SC - Re: Romper Room - Way OT

[Susan Laing]

In a message dated 07/11/2000 1:01:34 AM EST, stefan at texas.net writes:

> Ras declared:
> > The cheese changes color and deepens into a yellow, etc., as it ages if 
it is 
> > made with whole milk or cream. However, since cheese making is an art 
which 
> > is thousands of years old, I see little need to speculate that the 
addition 
> > of coloring matter is a 'modern' innovation.
 
> Umm. But we're talking about one recipe in one time period, not whether
> cheese was colored at any time at all, at any location in thousands of
> years. As Cariadoc reminded us today this is an Anglo-French recipe.
 
> Yes, I think cheese was colored at some time during the entire time
> of making cheese, but this recipe does not call for two different
> colored cheeses or even a particular color of cheese. I believe it
> just says sprinkle with cheese. Perhaps it would be such common
> knowledge that a period cook of this time would have selected two
> different cheeses of different colors for this recipe and kept
> them seperate when applying them. But without knowing whether different
> colored cheeses were available, at the same time of year, at this
> time and place the speculation is all we have.
 
> I thought you (Ras) were very much into doing a dish exactly as
> the recipe is written and not deviating. Wouldn't assuming that
> colored cheeses would be available and using one, much less two
> different cheeses of different colors go against this? 
 
> If cheese does yellow with age, do we have any records saying how
> long cheeses were kept at this time period? How long would a cheese
> need to be aged to show a yellow that would be apparent in this
> recipe?
 
I've been reading along with this thread and I'm confused at what you were 
originally asking Stefan...  could you clarify please.  When you ask about 
coloured cheeses are you referring to the obviously artificially "orange" 
coloured cheddars we see in the supermarket or something else?
 
I'd never seen Cheddar of that colour  - until I arrived in this country.  
Even the white cheddar so popular here now isn't what I know from Britain to 
be the correct colour for the cheese.

Cheddar is usually a pale creamy yellow colour, getting darker as it ages and 
hardens.

There are other British cheeses we have of varying colour though....   

Some time ago (perhaps you have it on the Florithingy?) we did talk about 
when various cheeses (we know about) began to appear...  perhaps if we review 
and expand such a list we can see which candidates of cheese "might" have 
been used in England in the time of the recipe we are talking about, and what 
colour they are in the original countries they were made in rather than what 
you see on the shelves here, as as with poor old Cheddar, the U.S. mass 
manufacturing and marketing guys might have done a number on the cheese in 
question and if that's all we have to look at we might end up with wrong 
assumptions about it - including colour. 

Just a thought :-)

Elysant