Hey there blog buddies!  We are back with round two of our “Cheesepinions” installment, this time bringing you our one and only Stephanie B-Money.  This week Stephanie is jumping for joy over our Stracchino di Capra from the Italian cheese-aging experts at Guffanti.

(Ok, so for you perfectionists out there, I know this is a pictures of Stracapra, NOT Stracchino di Capra, but do you guys have any idea how HARD it is to find a picture of Stracchino di Capra?  Seriously.  It’s bizarre.  Just as bizarre as Sandra Bullock being nominated for an Oscar.  Whaaaaaat?  Oh snap.)

This Italian goat cobblestone is in very lovely shape right now – “sweet and lactic, sticky and mouthcoating with delicate ‘goaty’ notes.”  Now who doesn’t want a little goat lovin’ all up in your tastebuds?!  And to round out the day on her bestial goat’s milk treat?  Some crusty bread, a few dried apricots, and a crisp bottle of Vernaccia (a Tuscan white wine with good acidity and strong citrus notes) to wash it all down.  Oh hey, girlfriend – this sounds like that perfect picnic we had Under the Tuscan Sun.  Minus Diane Lane…and our Italian Villa…and ignoring the fact I’ve never been to Italy.  More like Under the Bedbugs in my Bushwick Apartment.  Sounds just as romantic, right?

Well, that’s all from us here at “Cheesepinions!”  We’ll be back next week to bring you some more tasty and delightful suggestions from our eager to please cheesemongers.  And get excited.  In the near future we will be bringing you posts about a great local farm, as well as an appearance by the elusive Charlotte Kamin!  She will be filling us in on her recent trip to France and Switzerland to visit our favorite European cheesemakers.  So crack out your leiderhosen and yodel all the way home.  Until then, see you soon!

Hello again cheese fanatics.  Back again with some more “Cheesepinions” to keep your cravings at bay.  This time around our resident agriculturalist (who actually just went back to Michigan to get his farm in working order….we miss you already, buddy!), Jess, is going to stop thinking about sustainable farming practices for twelve seconds and let you know what cheeses he is super keen about.  This week, Jess is really diggin’ on both:

Appleby’s Cheshire (a British raw cow’s milk cheese that is tangy, crumbly, and grassy)

and Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire (another British raw cow’s milk that is mild and buttery).

Apparently we at the cheese shop have an affinity for dairy products from the UK…  Apart from being delicious cheeses, Jess is into these two for more “sentimental” reasons.  Jason and Raef, two of our buddies from Neal’s Yard Dairy just popped over for a visit and it reminded Jess how great the mouthfeel of these milky, tangy, fluffy British cheeses are.  While Cheshire and Lancashire aren’t the strongest of cheeses, they are delicate enough to taste the subtleties of good cheesemaking.   You always loved a challenge, didn’t you Jess?  Jess thinks that his perfect lunch would be these two cheeses, some McClure’s Pickles, a dollop of mustard, and an English bitter (like Old Speckled Hen or Fuller’s London Pride).  Hey – maybe you and Dani should start providing British farm hands with gourmet picnic lunches?  Sounds….semi-lucrative.  Maybe stick to the cheese, boys…

On two completely random notes, I want to throw some cheese trivia at you fellow cheese dorks and appreciators that I personally found fascinating.

Fact #1: Appleby’s Cheshire is thought to be one of the oldest cheeses in Britain, with its recipe dating back to Roman times.  It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, which was sort of like the first census of England ever taken (well, if you count a census as the government only counting the wealthy and their sheep.  But what else REALLY matters.  Am I right???)  in 1086 for William the First!  Woah.  Totes old.

Fact #2: Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire comes from one of the best-named cheese producing places in the world.  Can you guess what it’s called?  Bet you can’t.  Ok, I’m gonna tell you.  It’s GOOSNARGH.  Fine, so maybe the majority of you “adults” out there won’t find this funny.  “Don’t make fun of other places for being different!”  Yeah, whatever.  But, for the rest of you out there who don’t function well in the morning, doesn’t this totally sound like the majority of words that come out of your mouth pre-cup of coffee?   Besides, if I ever saw this on a map I would probably think that I bought some weird Harry Potter wannabe atlas designed to make British children excited about geography.  Tru dat.

Oh. Hello there.

