

John is right.  According to their website, they sell it only from March through June.

Thanks to both of you!!.

I've had Sakura Mochi and Sakura Ice Cream, the salty nature of the cherry blossom leaves actually seems as though it would go perfect with cheese - though I never would have thought about it. There is a mochi place here where I can get the salted leaves so maybe I'll go grab some and try them with a few cheeses.

Hiroyuki my friend - it's good to hear from you!!

What am I up to? After 7 years in Chicago it was time to go, my girlfriend got a job in Southern California so I moved out here. Checking everything out I can, the Asian population is enormous as well as there is an incredible diversity of cultures blended out here - Armenian, Peruvian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, French, Mediterranean, Japanese - you name it it's here. Not to mention the Midwest and Southern influences. So many things I never knew existed here and so many myths and stereotypes dispelled.

My girlfriend grew up in Beijing and routinely makes statements that a great deal of the food here is identical to back home. There are places in Little Tokyo in LA and out in the Valley that I think would surprise you, if you ever come this way please let me know!

Anyway, still cooking, studying Chinese and Italian mostly at the moment and going back over things I've covered looking for things I've never heard of - hence Sakura Cheese. Hopefully another photo entry coming around soon - have a good start but I am always hesitant to think that the world will actually allow me to finish, I have been very lucky so far and am very grateful. :biggrin:

Edited by sizzleteeth (log)

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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I found some closeup photos of it here.

What are you up to next, sizzleteeth? :biggrin:

John is right.  According to their website, they sell it only from March through June.

Thanks to both of you!!.

I've had Sakura Mochi and Sakura Ice Cream, the salty nature of the cherry blossom leaves actually seems as though it would go perfect with cheese - though I never would have thought about it. There is a mochi place here where I can get the salted leaves so maybe I'll go grab some and try them with a few cheeses.

Hiroyuki my friend - it's good to hear from you!!

What am I up to? After 7 years in Chicago it was time to go, my girlfriend got a job in Southern California so I moved out here. Checking everything out I can, the Asian population is enormous as well as there is an incredible diversity of cultures blended out here - Armenian, Peruvian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, French, Mediterranean, Japanese - you name it it's here. Not to mention the Midwest and Southern influences. So many things I never knew existed here and so many myths and stereotypes dispelled.

My girlfriend grew up in Beijing and routinely makes statements that a great deal of the food here is identical to back home. There are places in Little Tokyo in LA and out in the Valley that I think would surprise you, if you ever come this way please let me know!

Anyway, still cooking, studying Chinese and Italian mostly at the moment and going back over things I've covered looking for things I've never heard of - hence Sakura Cheese. Hopefully another photo entry coming around soon - have a good start but I am always hesitant to think that the world will actually allow me to finish, I have been very lucky so far and am very grateful. :biggrin:

I didn't know you had moved to Southern California... You are unpredictable. :biggrin: Maybe the word "settlement" is not in your dictionary. :biggrin:

If you are serious about getting that cheese, I can send them an inquiry for you in Japanese, asking them if they are willing to ship it overseas. I think that the chances are slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

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I didn't know you had moved to Southern California...  You are unpredictable. :biggrin:  Maybe the word "settlement" is not in your dictionary. :biggrin:

If you are serious about getting that cheese, I can send them an inquiry for you in Japanese, asking them if they are willing to ship it overseas.  I think that the chances are slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Hiroyuki as always you prove yourself kind and generous. I would appreciate that very much and if I can get it then I will report on it here when it arrives.

I have to say the depth of this board is amazing, there are undoubtedly thousands of things I am ignorant of but almost every time I look for something here it has been covered somewhere - no matter how obscure. Only recently did I start looking at Hokkaido and never knew of Ainu cuisine, but inevitably a search here reveals discussions about just about anything. So far Sakura Cheese and Kompeito are the only things I've run into with no mention. (Edit: and I just found Kompeito.)

Unpredictable? Hmm. Yes, perhaps. Though that can be a good thing and a bad thing.

On the one hand being able to adapt is beneficial, on the other hand not being able to be settled can be problematic.

Like a cup of water. The water needs the cup because without it - it is shapeless and will dissipate and evaporate into nothing. Yet without it's fluid nature the water would not be able to adapt so easily to so many situations. Rigidity and flexibility each have their own benefits and drawbacks. I'm doing my best to find the balance.

I hope life is treating you well as you are deserving of such, and I hope their answer is yes - because I am very curious.

Edited by sizzleteeth (log)

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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I didn't know you had moved to Southern California...  You are unpredictable. :biggrin:  Maybe the word "settlement" is not in your dictionary. :biggrin:

If you are serious about getting that cheese, I can send them an inquiry for you in Japanese, asking them if they are willing to ship it overseas.  I think that the chances are slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Hiroyuki as always you prove yourself kind and generous. I would appreciate that very much and if I can get it then I will report on it here when it arrives.

I have to say the depth of this board is amazing, there are undoubtedly thousands of things I am ignorant of but almost every time I look for something here it has been covered somewhere - no matter how obscure. Only recently did I start looking at Hokkaido and never knew of Ainu cuisine, but inevitably a search here reveals discussions about just about anything. So far Sakura Cheese and Kompeito are the only things I've run into with no mention. (Edit: and I just found Kompeito.)

Unpredictable? Hmm. Yes, perhaps. Though that can be a good thing and a bad thing.

On the one hand being able to adapt is beneficial, on the other hand not being able to be settled can be problematic.

Like a cup of water. The water needs the cup because without it - it is shapeless and will dissipate and evaporate into nothing. Yet without it's fluid nature the water would not be able to adapt so easily to so many situations. Rigidity and flexibility each have their own benefits and drawbacks. I'm doing my best to find the balance.

