Pass the Cheese please!

Good day, CORVID-19.  The world has gone nuts.. On the feeder side, we’re trying to do take away food as much as possible, this will be very hard for small independent restaurants.

So instead of thinking about “six feet” or “wash hands every 20 seconds” or is that FOR 20 seconds”, ones thoughts naturally turns to……..cheese! 

I used to say (whether asked or not) that cheese is my favorite food.  It exhibits more variations of flavors and characteristics than any other food I can thinks of. One could not possibly get their arms (or tongues) wrapped around all of them, although it would be a noble challenge.  Tomes have been written about them, such as the Oxford Companion to Cheese for as much as $60.  However, I have long relied on

Which lists over 100 cheeses, with descriptions each one, which milk it is made from, (i.e., sheep, cows, goats, etc.), pungency level (how smelly is it), maturity, and even suggests a wine to pair with.  It pretty well sticks to “gourmet” cheeses, well known varieties from around the world.  In the margins I have kept track of which ones I have sampled from our journeys (French Country Waterways barge trips, where you're served 6 cheeses a day!) and I only scratched the surface.  As I said, there is quite a spectrum of cheeses available to the consumer today, and each does fill a niche and the Feeder has examples of most of them .

It starts with “cheese” in blister packs, pre-cut, neatly packaged pasteurized process from Deli companies like Dietz and Watson, and of course Boar’s Head.  While it does have some flavor, it’s chief characteristic is that it is ready for use immediately, with no cutting or grating.   There is also an incredible amount bags of shredded stuff for pizza, tacos, casseroles, and the like, again offering convenience above quality.

The next step “up” would be to the bulk packaged stuff from companies like Kraft, Land O’Lakes, and Cabot plus somewhat specialty places like Tillamook from Oregon who produce an astounding number of variations of product. 

Their Sharp Cheddar isn’t bad, but we tend to rely on Cabot more, maybe easier to find.

Ireland produces a spectrum of cheeses (and butter) under the “Kerry Gold” label, lately they are bally-hooing (is that Irish?) the fact that they all come from grass fed cows, and have entered the bagged and sliced market. Their bulk cheeses all carry Irish names like Dubliner, Skellig, Blarney Castle ,Kildery, etc.  in the “fine print” on the label it usually divulges what “style” it is, Swiss, Gouda, etc. 

The price point is 7 ounces for 7 bucks, which equates to $18 per pound, kind of “middle of the road” for a "higher scale" cheese, but it is quite dense and can hardly be consumed in one sitting, so not bad per serving...

Before moving on, it might be useful to slog through the information compiled below (did I mention I am ORDERED to not leave the house – i.e., time is a cheap commodity).

Why Does Cheese Cost so Much?

The Cost of Milk: All cheese begins with milk, and milk is a commodity—its price is part market-determined and part publicly administered through a wide variety of pricing regulations. 

The Cost of “Transformation”, i.e., turning milk into cheese: Smaller batches mean more time and higher labor costs to process the same amount of cheese—a less efficient operation. Larger cheese making operations also benefit from precise but costly production machines that smaller makers can't afford.

The Cost of “Time” If you're aging cheese, your cash is tied up every day that wheel or block sits on the shelf. But the type of aging determines how costly that time will be. "Cave-aged," "cellar-ripened," or "natural-rinded" cheeses must age in open air conditions. They are handled with considerable care and expertise.  They are turned, flipped, brushed, and possibly washed.  For example:  It costs three times as much to age a cheese like Uplands' award-winning Pleasant Ridge Reserve. A ten-pound wheel requires $3 a month in carrying costs. As Andy says, "We don't ripen it that way because it's nostalgic or good for marketing. It's the best way we know to develop that kind of flavor complexity."

The Cost of “Tradition” many American cheesemakers choose traditional methods in their quest for finer cheese. Many of these traditions hail from Europe, and in EU countries today cheesemakers receive financial support from the government to produce cheese the old fashioned way. In the US, there's no such support.

The Cost of Supply Chain Finally, there's the cost of getting a cheese to market. After it leaves a maker, a cheese typically goes to a distributor who in turn sells it to a retailer. Together, these links in the chain add a gross markup of 45 to 70% on top of the cost paid to the cheesemaker. It's not unusual to pay $30 a pound for a cheese whose maker received $12 a pound.

Which is a good primer for our last category:  “real” cheese as sold by cheese mongers such as the venerable Murray’s Cheese Shop in New York City.

Founded in 1940 by Murray Greenberg, a Jewish veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Murray's Cheese is proud to be a Greenwich Village tradition and part of the neighborhood’s rich food history, along with neighboring destinations like Faicco's, Ottomanelli's and Rocco's. Murray Greenberg built a great reputation for the business.

I recently ordered two cheeses from them:

Selles-sur-Cher

a soft Goat’s Milk cheese from the Loire Valley and the village of the same name.  It is always coated in black ash.  The flavor is mild and nutty (like the Bottom Feeder!).  It costs $17 for a 6 oz. piece (which would equate to $51 per pound, but 6 ounces is adequate for a couple of nights for two.

And Bleu d’Auvergne

 Bleu d’Auvergne is made in the Cantal and Puy-de-Dome in the Massif Central.  Started out as an imitation tof Roquefort, using cow’s milk instead of ewe’s milk. It is on the lightly flavored end of the Bleu Cheese spectrum; Murray’s sells a half pound for $12.

So, most readers know we usually begin our evening with cocktails.  Cheese usually finds its way as a selection, and Hey! "Living Well IS the Best Revenge" (as FOJTE likes to say), so we don’t mind serving (ourselves) the more expensive stuff. 

The Selles is on the left of the cheese slate with the Auvergne on the right.  

Both were excellent.

One note before closing, not to be preachy or pedantic, but allow at least an hour for the cheese to come to room temperature before you eat it.  Analogous to letting wine “breathe” the cheese will develop its true flavor profile.

Okay, enough botheration for today.  Hopefully you found some knowledge and appreciation for the greatest food on earth

And if you’re self-quarantined, no worries about

DFD

You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.”
– Anthony Bourdain

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