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CHEESE NIGHT AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET

“A silence fell at the mention of Gavard. They all looked at each other cautiously. As they were all rather short of breath by this time, it was the camembert they could smell. This cheese, with its gamy odour, had overpowered the milder smells of the marolles and the limbourg; its power was remarkable. Every now and then, however, a slight whiff, a flute-like note, came from the parmesan, while the bries came into play with their soft, musty smell, the gentle sound, so to speak, of a damp tambourine. The livarot launched into an overwhelming reprise, and the géromé kept up the symphony with a sustained high note.” 
― Émile ZolaThe Belly of Paris

I took a journey through my taste buds last night at Whole Foods Market’s new “Cheese Night”.  It was all about the complexity of flavor in raw-milk cheeses and what makes them unique.  Certified cheese professional, Lynn Battels and David Hall, up and coming certified cheese professional, explained what a “raw-milk” cheese is, how it’s made, and how to taste it, with four of our five senses.

Lynn Battels displaying the Grafton Village Farms Classic Reserve Cheddar with David Hall behind her.
Lynn Battels displaying the Grafton Village Farms Classic Reserve Cheddar with David Hall behind her.

Looking at a particular artisan cheese can tell you a lot about the type of milk that was used to make it.  Goat milk cheese, for instance, is much whiter in appearance than cheeses made from other types of milk.  Look at the rind and the fissures in the cheese.  

Lynn Battels with a wheel of cheese.
Lynn Battels with a wheel of cheese.

Then there is the smell…. A mild aroma is sometimes described as floral, perfumy, fresh, sweet, grassy or nutty.  A strong aroma is described as barnyardy, earthy, funky, musty, sour, ripe or stinky.  Lynn explains, if you break up the cheese in the palm of you hand and roll it between your fingers, this will warm the cheese and expose more surface area, therefore releasing the cheese’s aromas.  Then take a good whiff, exhaling through your nose and viola!  There you have it.  

Tasting the cheese is all about being in the moment.  I close my eyes and focus solely on my breathing. (in from my mouth, exhaling through my nose) Then, rolling the cheese on the back of my tongue until it melts, ever so slowly, on my pallate while thinking about the mouth-feel.  Often the difference between mediocre cheese and excellent cheese is in the finish.  There are eternal truths to be recognized, just as there are eternal harmonies in a Beethoven sonata.  Ultimately, a cheesemakers’ goal is to achieve balance among the five human taste areas: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.  It is all about that universality and transcendence. 

Manchego Cheese
Manchego Cheese

We started with an 8 month aged Manchego cheese from Spain.  Made from raw sheeps milk, this cheese has a firm consistency and a buttery texture with  a kind of sour note to it.  It is made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. Official Manchego cheese is to be aged between 60 days and two years.   The designation Queso Manchego is protected under Spain’s Denominación de Origen (DO) regulatory classifaction system and has been granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Union.  We tasted the Ruffino Orvieto Classico with it.  This is an Italian white wine produced by Ruffino in the Tuscany region of Italy.

Ruffino

When I think about the great cheese makers of the world, I think immediately of French and Italian cheeses, however, there are some really good artisan cheese makers cropping up all over America.  Grafton Village Farms out of Vermont is one of them.  We tasted their Classic Reserve Cheddar, a raw cow milk cheese with a creamy texture and the classic cheddar flavor we all love.   The designation of “Raw Milk” is reserved for cheeses made from milk that has not been heated to more than 100 F.  At this temperature, the hundreds of varieties of bacteria continue to thrive and interact with the milk, giving a greater, deeper flavor within the cheese.  In the United States, the FDA requires raw (unpasteurized) milk cheeses to be aged a minimum of 60 days.

Vermont Cheddar
Vermont Cheddar

We tried the “Le Gruyere Reserve”, a raw cow milk cheese from Switzerland.  Considered to be the best “melting” cheese to use in fondues and for baking.  This cheese has a creamy-nutty-mushroomy flavor with the pronounced salt crystals that I so desire.  It’s complexity is next to none, however, it never overshadows the other ingredients it’s married with.  They can only fit 156,000 wheels of cheese in the caves of Kaltbach in Lucerne. It’s never enough is it? My favorite sandwich has to be the Croque Monsier.  Made with Gruyère, bechemel and ham on a croissant, this sandwich is gooey, creamy, cheesy and comforting all at the same time.

