Cheese

When I was a kid, I fought with my dad over cheese more often than over anything else. I'd decided within days of my arrival to Sweden that I hated cheese. To my dad, forcing me to eat cheese became the most important thing in the world. In retrospect I can appreciate the importance of cheese-eating to the process of naturalisation, but, for a long time, cheese was a source of great emotional suffering in my life.

I slowly came to accept cheese that had been tamed by heat, on pizza and hamburgers and in some sauces. I discovered feta, halloumi, mozarella, parmesan. They were good. I learned that cheddar is good with meat and veggies. I developed a fascination with cheese, much like the fascination I have for many other fruits of human-microbe love. I'd look at shows about food and see mushy cheeses and think how wonderful it would be if I could enjoy them rather than hate them.

Over the past two years, with the help of my fiancée and her cheese-crazy family, I have come to accept more cheeses than ever before. Raw, untamed. It turns out I like goat cheese! Chèvre cheese keeps popping up in various improvised dishes. The other day the ginger brought home something amazing, an aged Dutch goat cheese called Bettine Grand Cru, and I have been finding all sorts of excuses to go into the kitchen and shave off a thin slice or three. I have to admit, I like this new life. With wine.

How 'bout you? Have you found cheeses?

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Originally Posted by Aimless

How 'bout you? Have you found cheeses?

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I am Swiss.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22...zpMvHYX8_f.jpg

Aw, why was your dad forcing you to eat cheese, Minx? Was it a cultural thing?

This sort of reminds me of the chocolate debate, and what qualifies as the Real Thing. As a kid I was mostly exposed to processed American cheese (in slices, for grilled cheese sandwiches or on hamburgers), parmesan cheese (grated and pre-packaged in a shaker can as spaghetti topping---we called it Stinky Feet cheese), bleu cheese (in salad dressings) and Swiss cheese melted on reuben sandwiches. Spray cheese and Velveeta were novelties, but that made them kinda fun for a kid.

Very rarely would we have ricotta, in order to make lasagna. Brie was only around if there was a party. I hadn't tasted feta, goat cheese, or even cream cheese until I went to college.

We did have tons of cheddar, though. Wisconsin cheddar molded into balls and rolled in shaved nuts, Vermont sharp cheddar in various block sizes, a Michigan mild cheddar spread sold in ceramic clamp jars (wish I could remember the name). Still have my parent's cheese board and wire slicer. Back then there was no such thing as pre-shredded and bagged 'Taco' or 'Pizza' cheese. Or mixes of asiago, parmesan, romano. Or wine-and-cheese tastings.

I am nominally obsessed with cheese and dairy in general. I love it. I adore it. But, like most of the world, I am a lactard. It only started to express itself as I got older, and within about two years my stomach was completely bigoted against all dairy.

I used to sit around and eat pounds of cheese on a relaxing day/night. Quarter of a pound of this, quarter of a pound of that...I had to cut cold turkey. No cheese, no butter, no milk, nothing. Completely dairy-free. I lost a pretty stunning amount of weight. I've only recently begun to gain some of it back by working out more and consciously having home-made dairy-free smoothies every two nights or so. And it's a major pain in the ass at restaurants to have to be the annoying person to ask about dairy content/substitutions.

So, my suggestions to you is: try Beemster Vlaskaas. You live closer to the Dutch than I, surely you can procure it more easily. Eat it room temperature. Maybe put it on a cracker with some smoked fish. It's a splendid, balanced cheese. Sometimes I buy it just to bring it to gatherings to watch people eat it and see the delight on their faces, while I lurk about with moist eyes. My grandma is coming to town next week. She's 97 and loves cheese. I have some in the fridge just for her (I have to buy it whenever it appears in stores; it quickly gets bought up). I miss it so.

Yeah, I remember your gastric problems, and suggesting it was either lactose or gluten intolerance. They're both types of allergies, or auto-immune disorders, causing an inflammatory response. I suppose it would take a genetic test to figure it out. But I've often wondered if anti-histamines or NSAIDS could be useful, prophylactically. :hmm:

Lactardation isn't an allergy. It's a lack of lactase enzyme among 50 million Americans, with a specifically high incidence among African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Jews. In other words, everyone besides Gringos is lactarded, but our Gringo-dominant culture shoves cheese into everyone's diets.

Glutardation, however, is an allergy. A nasty one at that.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

I used to sit around and eat pounds of cheese on a relaxing day/night. Quarter of a pound of this, quarter of a pound of that...

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:bulb: that's a lot..

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So, my suggestions to you is: try Beemster Vlaskaas. You live closer to the Dutch than I, surely you can procure it more easily. Eat it room temperature. Maybe put it on a cracker with some smoked fish. It's a splendid, balanced cheese. Sometimes I buy it just to bring it to gatherings to watch people eat it and see the delight on their faces, while I lurk about with moist eyes. My grandma is coming to town next week. She's 97 and loves cheese. I have some in the fridge just for her (I have to buy it whenever it appears in stores; it quickly gets bought up). I miss it so.

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I am Dutch, I do know the brand Beemster (which is pretty good, but still basically a standard cheese), but I haven't seen, or tried, their flax cheese yet. A little odd because flax is mostly from the south, or Belgium, and Beemster is North Holland, so that's a little odd combination.

So, considering you are serving basically a Belgian cheese, may I suggest a Belgian special beer to accompany it? Otherwise I'd go for some port or something. :)

Oh and you're supposed to serve pretty much all cheeses I can think of at room temperature, just as it starts 'sweating' a bit.

I think your standard brand cheese beats the pants off most cheeses around the world. :) When I first got into Vlaskaas I thought it was Belgian and used to drink it with Belgian beer. Then I found out it was Dutch, so I stopped trying to pair appropriately. I started drinking it with Dogfishead 90 Minute IPA (an intense American-made beer). Now I just drink the beer. :(

Lots of people I know don't make an active effort to warm a cheese up. I think it's just the people I know don't give as much thought to cheese.

Don't warm it up, just take it out of the fridge in time :p

Just to clarify, it's a Dutch brand but it's Belgian style, and this type of Beemster is not standard cheese because I checked and it's only sold in cheese specialty stores. Am a bit curious about it, now! I usually just get the 'belegen' type.

Eh, I read about that cheese that it's a purely Dutch cheese that is being marketed as a re-invented Belgian cheese that actually never was.

My favorites are Old Amsterdam and basically any young Gouda. Aldi used to sell a soft blue cheese I could eat without limit, but it seems it's been discontinued.

I've got some old amsterdam in my fridge right now :D

I wish I could say the same.

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Originally Posted by Flixy

Don't warm it up, just take it out of the fridge in time :p

Just to clarify, it's a Dutch brand but it's Belgian style, and this type of Beemster is not standard cheese because I checked and it's only sold in cheese specialty stores. Am a bit curious about it, now! I usually just get the 'belegen' type.

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Your English is actually too good here. :) By warm it up, I meant "take it out of the fridge", but not literally put it in the oven or something. But I can see how that was confusing.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

Eh, I read about that cheese that it's a purely Dutch cheese that is being marketed as a re-invented Belgian cheese that actually never was.

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Every legend needs its creation myth. :o

As long as it tastes good. I was somewhat surprised since I am from the flax producing area and never heard of that kind of cheese, so that does explain.