Hallelujah!

In reality, it isn’t known when cheesemaking was first discovered, but it is an ancient art.

Cheese is a fermented milk product made from the curds produced when milk is coagulated. Usually it is made from cow’s milk but there are many varieties made from sheep’s milk and goat’s milk. Cheese can also be made from the milk of various other animals. Real mozzarella, for example, is made from buffaloes’ milk.

In the process of making cheese, milk is acidified to a point where the casein precipitates. This process, called coagulation, produces curds (which eventually become cheese) and whey (the liquid portion that contains water, lactose and serum proteins).

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Egyptian hieroglyphics depict workmen making cheese. In ancient times, the whey was consumed immediately and the curd was salted and/or dried to preserve it. The Roman Legion was instrumental in spreading the art of cheesemaking throughout Europe and England.

During the Middle Ages, the art of cheesemaking was improved greatly in the monasteries and feudal estates of Europe. The monks became great innovators of cheese and it is to them we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today.

During the Renaissance period cheese suffered a drop in popularity, being considered unhealthy, but it regained favor by the nineteenth century, the period that saw the start of the move from farm to factory production.

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Though the American state of Wisconsin has long billed itself as “America’s Dairyland,” California is breathing down the Badger State’s neck even when it comes to Wisconsin’s premier product, cheese.

An October 2006 report by the American Dairy Products Institute indicated that in 2005 California turned out a quarter of the nation’s cheese, some 2.14 billion pounds, threatening to close the gap with Wisconsin, which produced 2.4 billion pounds.

Wisconsin’s cheese makers tend to be smaller; some 1,300 licensed producers make 600 varieties of cheese, as compared to California’s 55 producers with 250 varieties.

After California (which became the top milk producing state in 1993) and Wisconsin, major milk production states are New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Michigan, Texas, and Washington. In 2003, American cows produced 19.7 gallons pounds of milk. Many American dairy farms are small; Wisconsin, for example, has 17,800 dairy farms averaging 71 cows each; the California average is a whopping 659 cows.

I met a gang of Danes at a disco in Barcelona once. They followed me all around singing the American National Anthem and being ridiculous with gyrating discoteque moves. I miss them. And I miss being 20 years old running around Spain.

In honor of the Danes I bring you: BUKO!

Buko is a soft, flavored cream cheese style fresh cheese.

According to Kraft Foods, the first cream cheese was made in New York in 1872 by an American dairyman William Lawrence. In 1880, ‘Philadelphia’ was adopted as the brand name, after the city that was considered at the time to be the home of top quality food.

Philadelphia is used by some as a generic term for cream cheese, and in Spanish it is translated as Queso Filadelfia.

References to cream cheese in England start from at least 1754 and recipes follow soon after, particularly from Lincolnshire and the southwest of England. There are french references to cream cheese as early as 1651.

Creole cream cheese is a form of farmer cheese that was once common in the New Orleans area, made from skim milk, buttermilk and rennet. By itself, it has a mild, slightly sour taste; frequently, it is mixed with cream, sugar and fruit and served as a dessert. Creole cream cheese is difficult to find today, but is produced by a few dairies in Louisiana.

Cream Cheese aside, to delve into the cuisine of Denmark click here. Explore and have fun. If you run into my dancing Danish boyfriends – make sure you wink at them and maybe offer a little pelvic thrust before you offer them a bagel’n’buko.

See, now they can’t say I never did anything for them…

Bleu des Basques Brebis – is an artisan sheep’s milk blue cheese made in the Pyrenées mountains, a region of the French Basque country (near the border of Spain) These verdant hills here are full of the wildflowers and fresh grass that give the milk its complexity, subtlety, and lightness.

Crottin de Champcol – This is a simple pasteurized goat cheese from the Loire. (Did you know that “Crottin” in French means dung as in manure? The explanation is that old “Crottin” gets harder and browner and tends to look like horse dung or dung in general.)

Tomme de Savoie – often made with skim milk after the cream has been used to make butter. It is a pleasant and unpretentious cheese with an approachable, mild flavor. This typical cheese from the Alps was originally made as a result to the lack of milk used for the Beaufort or other Gruyeres. They are produced in large flat wheels.

Valençay – named after a town in central France, it is shaped like a pyramid with the top cut off. Originally, the shape was perfectly pyramidal. Legend says…coming back from a calamitous campaign in Egypt, Napoléon stopped in Valençay. He saw the cheese and with anger took his sword to chop the top off. Valencay has a soft and delicate taste with nutty flavor.

Camembert – made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, and is ripened by the moulds Penicillium candida and Penicillium camemberti for at least three weeks. Originating from the Normandy region, when fresh, it is quite crumbly and relatively hard, but it characteristically ripens and becomes more runny and strongly flavored as it ages.

Roquefort – a.k.a. the “king of cheeses” as many proclaim, Roquefort is at least one of the oldest and best known in the world. Roquefort has a creamy-rich texture and pungent, piquant, somewhat salty flavor. The name “Roquefort” is protected by law from imitators. For example, salad dressings made from blue cheese other than Roquefort cannot be labeled “Roquefort dressing.”

Brie de Meaux – a nice white and sweet cheese with a slight greyish tinge under crusty white mould; very soft and savory with a hint of ammonia. The white mouldy skin is tasteless and edible.

Morbier – a semi-soft cows’ milk cheese named after the small village of Morbier in Franche-Comté. It is ivory colored, soft and slightly elastic, and is immediately recognizable by the black layer of ashes separating it horizontally in the middle. It has a rind (skin) that is yellowish, moist, and leathery. The bottom layer consists of the morning milk and the upper layer is made of the evening milk.

Comte – a cooked and pressed cow’s milk cheese, made only from the milk of the Montbeliard cow. It is the first French AOC (label of origin) cheese, guaranteeing the quality of the cheese. It is typically described as salty, mild, and fruity. Some cheese have strong hazelnut flavors, others have subtle hints of nutmeg. Paired well with either dry white or light red wines.

Epoisses (de Bourgogne) – a classic cow’s milk cheese originating from Burgundy and has been made in the small town of Epoisses since the late 1700s. In order to develop the characteristic dark orange rind, this strong smelling cheese is washed with brine for several weeks then finished with wine or brandy. It’s one of those stinky cheeses where its bark is worse than its bite.

St. Agur – a cow’s milk cheese and fairly young, which yields a nice, smooth, creamy and mild flavor, something between a Gorgonzola and Roquefort (not as bold as an in-your-face Gorgonzola!) Perfect spread on pear or apple slices, or just on some French bread or raisin bread. Because of its creamy nature, it melts well in sauces or just on top of chops.