Print Recipe
Croque Monsier
A delicious, crunchy, buttery sandwich made with ham and Gruyère cheese. This could be my favorite sandwich of all time!
Course Sandwiches
Cuisine French
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Sandwiches
Cuisine French
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside. Lightly brush half the toasted croissants with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with the other half of croissant. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.
Recipe Notes

For a Croque Madame Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook one egg for each sandwich sunny side up. Turn egg over and cook 3 minutes longer for soft-cooked egg. Place 1 fried egg on top each sandwich. Season egg to taste with salt and pepper and serve. © Galley Chef All Rights Reserved

I have to admit I am passionate about all types of cheese, from the humble ones to the exotic.  Parmigiano Reggiano, known the world over as the “King of Cheeses”, is a raw cow milk cheese, some say, from heaven!  The one we tasted was from Modena.  There, it is an important part of the local traditional gastronomy and incorporated into antipastos, pastas, entrees and even desserts.  It takes 148 gallons of milk just to make 1 wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano!

Parmigiano Reggiano Di Modena
Parmigiano Reggiano Di Modena

The Parmigiano Reggiano was paired with Gran Passione Rosso, a light red wine, almost like an Amarone.  It is from the Chianti Classico region of Italy and revives the old tradition of including white grapes in the blend, resulting in a softer flavor.

Gran Passione Rosso
Gran Passione Rosso

When milk is pasteurized, the naturally occurring enzymes are destroyed.  Raw milk keeps that important flavor foundation, resulting in cheeses that are more complex.  I have to admit, I definately have a greater appreciation for cheese after this event, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll attempt to make my own artisan cheese!

“Life is great. Cheese makes it better.” 

― Avery Aames

PORK BUNG OR CALAMARI?

What are you really getting in a restaurant when you order Calamari?

Pork bung and its doppelganger calamari have been gaining notoriety all across the country.  Pork bung is used as imitation calamari.  Put them next to each other and eat them in a blind taste test, and most people would never be able to tell the difference between the two. Pork bung, also known as pork chitterlings, and familiar to many in China as a late night snack, is pig rectum or a pig’s large intestine.

pig intestines

It has a pungent urine smell when it’s fresh, however, most wholesalers will have it cleaned and bleached before packaging it. It usually comes in a tube, uncut. Before cooking, you cut across so that it’s like little rings, just like calamari.

In restaurants everywhere, right this second, people are squeezing lemon wedges over crispy, golden, rings, dipping the rings into marinara sauce, and they’re eating hog rectum. Now they’re chewing — satisfied and deeply clueless. It’s payback for our blissful ignorance about where our food comes from and how it gets to us.

There have been rumors about a multi-state pork processing company selling pig rectum – referred to, by the industry, as “bung” – as imitation calamari. Dozens of experts could not shoot down the possibility that people are ordering squid and getting pork bung instead.  Dozens of Chefs have served plates of fried bung next to a plate of fried calamari. No one could tell the difference.

Seafood fraud is becoming more and more common.  A recent study by Oceana found the act of seafood fraud has been uncovered both in the United   States and abroad at levels ranging from 25 to more than 70 percent for commonly swapped species such as red snapper, wild salmon and Atlantic cod. Oceana collected more than 1,200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states to determine if they were honestly labeled. DNA testing found that one-third (33 percent) of the 1,215 samples analyzed nationwide were mislabeled, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.

Samples sold as snapper and tuna had the highest mislabeling rates (87 and 59 percent, respectively), with the majority of the samples identified by DNA analysis as something other than what was found on the label. Only seven of the 120 samples of red snapper purchased nationwide were actually red snapper. The other 113 samples were another fish. Halibut, grouper, cod and Chilean sea bass were also mislabeled between 19 and 38 percent of the time, while salmon was mislabeled 7 percent of the time.

If you think you can tell the difference– or that you’re safe when visiting a reputable sushi or seafood joint – think again.

Oceana found that 44 percent of all the retail outlets visited sold mislabeled fish. Restaurants, grocery stores and sushi venues all sold mislabeled fish and chances of being swindled varied greatly depending on where the seafood was purchased.

“Our study identified strong national trends in seafood mislabeling levels among retail types, with sushi venues ranking the highest (74 percent), followed by restaurants (38 percent) and then grocery stores (18 percent). These same trends among retail outlets were generally observed at the regional level,” Oceana said in their summary report.

Squid

So the next time you are in the mood for calamari, try making it yourself, using fresh squid from your local fish monger, it’s easy.  See the “fried calamari” recipe in our GalleyChef blog.