Welcome back, friends, to the dawning of a new Bedford Cheese Shop blog era!  We are sorry that we left you, high and dry, in the cheesy woods for a year, but guess what.  WE ARE BACK.  Oh yeah…

We have been coming up with new and exciting ways to get out our fromage knowledge into the Blogosphere and will be debuting one below!  We thought that you guys would want to know more about farmers, farms, and what we think – the Bedford Cheese Shop cheesemongers – about our products.  So today, we unveil our first installment of “Cheesepinions.”

Here, you will find the thoughts of one of our cheesemongers about the products we stare at and lovingly handle all day, every day.  So let’s get started with one of our star employees, Dani.

This week, Dani is on a real British Isles kick.  A sucker for hardy, “working man” cheeses, Dani has been noshing on foods that a farmer would take with him into the field to sustain him for the day.  Apparently, nothing is better for planting your rows of beetroot than your trusty hoe and a good wedge of crumbly cheese.  Trying to relive his pastoral glory days of the coal mines, he decided that his favorite dairy products in the store right now are:

Coolea (an 18-month Irish gouda),

Caerphilly (a crumbly, lactic and vegetal Welsh cow’s milk),

and Ardrahan (a semi-soft, washed rind, pungent cow’s milk from Ireland).

When asked what Dani would eat with his agronomist cheese plate, Dani responded with “A bottle of Rye, a can of Matiz sardines with Lemon, and some Brooklyn Brine Serrano Beans.  Because why not.”  Don’t forget your cup of tea and sticky toffee pudding, Dani.

Well that’s all from us this time!  Come on in and try out Dani’s cheese choices for the week and see what you think.  And if you have any comments or suggestions to the blog go ahead and let us know!  Pip, pip and cheerio!

On the dawn of a new presidency, one that advocates for hope and change, it is inspiring to see someone doing just that.  One of our good neighbors, a man named Jos brought by some of his latest creations, fresh from his kitchen on the South Side of Williamsburg.  Now, if Barack Obama could get everyone to make cheese at home, particularly cheese this good, we would be doing pretty well.  This cheese was made in the style of a St. Marcellin, a French cow’s milk disc of goo.  The only difference was that this cheese was raw, illegal and from only a couple of hours upstate.  Thank’s Jos, it tasted good.

A few weeks ago Amy and I were at our favorite beer bar in the neighborhood, Spuyten Duyvil, and we met a real beer-maven.  We began discussing beers and then veered in the direction of cheese.  As it turns out she is as crazy about beer as we are about cheese (well and beer).  On her website, beerforchicks.com she voted us best place to find accompaniments for your beer and we wanted to say thanks.  It’s pretty cool, Williamsburg is well represented on her Best Of list.  We even have similar favorite picks for best beer of the year, hers a Thierez mine the Fantome Saison.

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It’s the holidays and since the economy is pretty hopeless at this point we’ve decided to create some holiday baskets to fit various budgets.  It’ll also make your holiday shopping absurdly easy.  We are offering three different baskets the $35, $50 and $75 varieties.  The $35 basket will get you a pair of lovely cheeses, some pesto, crackers and a candy, the $50 is the same plus two more cheeses and the $75 features all of the above plus some delicious chutney and more candy!  We’ll also include descriptions and the whole thing comes in a very travel friendly wicker basket.  Frankly, I am thinking of buying one for every member of my family.  It may be a recession but that doesn’t mean we should have to give up our dairy habits.

(can you smell it?)

There is a new book coming out by an old professor of  mine, Jay Parini, entitled Promised Land: 13 Books that Changed America.  It isn’t a book about the books of the highest literary merit but about the most influential books that have changed our society.  I’m intrigued by this idea because the short list isn’t entirely high-brow, Dr. Spock is on there, as is Jack Kerouac.  The Great Gatsby isn’t even in the honorable mentions, but Jane Fonda’s workout manual is.

What if we thought about the 13 most influential cheeses to the American palate.  Not the most outstanding or well made or even most interesting (though some may very well be all of these things) but the cheeses that have decided what Americans want on their cheese plates and their burgers.

1. Mozzarella
2. Kraft Singles
3. Cabot Cheddar
4. Parmeggiano Reggiano

…really 13?

