Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the greatest inventions. For me, it’s always been the cashmere socks of the cheese case. It can dress up anything, even an egg. I like it plain, too, to suck on after a good meal. Those caramel notes are all the sweetness I need, and I like the way Parm crumbles like rock candy.
A few weeks ago, my friend Mike Geno received an 18-pound wheel of Grand Cru Gruyère from Wisconsin in the mail. The American Cheese Society (ACS) had commissioned him to paint a series of award-winning cheeses, but after he finished the portrait, he was left to scratch his head. What does one do with a whole wheel of Gruyère? Of course, I got a call.
By Madame Fromage Imagine my delight when I learned that my favorite cheese shop was showcasing cheeses of Wisconsin! Before moving to Philadelphia nearly ten years ago, I was a ‘Sconny grrrl, living the dairy dream in the state capital. It was a life of cheese curds and bratwurst, of beer and Harley-Davidsons (Wisconsin’s other
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By Madame Fromage If you’ve picked up a copy of Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese, then you know that there is a chapter called “Rockstars.” Many of the hunks in that chapter come from a single import company, Essex St., in New York that is famous for rocking the American market with some of the best
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This month, Di Bruno Bros. is introducing a line of Tuscan sheep’s milk cheeses from Il Forteto – an agricultural cooperative near Florence – so I stopped by the store for some samples and spent the weekend languishing with Pecorino at every meal. Saturday started with young Pecorino and berries for breakfast, and Sunday ended with spicy Pecorino-stuffed
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Nobody knows how to put together a snack plate like the Italians – when I traveled across the Veneto and through Emilia-Romagna last summer, I loved watching people stroll into piazzas at 4 or 5 p.m. for aperitivo – a pre-dinner glass of wine and a small plate of snacks to stimulate the appetite. The bar bites in Venice and Verona were unsurpassed, and every cheese counter in Bologna offered cheese-and-meat plates to die for.
Now, you might think a mug of tea and a hunk of cheese make an odd couple, especially during a month when Champagne and Brie is the hot match. But isn’t this supposed to be the season of surprises?
If you have grown weary of kale salad – the darling of so many food blogs this summer – allow me to propose a variation. As basil dwindles, consider lopping off kale and collards and blending them into pesto with a kick of smoky sheep’s milk cheese. Food blogger turned author Garrett McCord of Vanilla
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If any cheese embodies September, it’s aged Gouda. Its color mirrors the hues you see at farmers’ markets this time of year -- in butternut squash, Indian corn, Bosc pears, cider.
I asked cheese lovers from across the United States to send in a picture and description of a local cheese board. They had to create it themselves, and in addition to local cheese they could add local specialties – beer, wine, produce, etc.
