brie

Understanding the Basics of Cheese

Filed under: Dining

There are literally hundreds of different kinds of cheese in the world, all with different characteristics, flavors, and origins. Many different factors determine how a cheese turns out but some of the most influential are what kind of milk is used (cow, sheep, or goat), how it's prepared, and how long the cheese is aged. As a general rule, the longer a cheese is aged the more aromatic and flavor-intense it is. Here's a guide to just a few of the world's most popular cheeses and what makes them unique.

Cheddar One of most widely used cheeses here in the States, cheddar cheese is made from cow's milk and was first 'born' in England in a little village called Cheddar. It comes in mild, medium, and sharp varieties and can be off-white to dark orange in color.

Blue Cheese is a white cheese with unique blue/black spots and veins in it that are the result of mold. Made from a combination of sheep, goat, and cow's milk, blue cheese has a both a strong smell and a very strong flavor -- for many it's an acquired taste.

Swiss Originating in Switzerland, Swiss cheese is unique for its 'eyes' which are the holes left by bubbles that form during the aging process. The larger the 'eyes' the more intense the flavor.

Feta originated in Greece and is made with a combination of sheep and goat's milk. It's a white, soft or semi-firm cheese that is aged for several months and has a mild to strong tangy flavor.

Asiago cheese hails from the Asiago High Plateau in Italy (at least originally) and has a full, nutty-flavor. It comes in two main varieties, Fresh Asiago made from whole milk and Asiago d' Allevo made from part-skim milk and aged much longer.

Brie is a soft, light white to yellow cheese with a thick, somewhat tasteless, edible rind. It originated in France and is traditionally made with raw milk, meaning true Brie is not available in the United States due to pasturization laws. Many pasteurized varieties are available, however, and are usually enjoyed sliced with fruit or bread.

Limburger Perhaps most famous for its "stinkiness," Limburger cheese originated in Belgium (before becoming popular in Germany) and gets its trademark odor from bacteria living in the rind. The cheese itself, made from cow's milk, has a mild tangy flavor and is often enjoyed with beer.

Have another cheese you'd like to know more about? This website has an easy-to-navigate alphabetical guide.

Tags: asiago, awards-main, brie, cheddar, cheese, cheeses, dining, feta, food-pedia, limburger, swiss cheese, SwissCheese

What Is The World's Best Cheese?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Taste may be subjective but that doesn't stop us from trying to determine the best foods and hand out awards for them. Last week brought the 2007 World Cheese Awards in England. Over 2,000 cheeses from around the world were evaluated by around 120 judges who painstakingly tasted and evaluated the cheeses based on texture, aroma, looks, and of course, taste. The judges narrow the cheeses, choosing gold, silver and bronze award winners, 13 trophy winners and the world champion. So what's the best cheese in the world this year? The honor went to the Brie de Meaux from Renard Gillard. The World Cheese Awards site has a list of the rest of the winners if you are interested in conducting a little taste test of your own.

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Tags: brie, brie de meaux, cheese, world cheese awards, WorldCheeseAwards

New Ultra-Expensive Sandwich Hits London

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

All of London is abuzz about the McDonald sandwich. BBC News reports that the new sandwich, named after its creator Scott McDonald, costs $148 and is being sold at the London department store Selfridges. What do you get for your money? The sandwich uses 24-hour fermented sourdough bread, wagyu beef, fresh lobe fois gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit and English plum tomatoes. At 2,000 calories its not for dieters but a few curious Londoners have already sampled the rich repast. I think I'd still rather have the $100 Philadelphia cheese steak because at least your get a mini-bottle of champagne with it.

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Tags: brie, expensive sandwich, ExpensiveSandwich, fancy cuisine, food and drink, gourmet, luxury food, roast beef, selfidges, truffles, wagyu beef