TASTES: Parrano

By Kara and Erica

True to our word, we found some Parrano to taste! See our recent post on the background of "the Dutch cheese with an Italian accent" here.

Before we discuss the taste of Parrano, a quick note on this picture: this mostly-sepia tone image of Parrano in its (?) natural environment presently takes up 80% of the German Parrano homepage (similar images seem to cycle through the English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish sites unpredictably). Other shots feature a cityscape and an overturned glass, and a long-exposure image of a wine glass tipping and a man struggling to catch it. Caution: Parrano appears to induce eerie happenings at the dinner table.

The Taste: Descriptions of Parrano as a hybrid of Parmesan and Gouda are ubiquitous, and accurate. We also detected a strong resemblance to Swiss cheese, both in flavor (nutty, sweet) and in texture (medium in firmness, holey). On first taste, we liked this pleasing flavor combination and the toothsome feeling of the cheese in the mouth. The cheese is very flavorful, without a hint of anything off-putting or overly complex - a definite crowd-pleaser. The major downside of Parrano is the rind: made of several layers of wax, it feels sticky and (understandably) waxy, and imparts a bland plastic flavor to the outer edges of the cheese. We're pretty positive in the first few minutes of tasting and talking (see the video below), but it should be noted that our opinion of Parrano started shifting as we became aware of the rind problem, and continued to decline after we stopped shooting and became aware of a sort of sweet, processed aftertaste. On the other hand, a second, informal tasting of Parrano by Kara - in the context of a turkey and lettuce sandwich - highlighted Parrano's strength as a sandwich cheese. We probably wouldn't serve it on a cheese plate, but Kara at least is curious to try it in an omelette or over a salad.

FACTS: Cheese for Vegans

By Erica


One consequence of living in a hippy town like Madison is that you start to question your life choices. Do I drive my car too much? How much trash do I produce per week? And, the hardest one for me, should I become a vegetarian? which inevitably becomes the much scarier, should I become a vegan?

I quickly realized that while vegetarianism could possibly exist in my future, I could never become a vegan. That would mean giving up cheese, which would mean giving up one of life's greatest pleasures. No way. Apparently, though, giving up cheese is a major hurdle for many wanna be vegans. Anthony Grani, Toronto-based filmmaker and vegan, even created a blog called "Vegan Cheese Reviews", dedicated to finding the tastiest non-dairy based "cheese".

Enter Daiya, a cheese substitute made mainly from Tapioca and water. Two Canadians, Greg Blake and Andre Kroecher, are the masterminds behind the food product (pictured above in a grilled cheese sandwich). Kroecher first started trying to make vegan cheese in 2005 by experimenting in his own kitchen. By 2007, with the help of Blake, he perfected the recipe and began looking to sell Daiya. It premiered at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California in the form of a dairy-free cheese pizza and was an instant success. Daiya is picking up steam and was named Product of the Year at the 2009 Veggie Awards.

Daiya is available in many stores around the U.S. (including at the Whole Foods in Madison). I'm intrigued enough to search it out, but don't count on me leading a cheese-less vegan life anytime soon!

Sources:
-Macleans article on Daiya
-Daiya website

LINKS: "Cheese" dealer caught!

By Erica

A former employee of New York's Department of Taxation and Finance was a drug dealer. Gerry McNamara was found to have sold cocaine and marijuana to at least five co-workers.

Why is this relevant to C: A J? The code word in the email exchanges between McNamara and his clients was "cheese."

One federal employee wrote to McNamara, "I don't have extra cheese on me that I would need but I would love some crackers. You let me know ... you know I'm good for it anyhow."

Don't worry, readers. When we say "cheese" on this blog, we really mean cheese.

FACTS: Parrano

By Kara

We've received a cheese tip from a source in Tennessee: try some Parrano! (Our source found it at Whole Foods.)

If nothing else, Parrano cheese is well marketed: a quick internet search reveals dozens of unique (and consistently positive) reviews and just as many mouth-watering pictures. Parrano may be the first cheese we've encountered that lays claim to its own domain name. (We'll leave it to our readers to find whatever is located at your favorite cheese's .com...) Hats off to the people at UnieKaas (the unique producers of Parrano cheese) for such an effective cheese-marketing campaign! (Also see their page on "The Good Life" for some general advice about friends, family, and well-being.)

I have to poke a little fun at a cheese campaign that takes itself so seriously... But I also have to say that Parrano does sound delicious. It's a Dutch, Italian-style gouda, affectionately referred to as "The Dutch cheese that thinks its Italian" (Wikipedia.org), "Dutch cheese with an Italian accent!" (About.com), and "the unforgettable cheese with a distinctly Italian temperament" (Parrano.com). The flavor is described as nutty and sweet, similar to a mellow Parmesan. If you're wondering what the Dutch have brought to bare on this cheese, look to the texture: despite its Italian self-identity/accent/temperament, Parrano is solidly (or rather, smoothly and pliantly) Gouda in texture. It's a fairly young cheese, aged for 5 months, and it's good for shredding, slicing, or melting. In terms of taste, texture, and certainly versatility, Parrano seems to be close to cheese perfection.

A final fact, near and dear to C:AJ's heart: Parrano won "Best in Class, Gouda" at the 2006 World Cheese Championship in Madison. We will certainly be on the lookout for a taste!

LINKS: Rollin', rollin', rollin'

By Erica

Besides cheese, there's another (Madison) Wisconsin tradition that I love: festivals. Apparently, these two favorite pastimes of mine coexist in Gloucestershire, England.

