Past Newsletters - Apr 2009

IMPRESS YOUR GOURMAND FRIENDS WITH THIS SELECTION OF EXTRAORDINARY CHEESES

Rare Cows Grazing on Rare Terrain Help Create a Unique Cheese!

While many cheeses have fruity essences, there aren't many with a flavor profile that is dominated by fruit flavors. St. Nectaire (meaning sweet nectar) has a similar smell to that of an extremely ripe nectarine, although the names are not related,  The cheese has a fruity aroma, rich texture, and a sweet flavor that we have yet to discover in any other cheese. You're certain to enjoy this uniquely fruity delight!

St. Nectaire has been produced in the region of Monts-Dore in northern Auvergne for centuries. Monts-Dore is known as "montagres à vaches," or "mountains for cows," as they provide summer pasture for herds raised primarily for milk and the production of cheese. This reputation as a cow-grazing homestead has made its way into French consciousness because many cheeses come from this famed region in the geographical heart of France. In the winter the land is covered with deep snow and when summer arrives it brings very high temperatures. Although this may sound punishing, the weather is actually ideal for both wine and cheesemaking.

St. Nectaire is made from the milk of Salers (pronounced sal'air) cows, which have played a critical role in cheesemaking for many hundreds of years. Salers cows were named after a village from the Middle Ages, situated in the heart of the mountains. They are a visually intriguing reddish-brown color and possess angled, lyre-shaped horns. The flavor of their famed milk is a result of genetics and the rich and perfumed volcanic pastures they enjoy from April to October. These volcanic meadows are rich with phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, all of which are found in high concentrations in the Salers' milk, and all of which are integral to the final flavor of St. Nectaire cheese.

St. Nectaire, like the Salers cows from which it comes, also has an interesting color. Its grayish-purple rind is covered with white, yellow, and red mold spots, a result of the wild grasses that the Salers cows eat during summer and autumn. A whole cheese is only about eight inches in diameter and weighs about four pounds. If you love a creamy, milky cheese, you’re going to love St. Nectaire. It goes extremely well with fruits, raw vegetables, olives, bread, and salami. For a fantastic combination, serve St. Nectaire on buttered bread with a steaming bowl of soup. Dip the bread and cheese in the soup and enjoy!

The St. Nectaire you are enjoying is as authentic and genuine as a cheese can be. This is assured by the fact that it is an A.O.C. cheese. In Europe, traditional food is a serious business, one that governments are committed to protecting. France was the first country to initiate this type of regulation. On May 6, 1919, it passed the first law for the Protection of the Place of Origin (A.O.C. or Appellation d'Origine Controlee). This law specifically defines the place of origin for a product, including province, region, and commune. Italy and Spain have since followed suit. You will most commonly see these designations on cheeses from these three European countries.

Tasting Notes:A full-tasting cheese, slightly acidic and spicy at the same time, its supple white dough melts in your mouth and unleashes its flavors with a touch of salt, walnuts, and spices. The texture is semi-soft with small eyes in the paste. The flavor is a wonderful combination of a summer pasture and sweet, fruity milk flavors, and it has an unmistakable smell of dark, damp cellar and rye straw, on which it is stored during the ripening process. St. Nectaire is an excellent choice for a cheese board, and makes an outstanding quiche.

Sage Derby: The Far Side of the Moon?

It has been said that the moon is made of green cheese. We're not sure where the expression comes from, but it sounds realistic enough, right? Seeing this month's second featured cheese, then, one might presume it has lunar origins. Well, as it turns out, this unique-looking cheese is not from the moon (surprised?). It's from England. And, incidentally, we lied; we do know where the term "the moon is made of green cheese" comes from. It's a phrase coined in the sixteenth century, attributed to John Heywood in his Proverbes (1546), in which "green" refers not to the color of the moon, but to "new" (a.k.a. green) or immature rounded cheeses with a mottled surface and color similar to that of the moon.

The first Sage Derby was made in England some time during the 17th century, and it was one of the many favorite cheeses found as part of a ploughman's lunch. Many cheese connoisseurs believe its origin to be based on an age-old recipe for Derby cheese that originated in Derbyshire, which is still well known for its farming and lush green pastures. Regular Derby is a yellow cheese with a firm texture similar to cheddar. Sage Derby used to be made only at harvest time and for holidays and special celebrations, but these days, thanks to its popularity, it is available year round.

