[Sca-cooks] January 2009 MK Cooks Challenge-- Cheeses

[Johnna Holloway]

Mistress Helewyse suggested on MK Cooks:
"A cheese tasting, compared to the English most Americans do not have a 
taste for cheese, I believe it is the difference in the cheese mongers, 
perhaps our proximity to Europe. 
There are so many variables to explore:
The same cheese made from pasteurized and raw milk
Goat, sheep, cow, buffalo milk cheeses
Aged and young
The various forms of adding mold to cheese (blue, Camembert, brie etc)
To give you an example.  In this country I am sometimes lucky to come 
across Lancashire cheese (Lancashire btw is my home county).  When I 
find it here it is presented as a single type of cheese.  If I go to a 
market in Burnley (nearest decent food market, think farmers market type 
thing) then I can buy:
creamy Lancashire - very soft on the palate
crumbly Lancashire - almost chalky texture
Tasty Lancashire - a balance between creamy texture and sharp taste
Farmhouse Lancashire - the more aged one, much bolder, made only by 
small producers (hence the name).

It would probably mean a trip to Ann Arbor for me, to gather the tasting 
samples, as Whole Foods has a decent cheese selection and a 
knowledgeable staff.  I still miss the cheese shop I used to go to in 
Bath it was a mecca.

Helewyse
homesick all of a sudden"

I suggested that "Or you could float a loan and head for Zingerman's.
http://www.zingermans.com/Category.aspx?category=birthplace_of_cheddar
http://www.zingermans.com/Category.aspx?category=cheeses

Plum's Market off Maple in west Ann Arbor also has a good selection of 
imported cheeses."

Johnnae




Elaine Koogler wrote:
> How about cheeses?  You could also include cheeses from the Middle East and
> India...hard cheeses, soft cheeses, fresh cheeses, etc.
>
> Kiri
>