CAMEMBERT CLASH

Der Spiegel ^ | 02/20/2009 | Ullrich Fichtner

[Vaquero]

see #9

[CowboyJay]

French camembert is not a particularly delightful cheese

Each to their own. I like it.

At the moment the major cheese in this household is an extrasharp cheddar sold at Costco in 2 pound chunks.

I like sharp cheddar, but not the stuff in 2 lb blocks. To quote the article "it tastes like a doorstop". It's probably the same thing they gave the proles to eat in the USSR under Stalin.

20 years ago before the globalistas and OBL's got their way, I could get the genuine article, real Vermont Cheddar, at an inefficient neighborhood supermarket for about the same chunk of my paycheck. You could taste the freedom in it.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Or SCTV...

[muawiyah]

Cheese has a pretty good shelf life when properly stored, or set out for sale. It really doesn't have a good shelf life in transit ~ particularly if stored improperly.

Cheese buyers really don't get the advantages possible with modern universal shipping containers due to the controlled AC or refrigration that's required.

Still, there are dealers who bring in large quantities under controlled conditions and manage to get it to market in fairly decent shape at reasonable prices.

That's apparantly where COSTCO goes to get it's large chunks and wedges ~ that's also why they only handle a dozen or so variations.

The less well-known variations or types are brought into the country in single wheels, then custom cut for shipment to a few dealers, and by the time it gets there it's already degraded.

At the intermediate level the major chain grocery stores do a decent job bringing the stuff in, but they add a serious handling cost onto French cheese. Scandinavian hard and Italian cooking cheeses don't get marked up as bad, and that's presumably because there's a narrow selection so larger shipments of one kind can be made, or they're simply prepared better for long term storage in transit.

My son visited Paris recently and he reported that cheese was definitely a bargain, but against my advice he ate a lot of the soft variations, and that was his downfall. Still, about all he ate on that trip was triple creams, instantly fresh baguettes, and large piles of artichoke hearts.

Coca Cola was about $4 for 1 liter.

Wine was cheaper. He turns green and tosses cookies drinking that stuff though.

I don't know what the French will do for cheese shops with the demise of printed media. That's where they put them ~ right behind the kiosk.

[muawiyah]

Believe it or not private cheesemakers in Eastern PA have finally figured out the DC metro area is a good cheese market (with people from literally everywhere).

We've been getting some strange local emanthaler type cheeses from up there, and even Amish cheeses they toss out in the general cheese counter.

The local chain stores found out a couple of years ago they could bring in 5 year old Australian extra extra sharp and sell it. Excellent stuff. You'll eat less for more taste with really old Australian cheese than just about any other kind. Wasn't even terribly crumbly!

We have one here from France that is made somewhere in Paris. It's a plain Edam type but there's this black line down the center. Upon close examination it smells exactly like bad kim chi (and it may well be). Trick to eating this stuff is to not breathe until you get it inside. Then it's excellent and without the bite you get from kim chi.

[muawiyah]

When you buy the big blocks of cheddar it's wise to age them a few more months. They improve dramatically.

Problem with Soviet Cheese is people were so hungry all the time they couldn't let it age properly. Same with that black bread ~ you'd thought they'd had time to grind it into flour!

[muawiyah]

The French would live far longer if they did without some of their food products.

We must count ourselves lucky that they refuse to give them up eh!

[LonePalm]

Don't stint on the Stilton.

'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Cicero]

It’s perfectly true that cheeses made with raw milk are a LOT better tasting than the pasteurized kind. That’s true of Camembert, Brie, Stilton, Ementhaler, Manchego, Parmiggiano, Gorgonzola, and numerous others. Some of these are even better when properly cave aged.

Also, raw milk cheeses from cows, sheep, or goats, are much healthier, as long as the producers take proper care to do things right.

[garyhope]

Merci beaucoup pour les bon fromages.

[garyhope]

Was SCTV some of the best ever or what?

So many funny great people came out of that.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Beats most of what’s on today. I especially miss John Candy. :-(

[seoul62]

My younger sister is in Paris, having a wonderful time. The French are very nice to her. She loves going to the Boulangerie in the morning for her Croissants and Hot Chocolate. As for the Cheeses, she likes them all: Roquefort, Camembert and on. I was there in 1999 and had a wonderful time: visiting the Lourve and Versailles-*(I was surprised that it was quite empty of historical objects, you had to pay to use the toilet, you are herded like cattle with hundreds of other tourists and the small rocks that paved the palace grounds, kept on creeping into my sandals!!!!!/Just Asking - seoul62.......

[Ben Chad]

I saw some octogenarian women cross-country skiing yesterday in Autrans (Vercors region) yesterday. Maybe it’s the smelly French cheese. Then again, maybe it’s the Chartreuse.

[garyhope]

Johnny LaRue?

Catherine O’hara was pretty good too.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Yup. Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, O’Hara, Andrea Martin... all great.

[Cincinna]

The secret to visiting Versailles is to go off season, and mid-week, eaither early or quite late. So many of the rooms have been restored, and the gardens, fountains, and statuary are worth seeing. The town of Versailles is lovely, and full of 18th c homes and buildings.

You can find lots of information at the official site in English:

http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/

[Cincinna]

I love Gouda, and when I am in Holland, I love the breakfasts they serve with lots of cheese.

Mimolette or Comte are somewhat similar. As far as I know French cheeses are never smoked. That seems to be an American invention.

[Cincinna]

I think you are right. Mass produced cheese, like the stuff found at Costco, is an inferior product, made with stabilizers, fillers, and God knows what else. In general, you ghet what you pay for, and the good, authentic stuff is not cheap, but it is delicious.

There is great Artisinal Cheese made in the US, but it is very expensive, often more pricey than its french, Italian or Swiss counterpsrts.

Great Vermont Cheddar is available from mail order sources in the US, if your local CXheese Shop doesn’t carry them

Murray’s and Zingerman come to mind.

[Cincinna]

Cheese is aged under special controlled conditions like caves.

It is impossible to reproduce those conditions.

When the cheese reaches the store, it is finished. “Aging” it more, you just get old cheese.