Cheesaholics Anonymous

Oh Canada!

Tomorrow, July 1st, is Canada Day. It usually goes unnoticed in my world, except that it happens to be my Canadian mother-in-law's birthday (Happy Birthday Cath!!), and I happened to receive an email the other day from the Ontario Cheese Society congratulating me on my blog. So for all of you north of the border, celebrate the fact that your country is making great cheese - and they are organized about it!

My favorite Canadian artisan cheese for the summer has to be Bouc Emissaire - it's raw, it's fresh, and it's downright delicious. You can buy it online via Artisanal Premium Cheese. See how a little cheese can make Canada Day that little bit more special, eh?

Cheese, accompanied

Check out the second in a series of "Cheese 101" postings written for Restaurant Girl.

With the rapidly increasing popularity of all things cheese, it can be difficult to sort through the maze of accompaniments out there. Read more...

Oh Monte, what you do to me

So this is sort of a cheese FAQ, but truthfully I just have a nice hunk of this cheese in my fridge and I wanted to share it with you all (in thought at least). The “Q” in this case could be – “What is my favorite cheese (right now)?”

Monte Enebro is one of those cheeses that people look at funny, and then can’t get enough of once they try it. The rind is a mottled gray sleeve protecting the chalky-white paste in the middle. The flavors are unusually complex for a goat’s milk cheese—nutty, tangy, and goaty, but ten times more intensely than a fresh chèvre. The award-winning cheese is made by national heroes Rafael and Paloma Baez in the town of Avila, west of Madrid.

Look for this cheese up until the fall, when it goes out of season. And enjoy it with a Ribera del Duero or a Pinot Gris. Adios Monte, y buen provecho to you all.

 

About a blog

Diva Marketing and Blogger Stories have highlighted this blog and yours truly on their sites. They are both worth checking out, and the other blogger stories are pretty interesting.

Formaggio e Vino

 July 13, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Waldemar & Nadia present the best of Italian cheese and wine at Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar on Thursday July 13th from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Summer milk is being turned into fabulous artisan cheeses from the Piedmont to Tuscany. Join us in tasting the very best the season has to offer, paired with wines selected from Aroma’s diverse and extensive cellar. Hang out in Aroma’s subterranean private tasting room, while you learn about these seasonal gems in a sociable and lighthearted atmosphere. Tickets are $45 per person. Space is limited, so please call (212) 375-0100 to reserve your space.

Aroma is located at 36 East 4th Street (between Lafayette and Bowery), New York 10003. Aroma: relaxed. intense. italian. http://aromanyc.com/

The O.C. has a new Starr

Starr Cornwall that is, head fromager at The Loft restaurant, located on the fourth floor of the stylish Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach. I was thrilled to pieces when I learned about the cheese program Starr developed for The Loft. First, because I have a ton of family and readers in the O.C. who have gone too long without a great restaurant cheese offering. Second, because here was another individual who had a life before cheese, but who decided to become a dedicated promoter of the artisan gems of the cheese world.

Starr started her career as a caterer and personal chef (for the likes of P. Diddy and Donna Karan no less). Funnily enough it was in the specialty food shops and restaurants in New York where this California native began her love affair with cheese. She headed back west with the drive of a true cheese evangelist, and helped establish an artisan cheese program at The Loft, and established herself in the forefront of cheese service and education on the west coast.

Starr introduced a Cheese Collection Menu, available daily and encompassing four different cheese varieties – goat, blue, soft-ripened and sheep – and an assortment of all four varieties. The Loft also offers cheese education classes, and tasting events. Check them out for me, and post your thoughts right here!

Some advice from Starr for those wanting to know more about the immense subject of cheese: “The most effective way to learn about cheese is to consume it! I eat it and read about it and am never ever bored. Cheese is a fascinating topic, and artisan cheesemaking is truly an art form.”

For more information, contact Montage at 1-888-715-6700; or visit the website at www.montagelagunabeach.com.

An institution, revisited

Little Italy in Manhattan has gone through a lot of changes over the years, namely losing precious real estate to the ever-encroaching Chinatown. One neighborhood institution we are hoping will never change is the specialty foods shop DiPalo’s on the corner of Grand and Mott Streets. DiPalo’s is one of those places you assume every Manhattanite knows about—but I find myself talking to a lot people who have never actually shopped there. Get over there people! This is the best Little Italy has to offer, since their doors opened for business in 1910.