1. Aged Gouda
2. Gorgonzola
3. Fresh Chevre (probably with something, like herbs or honey or nuts)
4. Eppoise
5. Ricotta
6. Poll-yo String Cheese
7. The Laughing Cow (wax covered round)
8. Stilton
9. Pecorino Romano

And here in that same order, briefly are the reasons why:

1.      Pizza.
2.      Convenience, grilled cheeses
3.      Actual flavor, sharp, simple, seems damn classy
4.      Over your spaghetti and meatballs.  Often comes in a cheap shaker, a true American        original copy
5.      A burst of flavor, no subtleties here
6. Gooey stinky an obvious introduction to blue
7. Goat cheese but G rated.
8. We’ve all read about it.  In GQ.  It must be good.  Righht?
9.  Sweet, a topping, almost like milk.
10. Lunchbox.
11. Ibid.
12. Guinness.  Port.  Booze.
13. Sheep can be milked?

          Thanksgiving.  The truly American holiday dedicated to gluttony and imperialism.  No?  It is actually my favorite holiday, maybe for these exact two reasons.  I like to eat and I like to remember what it is to be an American (aside from the raping and pillaging of course). 

      But what first has come to mind this Thanksgiving is the question of Native American cheese, namely, does it exist.  Most tribes weren’t big into domesticating animals early on so this leaves us with a priceless image- a man chasing after a bufalo by the teat no doubt.  Maybe horses then, surely the earliest American cheeses must be from the equine family.  I’ve never had horse milk or cheese, but I have had camel’s milk cheese and for some reason I think they must be similar.  There must be that flavor reminiscent of urine and dirt in the pate somewhere.  The dairy products produced were most likely used in other dishes (correct me if I am way off here) and were masked by other, more enticing spices.

   I mentioned Sherman Alexie because, on a much more contemporary note, he discusses goverment issued cheese on the reservation in his short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tanto Fist Fight which was later turned into the fantastic movie  Smoke Signals.  He is one of my favorite writers, it is about time to revisit him.  he talks about contemporary Native American problems, including habits in eating. 

    On Thursday while you are slopping butter onto everything in sight think about the first Thanksgiving and ask your self: was there any cheese?

I know this is a blog about cheese but we all need our vegetables too.  Yesterday I wentto Queens, way out to Queens and visited the Queens County Farm Museum, well I didn’t so much visit as beg shamelessly to be allowed the privilege of sticking my hands in the dirt for a few hours.  Today is the first day Michael, the head farmer, will be selling his goods at the Union Square Green Market.  Think, how much more local can it get? 

yeah, that’s Queens. 

Anyway, everything from the farm is organic and fresh and cared for by a few loyal and loving farmers.  They have many many varieties of greens and a myriad of root vegetables.   It isn’t just a park but a real, functioning farm and if you want to learn more about where your food is coming from I recommend a drive out there  (n.b. via public transit it is a veritable nightmare).  They also have a lot of sheep, clean happy sheep, just begging to be milked and become cheese producers.  I can see it in their eyes.  Yeah, that sounds wrong.  Anyway, eat the veggies.

www.queensfarm.org

There has been a special request; a certain red headed cheesemonger wants to hear about the Laughing Cow.  It began as a discussion last evening at the bar and after a few hours, after she had left some of us went to the bodega across the street and bought a little net of wax covered cheese candies.  Some people think of slumming in terms of a one night stand or a deboucherous night at a shady bar- here at the cheese shop we think of it more in terms of industrialized cheese. 

 My parents used to put these in my lunch box when I was in grade school.  The cheese brought back a flood of memories, sitting at lunch in my school uniform, the aromas of Elmer’s glue and construction paper are as much a part of the flavor as the milk itself.  As it turns out we are in good company with these Laughing Cow memories.  The brand is owned by the Bel Group, founded in 1865, it is one of the largest dairy companies in the world.  The group has subsidiaries all over the world and creates marketing and products designed for each country- think the USA to Syria to Spain to Sweden and back again to Tunisia or Chile.  The genius of the Bel Group is mostly in their marketing and advertising.  They make cheese a snack food and a fast food while keeping low calories and health at the heart of their ad campaigns.  Miniaturization is also at the core of the business- the cheese is cute and hooks child consumers from an early age.  And it really works, I mean, we all work at a high end cheese shop and still crave this rather flavorless product ( I beg you to contest my feelings on its flavor, yes you brother).  The cheese also caters to a bachelor’s lifestyle with cheeses designed to make a simple cocktail hour snack.  I think I might pick some more up on my way home, some Tex Mex cubes or some Cheese Yatzi packs, and  mind you I am not being sarcastic- I’m turning into a junkie.