LINKS: Recalled Cheese Balls!

By Erica


I hear that in some places in this country a "cheese ball" is a popular treat around the holiday season. I have never had one. Call me an elitist, but I hope I never do. As much as I love cheese, there are some forms of cheese that should be avoided, and this, along with Cheese Wiz, is one of them. I'm sorry. It just seems gross.

Thus, I was not saddened to hear that the Wisconsin Cheeseman has recalled its cheese balls and some other products due to contamination by Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that, if ingested, can lead to nausea, fever, headaches and other such symptoms.

FYI, here is a list of products that have been recalled.

The Wisconsin Cheeseman® Food Gifts Impacted by Recall:
Sausage 'N Cheese Logs – Gift #11
Cheese Logs & Cutting Board – Gift #87
Smorgasbord – Gift #325
Cheese Log Trio – Gift #365
Cheese Logs – Gift #411
Cheese Ball Trio – Gift #441
Cheese Logs – Gift #509
Snacker Pack – Gift #751
Cheese Balls & Sausages – Gift #876

(Good Riddance!)

TASTES: Port-Salut (A Cautionary Tale)

By Erica

In addition to the cheese that Kara and I eat every week (Note: her return to America will also mark a return to the blog's regular schedule), I buy an average of two cheeses a weeks for myself. As a rule, one of them is a melting cheese, such as Cheddar or Monterey Jack, and one is something new; my morning routine often includes an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich, and my afternoon routine often includes cheese and crackers. I am also lactose intolerant, but that's a story for another time. THIS entry is about the new cheese that I bought recently: Port-Salut.


Background:
Port-Salut is a cow's milk cheese from Brittany, France. It is very soft, has an bright orange rind and was the first French cheese to be made from pasteurized milk. Created by Trappist Monks in the 1800s, the head of the abbey gave the rights of the cheese to a distributor in 1873. Although Port-Salut is still handmade, today the cheese is mainly mass produced. The wedge I bought, for example, was made by Fromageries Bel, France's third largest cheese producer.



The Taste:
I did not like this cheese. Although it is known for its mildness, it was a bit too mild for me. The slightly tangy (and short lived) aftertaste was plastic. Its creamy texture seemed artificial, reminding me of Laughing Cow (and I hate Laughing cow.) This, perhaps, is not surprising since Fromageries Bel is the maker of Laughing Cow. I feel like I've been duped (N.B. I did my research post-purchase, post-taste, post haste). Is this what a real Port-Salut tastes like? I doubt it.

Lesson:
Look at the fine print on a cheese's label. If it says "Fromageries Bel," do not buy. Boycott!

TASTES: South Africa part II

By Kara

South Africa continues to satisfy this turophile (see below). I tried another two cheeses this week and found them very palate-pleasing.

INDEZI RIVER CHEESE COMPANY: NANDI MATURE GOAT'S MILK CHEDDAR


Background:
The first was a goat's milk cheddar from the Indezi River Cheese Company, based in the Natal Midlands. Indezi appears to be an up and coming cheese company, "certified free range" (a cheesery after a Mad-townie's heart, though not quite as socially just and hippie qualified as Fairview). Again, they use imported Saanen goats, which makes me wonder if any South African cheese-makers use indigenous animals. Indezi has a very entertaining website, including a "Helpful Hints" section, including highlights such as "The blue in blue cheese is NOT melted copper wire, but a harmless penicillin mould," and "It is best to keep cheese in the bottom part of your fridge," and "Turophile is the official term for a cheese lover." All, for various reasons, very good to know!

They describe their "Nandi" as "a traditional farm style cheese," which I think means that it is pretty young (fresh) and quick to mature. They say it should be "slightly dry and a little salty with a piquant aftertaste" (note to self: add "piquant" to the vocab list). They also note that Nandi is "a regal cheese fit for a queen," which is somewhat harder to verify.

The Taste:
I found Nandi to be a very pleasant cheese, given that it wasn't especially exciting. It was extremely mild, more like a mozzarella flavor than a strong cheddar, although there was a hint of the sharp sourness that I would expect in a cheddar. The texture was very smooth and soft. I think this would be a good cheese for the sensitive-tongued. It was especially yummy on a bagel chip.

FAIRVIEW ROYDON CAMEMBERT

Background:
The second cheese came from Fairview, like the Crottin I loved last week. I'd give top marks to Fairview!! Given the abundance of Fairview cheeses and wines at the local grocery store, so would the rest of Cape Town (or at least the ritzy gay men who frequent the De Waterkant neighborhood).


The Taste:
Definitely Camembert! The cheese was very oozey and creamy, and melted almost to a liquid as it warmed up to room temperature. It was much more fluid than our last Camembert. It had that distinctive zing at the back of the mouth, but was otherwise fairly mild, with a markedly mild rind. Very tasty!

TASTES: South African Caerphilly and Crottin

By Kara

I'm currently in Cape Town, South Africa, and although I'm technically here on "business," I'm doing my best to nab some local cheese. Luckily, there's a swanky little grocery store just a block down the street, with plenty of specimens in stock. So far, it's a mixed bag: meet Caerphilly (a little gross) and Crottin (quite delish), my first tastes of South Africa. (Thanks to a trio of colleagues for their input on this post.)



ENGLISH CAERPHILLY
Background:
Caerphilly (pronounced "care-FILL-y," although I can't help just saying "carefully") originated in Wales, although it is now widely produced throughout southern England. A "quick cheese," which matures rapidly to sell-ability, Caerphilly is also very high in salt. This was a successful combination in the 19th century, when farmers were looking for ways to sell off excess milk and sweaty miners were looking for ways to replenish their salt. The town of Caerphilly continues to celebrate its eponym with a three-day festival in July called "The Big Cheese."