In the Spring, the town gathers at Cooper's Hill for the annual Cheese-Rolling festival, which is exactly what you would imagine: a wheel of cheese is rolled down the steep hill, and the first person to catch the cheese and cross the finish line is the winner.



As popular as it is strange, the Cheese-Rolling festival had to be canceled this year because the organizers were concerned that the events growing number of spectators would be too much to handle. Maybe we'll start our own Cheese-Rolling festival here in Madison. Anyone know any good hills?



Original source: Time Magazine's Top Ten Quirky Local Festivals (Thanks, N.C.!)

TASTES: Rocastin Sheep Milk Brie

By Kara and Erica

A few months ago, we and a few other friends casually enjoyed a sheep milk Brie. Well, to the others it was casual. We, of course, knew we'd have to come back to contemplate it more seriously. Today's cheese is a French Rocastin Sheep Milk Brie from the Willy St. Co-op.

Background: Rocastin (also know as "Berger de Rocastin" and "Fromage de Brebis") is a French brie-style cheese, made with sheep's milk (hence the French references to shepherds and ewes). In general, Brie cheeses are distinguished by their soft and creamy texture and rich flavor - two cow's milk varieties are protected by the A.O.C. (Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun), and a wide array of Brie-style cheeses are available and extremely popular in the U.S. Brie cheese are often relatively young (4-5 weeks) and most easily recognized by their circular or wedge-like shape, their white, "bloomy" rind, and their oozingly creamy center.

There is very little information about Rocastin out there: most descriptions center on the "velvety rind," which is pretty typical for any Brie-style cheese. Rocastin is produced in the Rhone-Alps region of France. Immediately apparent differences between Rocastin and more common varieties of "Brie": sheep's milk and a triangular shape. (It's produced in a rectangular rather than a circular mold, leading us to wonder about the effects of corners on its taste...)

The Taste: Although we have a (possibly biased) soft spot for goat's milk cheese, this sheep brie is absolutely delicious. Like with goat's milk cheeses, though, it has grassy, earthy notes. We enjoyed this added complexity! In terms of texture, sheep milk brie is everything cow milk brie is, but to the extreme. The higher fat content in sheep's milk makes the cheese very rich and creamy. It's thick and sticks to the roof of your mouth (in a decadent--not disgusting--way).

If you love brie but are bored with the typical selections, try some sheep!

Sources:

Wikipedia: "Brie"

Cheeselibrary.com: "Fromage d'Affinois de Brebis"

LINKS: Eat cheese and be healthy

By Erica

A team of scientists in Finland, lead by Dr Fandi Ibrahim from the University of Turku, published a study in FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology that shows that probiotic cheese can help boost the immune system of elderly people. In the study, they fed people aged 72 to 103 either probiotic Gouda or a placebo cheese. They then took blood tests which revealed that those who ate the probiotic cheese had more activation of NK blood cells and increased phagocytic activity. These are both signs of a boosted immune system.

And so, if you are old and fear that your immune system is deteriorating, eat probiotic cheese!

LINKS: Cheese Wordles and Tagxedos

By Kara

Wordle.net is a website dedicated to transforming texts into images: it takes the count of each unique word in a given text (say, a cheese blog), and assigns visual "prominence" (size) to each word in the worlde based on these counts. Check out what we've been writing about on C:AJ:

Tagxedo.com is a Wordle spin-off, which offers more control over the visual display created.

Bottom line: so cool!! Also, we mostly talk about cheese. No false advertising on C:AJ.

LINKS: Cheese banned, boy cries

By Erica

A few days ago, a preschooler named Jack Ormisher was left in tears after a school official took his cheese sandwich away from him. Westfield Children's Centre, a school in Pemberton, England recently put together a list healthy eating options, and a cheese sandwich did not qualify as a healthy choice.

The parents withdrew Jack from the preschool and enrolled him elsewhere. Now that's good parenting!

LINKS: Cheese Dreams

By Kara

Yet another myth dispelled by rigorous modern science: contrary to popular (British) belief, cheese does not give you nightmares.

"For decades," according to the Daily Mail, "parents have warned their children not to have cheese before bedtime to prevent bad dreams."

Well, not my parents. But - thank goodness! - the newest generation of English would-be cheese-lovers will also be spared that old wives' tale, thanks to a 2005 study by the British Cheese Board. According to their research, consuming small amounts of cheese in the evening is correlated with experiencing a restful night's sleep, marked by an absence of nightmares. Cheese may even afford dreamers some control over their nocturnal experiences: in the study, different kinds of cheeses were reliably associated with different sorts of dreams, including celebrity cameos (Cheddar), bouts of nostalgia (Red Leicester), forward-thinking fantasies (Lancashire), and bizarre phantasmagoria (Stilton). (Source: Dairy Reporter.)

I stumbled upon these findings through a post on Yahoo Answers (UK & Ireland), which offers some other entertaining insights on the topic of cheese.

And lest we chalk this all up to those crazy Brits and their especially nutty old wives: NPR picked up the story, too.

To our readers:

Now that we've been traveling down Cheese Highway for a while, we've decided to put down the map and get a little adventurous: we're going to cook with cheese. Maybe your mouth watered while reading our last post about Mac and Goat Cheese, and you have some other cheesey recipes that you'd like us to try out. Or maybe you've always wondered how to cook or bake with a particular kind of cheese and want to see us take a stab at it. We'd love your suggestions, whatever they are - and let it be known that we at C:AJ will not restrict ourselves to the old standbys! Throw us your wackiest, cheesiest challenges (cheese ice cream, anyone?), and we'll see what we can do.

To suggest a recipe for us to try, email us at cheeseajourney@gmail.com.