Sampling the goods at DiPalo’s is an exercise in patience for most New Yorkers. Take a number at the door and be prepared to hang out for a while. The fine folks behind the counter love their products, and will spend as long as you’ve got chatting about the provolone, prosciutto or whatever it was you planned on buying that day. Cute little old ladies will walk right up to the counter to chat to Lou DiPalo, fourth-generation proprietor, about the latest news from the homeland. Surrender to the moment and you’ll find yourself dreaming of a caffè in the Piazza, with Giancarlo and his snazzy Vespa…

DiPalo’s specialty is cheese, with partially cut wheels overtaking every available surface. Glance up and you will find strings of mouth-watering sausages gently drying next to impressively large balls of waxed provolone. In the back, stringy curds are pulled into gorgeous mounds of milky-fresh mozzarella. They also make their own ricotta and marinara sauce, and offer the best Italian brands of olive oil, coffee, pasta and much more. Samples of cheese are willingly and generously distributed, so try before you buy. And trust their recommendations—these guys know their formaggio.

Waldemar & Nadia will be featuring cheeses from DiPalo’s for their upcoming event Formaggio e Vino at Aroma Kitchen & Winebar.

DiPalo’s is located at 200 Grand Street (at Mott Street), 212-226-1033.

Shopping for cheese

Check out the first in a series of "Cheese 101" postings I am developing with Danyelle Freeman, aka Restaurant Girl.

My name is Nadia and I’m a cheesaholic. Thankfully, I live in New York City - home to some of the best cheese shops in North America - so I don’t have to look far for my next cheese fix. Read more...

Faux fromage - sorting the good from the bad

OK, so the title of this post is a little misleading, as I think all fake cheese is essentially “bad”. Nutritionally it’s inferior, and taste-wise it’s lacking to say the least. But the stuff is cheap and it’s in every supermarket in this country. Don’t get me wrong—there are moments when it is appropriate to take out the fake stuff. Hamburgers and American cheese singles go hand in hand, and those pre-shredded cheese packs are handy for making nachos in under five minutes (the packets can be fiddly).

So what’s my beef with fake cheese? Preservatives, and the food industry’s apparent need to mess with nature. Can you imagine a meat-lover opting to buy a beef-flavored slab of tofu over a hunk of real meat? It may taste like beef, and the texture may have been manipulated to make you feel like you’re eating meat. But is it any substitute for a dry-aged porterhouse?

Nutritionally speaking, most manufacturers of fake cheese are wise enough to match the benefits of real cheese (pumping their product with protein and calcium). But deconstructing a great food product and reassembling it for marketability is something that really ruffles my feathers. Especially when the properties of the original product are manipulated (extending shelf life is usually the primary goal). To mention just one other undesirable characteristic—try browning a Kraft single and you’ll go from the pale yellow to pitch black without even a hint of golden brown in between. Nothing natural about that…

So keep your body health and opt for the real deal. If you don’t have access to a good cheese shop, I encourage you to try an online retailer. Some of the best in the country are:

-Murray’s Cheese Shop

-Artisanal Premium Cheese

-Zingerman’s

And if you do crave the fake stuff, just acknowledge that it is junk food—and like all junk food eat it in moderation.

Is cheese safe for pregnant women?

Dedicated to all the beautiful, cheese-loving mothers-to-be out there. Cheese is generally a very safe food product. The number of incidents of food borne illness from cheese is lower than the number contracted from almost every other food group – including seemingly innocuous fruit and vegetables! So why is it that doctors warn pregnant women about cheese?

Cheese gets to be what it is thanks to a chemical breakdown in the milk and the presence of hard working bacteria. Those cheeses high in water content, however, are also thought to be particularly good hosts to some undesirable bacterial strains, such as Listeria, E.Coli and Salmonella. These potentially dangerous bacteria can cause serious harm to compromised immune systems (i.e., people who are terminally ill, the elderly or pregnant women). In pregnant women in particular, Listeria has been found to cause a variety of complications, from infection to premature birth or even miscarriage.

Some doctors blame “raw milk” for the presence of these bacteria, when in fact this is a flawed and misguided deduction (check out the “raw vs. pasteurized” posting). The only cheeses that pregnant women should avoid are those with high WATER content. Or said another way, avoid cheeses aged for less than 8 weeks (i.e., “soft” cheeses). If you’re not sure which cheeses fall into this category, ask your cheesemonger. Your safe bets are cheeses like Cheddar, Parmesan, or aged Alpine cheeses (Gruyere, Emmenthal, etc.).

For those of you who are not pregnant but are freaked out by the thought of Listeria in your Brie – have no fear. Unless you have a seriously deficient immune system, your body can handle the bacteria. So bon appétit to all, and may all your bambinos grow into strong, cheese-loving children!