There is American cheese, orange or white, presliced and suffocated in cellophane wrapping, and then there is American cheese: sharp and venerable Vermont cheddars, voluptuous triple creams from California, tangy blues from Colorado, and piquant goat's milk cheese formed into cylinders, triangles, and cannonballs. For years "good" cheese was the stuff imported from Europe: classics like Brie de Meaux, English Stilton, Parmiggiano Reggiano. But in the past decade, more and more American cheesemakers have found their footing, producing some of the most delicious cheeses in the world.
Through most of the 20th century, American cheesemaking was dominated by industrial operations whose primary concerns were efficiency, shelf life and finding flavors mild enough to please a large swath of Americans. But just as craft bakeries found customers who sought out their rustic, crusty loaves of bread, and domestic winemakers found markets for varietal wines with distinctive flavor profiles, American cheesemakers began to discover that there were some discriminating chefs and food-lovers who sought out cheeses made by hand in small batches. As with wine, Californians like the Vella family, Laura Chenel, Jennifer Lynn Bice and Mary Keene were trendsetters in what's now known as the artisanal cheese movement. With an eye to European traditions, they made cheese in smaller batches than the biggest dairies, but in turn provided distinctive varieties and great depth of flavor.
From the source
Small batch cheeses get their distinctive flavors from several factors. First, there is the milk. Some artisanal cheesemakers buy milk from dairies or co-ops, but the rustic ideal is a farmstead operation, where all the cheese made comes from the cheesemaker's own herd. Of course, the kind of milk makes a difference in the flavor of a cheese: Cow's milk tends to have a rounded, nutty or buttery quality; goat's milk cheeses are often tangy and herbaceous, while sheep's milk has a characteristic spiciness. No matter the source, milk also reflects what the animals are eating and can change radically throughout the seasons.
A cheese's characteristics are also determined by the cheesemakers' choice of method. Like wine, cheese is a product of fermentation and can continue to change after it is sold to the consumer. Younger cheeses are typically moist with delicate or acidic qualities, while older cheeses usually become more dry and complex as they age. When inoculated with mold, cheese can become a blue cheese or a soft, white-rinded cheese. When washed with a yeasted solution, it can become a classic "stinky" cheese in the vein of Munster or talleggio, or mellow with age into a nuttier Swiss-style cheese. Even the shape of a cheese affects its texture.
Of wine and cheese
Wine and cheese seem like a natural match — after all, weren't wine and cheese parties a staple of the '70s? But in truth, pairing the two can be tricky. Because both products are fermented, they bring incredible complexity of flavor to your palate: If you find an affinity, the wine and cheese can amplify the other's qualities, but sometimes, they can clash, with neither product tasting its best. (Generally, it will be the cheese that overwhelms the wine.) The way to find the best matches is by observantly experimenting. To taste wine and cheese together, first smell and taste the wine on its own — think about its flavor characteristics. Then try a bite of cheese, followed by a second sip of wine. Do the flavors balance out and complement each other, or do they compete or bring out unpleasant flavors?
Although rules are not set in stone, there are some classic affinities between cheese and wine that are worth keeping in mind. France's Loire Valley is known for both its goat cheese and crisp Sauvignon Blanc-based Sancerre whites. For a domestic spin, pair a favorite, Sauvignon with great American goat cheeses from the likes of Cypress Grove, Capriole, or Vermont Butter and Cheese. Although red wines are by and large more temperamental with cheese, simpler reds without a lot of tannins (the puckery quality that comes from time in oak barrels) can taste great with sweet herby tone of cheeses, like Vermont Shepherd or Pleasant Ridge Reserve.
Sparkling wines love cheeses that are mellow and buttery: from mild mascarpone to Brie-like triple creams and nutty aged gruyere. White wines with some sweetness like Reislings, gewurtztraminers, even light dessert wines like muscats are surprisingly versatile with cheeses. They can handle the funky fruitiness of a washed rind cheese (like Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk or the Crave Brother's Les Freres) or earthiness of an aged blue from Colorado's Bingham Hill or Oregon's Rogue Creamery. The more complex the cheese is, the sweeter its ideal wine match will be (like the classic combination of vintage port and Stilton).
Finding the perfect cheese and wine pairing may take a little time and a lot of tasting, but with the abundance of artisanal American cheeses to choose from, few experiments could be more fun, or flavorful.
2006-08-18 05:30:56
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answer #10
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answered by TOPKICK 3
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