Caerphilly is a hard white cheese, mild and salty in flavor. Originally, the cheese was creamy around the edges and more crumbly toward the center, but modern Caerphilly is pretty uniformly dry and crumbly. It benefits from moisture and supposedly shouldn't be "suffocated" by plastic wrap... Unfortunately, ours was shrink-wrapped upon purchase, which may have contributed to its grossness. The package didn't include any information on the cheese's origin or ingredients.

The Taste:
I did not like this cheese. The texture was interesting, much drier than other cheeses we've tried, somewhere in between the smoothness of Cheddar and the flaky dryness of Parmesan. At first, it tasted all right - mild and salty, a little bitter and a little sweet, but nothing overwhelming or offensive. Fellow tasters suggested it was similar to Spanish cheese, but a little more flavorful. But as I continued to consume, I had a lurking sense of something distinctly inedible, a flavor almost chemical, similar to gauze... a Bounce dryer sheet. To me, this cheese tasted exactly like a Bounce dryer sheet. Since making that realization, I can't really enjoy the cheese anymore. Sorry, Caerphilly, but I don't think I'll be attending "The Big Cheese" any time soon.



CROTTIN
Background:
The name "Crottin" might have derived from the word "crot," a small oil lamp made from burned clay, which sort of resembles a cheese mold. The more likely story, however, appears to be that "crottin" refers to "dung," which is what this cheese comes to resemble as it ages. No matter. It's still the most famous goat cheese to come from the Loire Valley (France), and descriptions of the cheese are glowing: a cheese with a "pleasant tanginess, fine, marble-like texture, with a long and nutty finish... moist and lactic when young, dry and nutty when aged."*

The name "Crottin de Chavignol" is under AOP protection (like Camembert), but the technique is used throughout the world to produce plain old Crottin. This particular little morsel comes from Fairview Wine and Cheese, headed by Cyril and Charles Back. Cyril first brought Swiss Saanen goats to Fairview in 1980 - supposedly, goats milk cheese was unknown in South Africa up to that point. A few years later, they introduced some cows to the mix (our Crottin is a blend). The business has blossomed: Fairview is currently the country's leading producer of artisanal and specialty cheeses, and their Roydon Camembert voted best in the world for three years in a row at the World Cheese Awards in London. (Their wine also gets very high marks.) Beyond purely gustatory concerns, Fairview is also renowned for excellent employment practices, including providing employment, housing, travel, and education to underprivileged workers in the surrounding area. Farm workers at Fairview have even started produced wine under their own "Fair Valley" label, with all proceeds going directly to their association. (Madisonites would love this place.)

Crottin Ingredients:
- Pasteurised goat's milk
- Jersey milk
- mixture of microbiological cheese cultures
- non-animal rennet
- salt

The Taste:
So much yummier. Fairview's Crottin was very sharp, very sour, and very milky. It wasn't especially smooth, and was actually much closer to being crumbly. Compared to other goat's milk cheeses, this one was pretty dry, but similarly dense and firm. It had a thin, bitter rind, which never overwhelmed the flavor of the cheese itself. There was significant variation from rind to center, both in terms of texture (dry to creamy) and taste (bitter to sour/fatty). Maybe it was just an effect of contrast, but I really liked this cheese.

Sorry no video! But we just bought two more cheeses, so stay tuned...


Sources:
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caerphilly_cheese
http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/bigcheese/
*Andante dairy, http://www.andantedairy.com/crottin.html

FACTS: The Legend of Liederkranz

By Erica

What do a woolly mammoth and Liederkranz cheese have in common? They're both smelly! And also, they're both extinct. Emil Frey (left), a Swiss cheesemaker, created Liederkranz in 1891 (many, many years after God created the woolly mammoth). Disgustingly, Emil Frey went on to create Velveeta, an insult to cheeses everywhere. However, Liederkranz was a hit for the Monroe Cheese Company, which was situated in Monroe, New York. Named after a local singing group, Liederkranz means "wreath of song" in German. It's a soft cows milk cheese that came out of an effort to replicate Limburger. The replication was moderately unsuccessful. The cheeses are more fraternal than identical twins; their bacteria cultures--their DNA--are slightly different.

The story of Liederkranz is meandering and sad. Frey followed his beloved cheese when the Monroe Cheese Company moved to Van Wert, Ohio, where Liederkranz was manufactured even after the business was sold in 1929 to the Borden Company, which we know today as Kraft. In 1981, years after Frey had retired from cheese making, the Borden Company decided to stop all of its natural cheese lines in order to focus on processed cheese-- those that involve unfermented ingredients and emulsifiers and have the advantage of a longer shelf life (i.e. American Cheese, Laughing Cow, and Frey's own Velveeta). The Van Wert plant was bought by the Fischer Cheese Company that year and Liederkranz lived on, but only for a short time. In 1985, bacterial contamination of a batch of Liederkranz caused Fischer to discontinue the cheese entirely, and they sold the bacteria strain to The New Zealand Dairy Board. Liederkranz was never seen again.

The closest cheese to Liederkranz today is Bayrisher Bergsteiger Kase, produced by the Kutter Cheese factory in Buffalo, New York. This cheese has a similar texture and taste, but true fans of Liederkranz, "Liederkranzlers", are not impressed. Apparently, a small group is working to bring back the Liederkranz culture from New Zealand. Good luck!