I hope life is treating you well as you are deserving of such, and I hope their answer is yes - because I am very curious.

Thanks for your very philosophical comments, as usual. :biggrin:

As for me, I would say that life is a series of decisions to make. Some decions are more difficult to make than others, and it took my wife and me almost ten years to decide to have a house built here in Shiozawa. But that's totally a different story and is absolutely not food-related.

I received a reply from them this morning, and just as I had expected, the answer was No "because of strict quarantine and such". Sorry to say, my passionate email letter cut no ice with them.

So, what do you say? Do you want to write a letter to them yourself?

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Once purchased, for how long does the cheese stay good?  Is it a raw milk cheese?

According to there website it doesn't stay good for very long, 15 days after it is wrapped or about 10 days from when you receive it. It continues to ripen after purchasing and they suggest eating it at your desired ripeness. They also say that is the blue or yellow mold that sometimes grows on it bothers you, just scrape it off.

:biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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But that's totally a different story and is absolutely not food-related.

I received a reply from them this morning,

Thank you for trying Hiroyuki.

I would say that story is absolutely food related, as your 3,483 posts from that house in Shiozawa demonstrate, as well as the numerous ones containing your own cooking from that house. It seems as though you made the right decision - you might even consider writing a book. :wink:

I sent my own inquiry this morning so we will see if I get the same, which I can only imagine I will. Though I read that the people in Hokkaido descend from bear hunters and trappers and like other places in Japan- farmers. So I tried to appeal to the bartering nature that must exist somewhere in their blood.

Perhaps I can trade something from Amish country in KY for some cheese from Japan - so much more interesting than just paying cash. :biggrin:

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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I suspect you may be able to ask a local fresh cheese producer to age the cheese in salted sakura leaves if you can provide them with the leaves. Many smaller producers are open to experimentation; I have a chocolatier prepare a few things according to my specification in rather small quantities.

There are some small cheesemakers around the US that do some fresh soft cheeses wrapped in various leaves. Sally Jackson's chestnut-leaf wrapped guernsey cheese is a personal favorite, and there are more in other areas. Hoja santa (aka Sassafras, I believe) leaf-wrapped goat cheese from Texas-based The Mozzarella Company is really nice. Hiromi's addicted to the Oregon Rogue River Blue, which is aged in pear brandy-soaked grape leaves and is fantastic.

It's really cost-prohibitive to import a few ounces, or even a few dozen pounds, of cheese, from almost anywhere, especially if there's such a short shelf life. However, you may be able to order and send something to a friend, and ask them to ship it the rest of the way as a personal shipment. Keep in mind, though, that cheese has at least 3 or 4 agencies that can hold your shipment for inspection, which can take as long as 2 weeks when they're working sluggishly. US Customs, FDA, and USDA can all elect to hold and/or inspect such shipments.

Anyway, see if you can talk a local cheesemaker into aging some nice fresh soft cheese for 10 days or so and see how that goes... or you can always do the "do it yourself" thing starting with some off-the-shelf soft cheese.

Jason Truesdell

Blog: Pursuing My Passions

Take me to your ryokan, please

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Unfortunately no response - but then, I didn't really expect one. :sad:

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to visit Hokkaido some time.

I think I should be able to find the leaves here Hiroyuki and thanks JasonTrue - all very good suggestions - I can think of all kinds of cheese and variations on using the leaves that might turn out to be delicious. I'll see what I can do if I can find the leaves - or maybe I'll just "harvest" them from some Sakura wrapped mochi.

While this will will help - it won't satisfy my curiosity as to what a cheese such as this actually produced in Japan might be like - especially since it apparently beat out so many places known to produce fantastic cheese.

As always, when I see something like this - I wonder if it lives up to it's reputation. Which I understand is highly subjective - but you never really know until you try for yourself. :wink:

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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Unfortunately no response - but then, I didn't really expect one.   :sad:

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to visit Hokkaido some time.

I think I should be able to find the leaves here Hiroyuki and thanks JasonTrue - all very good suggestions - I can think of all kinds of cheese and variations on using the leaves that might turn out to be delicious. I'll see what I can do if I can find the leaves - or maybe I'll just "harvest" them from some Sakura wrapped mochi.

While this will will help - it won't satisfy my curiosity as to what a cheese such as this actually produced in Japan might be like - especially since it apparently beat out so many places known to produce fantastic cheese.

As always, when I see something like this - I wonder if it lives up to it's reputation. Which I understand is highly subjective - but you never really know until you try for yourself. :wink:

Of course, it won't satisfy your curiosity, but I think it's unrealistic to visit Hokkaido just to have a taste of that cheese.

Just to console you, I translated part of a description of that cheese from here.

真っ白いきめの細かいチーズの身は酸味があり爽やか。チーズの上には塩漬けの桜の花がちょこんと乗っかっていて、見た目はとても可愛らしい。

チーズは熟成中のある期間、桜の葉の上でさせるため、桜餅のような独特の香りがほのかについている。そして日本酒の酒粕のようなふわっとしたアルコール臭が漂い、どことなく「日本風」な味わいがする。

The snow-white, fine cheese is sour and refreshing. The cheese is topped by a salted cherry blossom and is very pretty to look at.

The cheese is placed on a cherry leaf for a certain period during aging, so has a subtle distinctive aroma like that of sakura mochi. And, it has a waft of alcohol like sake lees, and somehow tastes "Japanese".

Edited to make a correction.

Edited by Hiroyuki (log)
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Of course, it won't satisfy your curiosity, but I think it's unrealistic to visit Hokkaido just to have a taste of that cheese.

:laugh: No, I believe that might be a little much, but I'd like to get there one day - not just for the cheese. I didn't get to see Northern Japan and I'd definitely like to see it, go to Sapporo, visit Akita.

Thank you for the translation.

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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