SC - Children's homework weirdness

[grizly@mindspring.com]

Ian Gourdon wrote:
> 
> > > Cubed Cheese: swiss, cheddar, farmer
> >
<snip>
> > BTW, cheddar isn't period.  But you already knew that
> > didn't you. :-)
> >...
> > Huette
> 
> allow to quote a piece from the list a few whiles ago:
> "...I decided that I would put forth a best effort to
> come-up with something of
> interest, even if it was based upon secondary sources (like
> the internet).
> Therefore I present, for your entertainment, criticism,
> amusement and use the
> following chart of cheeses:
> 
> Type of Cheese          Date of Earliest
> Reference              Reference
<snip>
> Cheddar
> 1500AD

> which makes Cheddar OK, I'd say. It'd be Swiss that would be
> less clear to me as OK.

At this point I think Cheddar has somehow become reverse-grandfathered
in because people reely reely want it to be period. Yes, cheeses sold
from, and made near, the market town of Cheddar were made, sold, and
sales recorded around 1500 C.E. Whether they bear much resemblance to
modern cheddar is highly questionable. They appear not to be "cheddared"
in the modern sense of heating, cutting, and cooking the curds prior to
draining, and to be honest, after a fairish amount of research in this
field I believe I have yet to find a period English recipe for any kind
of cooked cheese, versus quite a few uncooked recipes.

Modern Gouda, a form of "Swiss" cheese, probably _is_ made according to
a period method, whether it's been listed as period or not, because it
is an uncooked cheese, IIRC. OTOH, cheeses like Brie are recorded as
existing in period, but it is mentioned elsewhere (I _think_ in Wilson's
"Food and Drink in Britain"; no doubt some helpful individual with the
book on the shelf in front of them will let me know if I'm wrong, so I
can speak freely) that the kind of white mold used to form and protect
the rind of such cheeses was not cultured or used in period
cheesemaking, and that Brie may have had a blue mold on the outer
surface. So, knowing that cheeses with such-and-such a name existed in
period is not necessarily a sure indication of whether the product you
may be contemplating purchasing for a feast or something is a really
accurate representation. This is probably an area where a lot of people
would rather simply not sweat the small stuff.

BTW, in the past year I've run across two different brands of Cheddar
advertised as uncooked farmhouse Cheddar, at least one of which was
claimed to have been made on the same family's premises, and according
to the same family's recipe, for the past 500 years or so. I think there
may have been two different brands because two different importers or
distributors were both handling Keen's Cheddar (Keen was, IIRC, the
family's name). The cheese itself was an uncolored deep natural yellow,
with a waxy (waxy, not waxed) rind, a nutty flavor, and resembling
something between aged Gouda and underaged Parmagianno.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com