THOUGHTS: It's in the pairing

By Kara

Erica and I recently sampled the Scandinavian cheese plate at Restaurant Magnus: a spectacular experience, and even more beautiful than the picture above. The plate included one goatsmilk and two cowsmilk samples, ultra-thin slices of apples and perfectly halved red grapes, and, most importantly, beautiful globs of condiments, perfectly selected to highlight each of the cheeses. Roasted pecans offset the smooth texture of a white block cheese, while a tart raspberry jam echoed and elaborated on the sour flavor of the goat cheese. Most mind-boggling was the sweet mustard paired with simple asiago, which somehow brought out flavors in the cheese that were otherwise indiscernable. How is this possible?

I believe that we have come to a major turning point in our Journey: a venture into the world of pairing.

LINKS: Especes (de fromage) en danger de disparition!

By Kara
The Boston Globe recently published a sad little article about the demise of French artisanal cheeses. Culprits include Americans, the EU, the rising popularity and eventual mandatory-ness of pasteurization (one could, by extension, blame a certain bonhomme francais), globalization, and the culinary corporations known collectively as Big Food.

One fromagerie-owner gives an especially heart-breaking quote: "There are plenty of cheeses that only exist as names in old books."

I hope there never comes a day when there are cheeses that only exist as names in old blogs! Just to be safe, though, I think we should aim to taste as many as possible... You know, for posterity.

(Thanks for the tip, G & GB and others.)

FACTS: Goat milk

By Erica

Last week, we tasted a cheese from Capri Cheesery that was made with "Amish goat milk." This ingredient puzzled our pseudo-cheese-connoisseur minds (you can see this confusion unfold in real time in our tasting video), and it led me on a hunt for more information about goat milk. Here is what I learned:

1) Male goats, like male people, are stinky: If a smelly buck (male goat) is not separated from milk-producing does (female goats), his scent will somehow rub off on the milk's taste. Apparently, people sometimes object to the goaty flavor of goat milk (to which I say, what do you expect! It's from GOATS), but this strong flavor only comes out if the bucks aren't taken away. I am curious: could one create a line of goat cheeses named after the various bucks that are around the barn when the doe is lactating?

2) Fat matters: Because of the size of the fat globules in goat milk, the cream does not separate out, and thus the milk does not need to be homogenized. Less processing is always a good thing, in cheese and in life.

3) Fatty acids matter: The higher proportion of medium-chain fatty acids, such as capric acid, cause goat milk cheese to be uniquely tart.

4) Goats are very productive: On average, dairy goats produce 3 to 4 quarts of milk daily for 10 months.

5) Warm goat cheese is just warm goat cheese: You know how cow cheeses, like mozzerella or chedder, melt when you heat them up? This doesn't happen to goat cheeses. They just get hot.

6) Goats are everywhere: Goat cheese is made in so many places! They are a hearty creature.

-Crottin de Chavignol is a nutty cheese with a white rind from the Loire Valley
-Clochette is a bell-shaped, tangy cheese from the Poitou-Charentes region in France
-Couronne Lochoise, another French cheese, is donut shaped
-Feta!
-Mató, is a Catalan fresh cheese similar to ricotta
-Pantysgawn is a Welsh cheese with an awesome name
-Brunost is a Norwegian brown cheese. In North America, it is sold as "gjetost"
-Rubing is a firm cheese from the Yunnan Province in China. It's similar to Paneer

7) There's a market for everything: In addition to cheese, goat milk can be used to make ice cream or soap.

8) This could be your next weekend project: It's easy to make goat milk cheese!

Slowly heat a gallon of goat milk to 185°F, using a stainless steel or enamelware pot. Add 1/4 cup vinegar. Keep the temperature at 185°F, stirring the milk occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes. At this point a soft curd should form. Line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth. Pour the curd into the colander, and sprinkle the curd with salt. Tie the corners of the cloth together and hang it to drip for a few hours.

Add seasoning such as dill, pepper, or garlic, and refrigerate. Eat the cheese immediately, or keep it no longer than a week in the refrigerator. (From the dairy goat journal.)


Sources:
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/goatmilk/goatmilk.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_milk_cheese
http://www.goats4h.com/Goat-Milk.html -- goat/cow/human nutrition comparison picture

TASTES: Aged Goatmilk Cheddar

By Erica and Kara


Background: This week, we returned to the Dane County Farmer's Market. Now that it's moved to the senior center, we weren't sure if we'd see any familiar faces but to our surprise and delight, Felix himself was manning the Capri Cheesery table. If you remember, dear reader, our first tasting was one of Felix's cheeses. We won't go over the details of Capri here, so click on the above link if you want to know more about Felix and his goats.

The Taste: The cheese is white and crumbly, hard to cut neatly. Sitting on the plate, it smells deliciously, quintessentially, cheesey. At first the goaty pungency overwhelms the tang we expect from a cheddar, but by the end of the bite its sour zing asserts itself. It's a strong flavor, mouth-filling and smooth. Whenever we think of cheddar, we think of Cracker Barrel. Capri's version of aged cheddar is C.B. to the power of ten, in both strength and complexity. In short: delish.

LINKS: Cheese Is Art

By Kara

In trying to keep up with my cheese news, I came across this little gem about British artist Prudence Emma Staite and her latest cheese-based art (Extra! Extra! Updated 11 hours ago on the BBC website!). Her motto, and the name of her website, is "Food Is Art" (http://www.foodisart.co.uk/). To be more specific: Chocolate Is the Mona Lisa, Pizza Dough Is Pope Benedict XVI, and Cheese Is (who else?) Barack Obama. (The BBC notes, Britishly, "This Barack Obama bust has been made by Prudence from one solid 20kg block of mature cheese.")

But does Staite's work really lead us to believe that Food Is Art? Or, upon gazing into Mr. President's cheddary eyes, are we more likely to conclude that Art Is, ultimately, Food?

There is only one way to settle this, and fortunately the artist is two steps ahead of us: Staite's website advertises that she is available for live performances! Think we could get her out to Madison?