Popularity often begets imitation, and when it comes to Sage Derby, there are quite a few imposters. Fortunately, the well-honed palettes at In Pursuit Of Cheese found a traditionally made Sage Derby for you to relish. This interesting cheese is made by blending fresh garden sage into traditional Derby cheese curd during the production process. Adding sage at this stage in the cheesemaking process permits the herb's flavor to develop during the time the cheese matures, usually about 1 to 3 months.

The addition of sage leaves to Derby curd was not done for looks, or even taste. During the 17th century, this ancient evergreen perennial herb was believed to have powerful therapeutic properties that could cure a variety of ailments. And, since the English loved their cheese, they must have figured they were making a tasty, health-imbuing creation. In truth, sage carries many medicinal properties. English Sage can be made into tea and taken to counteract sweating and to aid in digestion. Infusions of Sage can be used to treat depression, nervous anxiety, and liver disorders. No wonder it was popular! Since the leaves are also antiseptic, the infusion makes a great gargle for laryngitis and tonsillitis and can also be used as a mouth freshener.

Because it is so unusual looking and has a mild, pleasing taste, Sage Derby makes a unique addition to any cheese board. Count on a fresh flavor like no other. It has a subtle but distinctive flavor, and it develops attractive and unique green marbling. But the sage is not the only ingredient contributing to the green color. Spinach juice is also added to this vegetarian cheese to color it, though spinach flavors are extremely subtle, often completely undetectable.

Tasting Notes: Regular Derby is cheddar-like with a mild, buttery flavor. The robust, creamy aftertaste of our featured Sage Derby cheese is masterfully complemented by the gentle herbal flavors of sage leaves. It is texturally similar to cheddar with a firm, compressed body and a fat content of about 45%. Sage Derby is a great party cheese: it looks great on a cheese board! We recommend melting this semi-hard cheese on fresh rye bread and topping it with an egg for breakfast. This green-veined beauty is also a great breakfast cheese because it goes well with various fruit juices.

Double Gloucester: Rolled and Pressure Tested!

There is documentation that suggests Double Gloucester was made as early as the 8th century. Our research leads us to believe that Double Gloucester was the first colored cheese, originally using carrot, beet or saffron, dating back to the 17th century. The hand-crafted version we've found for you has been made in the County of Gloucestershire, in the area of the Cotswolds, since the 16th  century. The city of Gloucester has always been legendary for its cheese fairs. For hundreds of years all of the region's farmers competed for prizes. Today, many English shires host agricultural fairs where cheesemakers gather to reconnoiter and, as in centuries past, to compete.

Double Gloucester is traditionally made in large wheels using the cream from the night's milking and the following day's milk. (Its sister cheese, Single Gloucester, uses milk from the same day and is pale yellow.) You may spot the distinctive gray-blue molds on its hard and thick natural rind, and also the marks from the cloth that surrounded it during its maturation. Like all original, traditional cheeses, Double Gloucester is made with unpasteurized milk.

There's a reason for the thick rind on this cheese … make that two reasons. First of all, these cheeses needed to withstand annual cheese-rolling ceremonies, when Double Gloucester would be rolled down the hills of Gloucestershire to demarcate areas where grazing rights were held. But the second, more demanding, reason is that tradition dictated that cheese merchants jump on their Double Gloucester with both feet as a test to see if the wheel had matured enough so that it could be shipped. The cheese would pass inspection if the rind didn't crack. But what a tasty mess to clean up when it did!

Tasting Notes: This cheese is firm, but with a subtle, closed texture. Note the full, imposing flavor with notes of nuttiness, citrus and hints of onion. The full-cream used to make Double Gloucester gives it a rich, buttery taste and flaky texture. It is firm and bitable, like hard chocolate. Not as firm as cheddar, it has a mellow, nutty character with an orange-zest tang. Double Gloucester melts well, making it perfect for cooking. Serve it with fruit and a fine wine or a microbrewed English pub ale.

Store and Serve Your Cheeses at the Right Temperature
Since all of your cheeses this month fall in the same category; that is, semi-hard cheeses, you can keep them all in the same storage conditions and serve them all at the same temperature. It is best to store hard, semi-hard, and semi-soft cheeses at 35°F to 40°F, but remove them from cold storage about 1 to 2 hours before serving in order to let them warm to room temperature, where their tastes and smells will be enhanced. Like most cheeses, these will taste best when eaten at room temperature.

Culture Corner
Cheese	Pronunciation	Recommended Wine/Beer
St. Nectaire	SAN-neck-TARE	Côtes du Rhône, Beaujolais or other light red wine. Or try it with a Japanese plum wine.
Sage Derby	DAR-bee	Chenin blanc. Sauvignon blanc.
Double Gloucester	GLOSS-ter	Riesling. English ale.