Vol 2 No 6
Wake Up and Smell the Cheese!
As we look forward to whimsical, radiant and joyful days of summer, In Pursuit of Cheese will be sending you an assortment of harder cheeses. Hard cheeses are much better at coping with shipping during warmer days, and also, we all tend to use more hard cheeses during the summer months. We grate them on all kinds of salads and grilled foods, and take them on hikes and bikes for energy. We throw them in a bag with a loaf of bread and a jug of wine… and take off for a romantic spontaneous picnic!
This month all three of our cheeses are made from sheeps’ milk, or more technically correct ewes’ milk (the sheep is the male and it is pretty difficult to make cheese from a sheep). Ewes’ milk is perhaps one of my favorites for cheese. They produce only a very small amount of milk, but it is very rich and creamy and quite high in protein. And ewes’ milk cheeses break down into smaller molecules enabling better digestion. In fact, many lactose intolerant people find that they can enjoy ewes’ milk cheeses without the usual repercussions.
Hard Cheeses 101
If a cheese is easily grate-able and, when cut doesn’t leave any “goo” on the knife, it’s usually classified as a hard cheese. A few examples that spring to mind are, Cheddar, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, Manchego and Gouda. Hard cheese comes in three styles: hard, semi-hard and cooked curd. Unlike mold ripened, washed rind, and blue cheese styles where mold plays an essential role in ripening and flavoring the cheese, it is solely the cheesemaking and aging process that determines the flavors and the degree of hardness.
For hundreds of years it’s been customary to make hard cheese during the summer or fall when there was most often a surplus of milk. If a cheese was to last through the winter and early spring, it had to be “sturdy” enough to go the distance and, perhaps more importantly, remain palatable. In most cases this was the only source of dairy products during the winter. In essence, hard cheese is the traditional way of preserving milk for the winter months, similar to canning fruits and vegetables.
A 21st Century Love Story
This story is an edited version of Sylvia Carter’s article published in New York Newsday, 05/17/2000.
For Six Months, every day, Michele Buster ate lunch at the Sini family's restaurant, Buonatavola, in the Roman countryside. And every day, she tasted Sini Fulvi's own cheeses, and also other select cheeses they import from Portugal, Spain and Italy. Believe me… these are some grand cru cheeses! Michele, an American, traveling to such places as Barcelona, Ireland and Italy setting up International sporting events, fell profoundly in love!
First, she fell in love with a particular cheese. When the waiters brought the wrong cheese, as sometimes happened, she would say, "No, bring the one with the black label." The object of her obsessions is a semi soft, mildly peppery cheese called Cacio de Roma. It’s made from ewes’ milk and aged about a month.
Then… Michele fell overpoweringly in love with the guy who made her favorite cheese … Pierluigi Sini! So Ms. Buster moved… not to Italy, but back to Astoria in Queens. And Pierluigi Sini came to our country to introduce his family's cheeses. These days, Buster enthusiastically promotes cheese instead of sports. Many of their cheeses are unusual or hard to find, and others are imported only by Sini Fulvi. One of the most exceptional things about the Sini Fulvi cheese business is that this small company (four people here, 40 in Italy) is big on telling people all about cheese!
"In America, nobody was doing any education about cheese in the early '90s,” says Michele. “People didn't even know about the many ways cheeses can be made and aged, or that the pasture makes a big difference in the taste, or that pecorino means ewes’ milk cheese. So Sini Fulvi is "doing education” as well as selling cheeses.
This company first caught my attention when it presented its cheeses for a lunch at the James Beard House in Manhattan. Later, I got more acquainted while attended a tasting of Portuguese cheeses at O Pandeiro in Manhattan. (I wonder what Pierluigi thought of Manhattan?) The couple works directly with the producers of the cheeses they import, not through middlemen. So when they tell guys who work at cheese counters about their wares, their stories carry the tang of the country places where the cheeses are made. One incredible Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is produced at the rate of two large wheels a day. "It's two guys who just want to make the best cheese in the world," Sini said.
His company imports about 80 cheeses, 25 or so from Portugal and Spain, and the rest from Italy. The biggest challenge has been getting people to try cheeses they fear will be smelly or strong. "Something that in Europe is an everyday cheese, is sometimes difficult to get people here to try it," Sini said. "We have been responsible for bringing in a number of things that were never brought to America before." Michele added, "We will fly to Wichita to educate the staff of a store, in hopes of making them feel more comfortable about mold." Mold is natural and does not ruin cheese. That doesn't mean you must eat it, but you can safely eat the cheese beneath. "Cheese is not neat," Buster said. The outside of a hunk of wonderful tasting cheese may not look beautiful... to put it delicately.
“If the staff behind the counter won't try a cheese,” Buster said, "then you've lost the battle." Sini and Buster coax them to try, and supply plenty of interesting information to accompany their wares. For example: Azeitao, ewes’ milk cheese from Portugal, is coagulated using the liquid from ground, steeped thistle flowers. And they are especially proud of a Queso de Vare from Asturius, Spain…. a place where the goats outnumber the people and the five houses in the town. Queso de Vare is a one-of-a-kind cheese!
Cacio de Roma, one of Sini Fulvi's own masterworks, and the cheese that first brought Pierluigi and Michele together, comes in a "Rustico Black" made with whole black peppercorns, or a version made with crushed red pepper. It is great in lasagna, and in quesadillas, too.
Manchego, A Real Crowd Pleaser
So what flavors traditional Spanish cheese? Like all other farmhouse cheeses, look first to the land and what the animals eat, then what kind of an animal the milk comes from, and of course the process, the aging, and the cheesemaker. But perhaps nowhere else in the world is the type and breed of animal so influential in the flavor of the cheese, as it is in Spain.
Spain has over one hundred different varieties of cheese and a large percentage of them are made from ewes’ milk, not cows. More than 1,500 common species of sheep can be found in Spain! This diversity in breeds can be attributed to Spain’s size (the second largest country in the European Union) and more importantly, to its countryside, which ranges from alpine to desert-like conditions.
Manchego cheese is made exclusively from the milk of Manchega sheep, originating from the Entrefino breed. More than 90% of the animals are white and the rest are black. These sheep, used for both milk and meat, graze on the plains of southern central Spain, called La Mancha (get the picture on how important sheep breeds are in Spain). The name La Mancha is derived from the Arabic word “manhsa,” meaning “land without water.” It can get pretty hot in this part of the world, so the fact Manchega ewes can produce milk under these conditions is quite extraordinary. In fact, the Manchega’s milk capacity is quite astounding… the average milk production is 26.4 gallons per animal a year, being markedly seasonal during the months of April, May and June.
They graze mainly on dry pasture and leftovers of the grain harvest. In this region one can find a large variety of perennial plants and other aromatic species that have a determining influence on the milk composition. Manchega ewes are accustomed to roaming freely and are well adapted to cold windswept winters and extremely hot summers... temperatures reaching more than 122ºF! Eighty percent of the days are sunny, rain is scarce and irregular, and the wind changes constantly. You would think under these conditions the milk would be low in fats, but quite the opposite is true. Manchega milk is very fatty which results in a rich, full flavored, fragrant cheese with a subtle, salty, tang on the finish.
Today, Manchego is one of the most acclaimed ewes milk cheeses in the world and it comes with its own Denominacion de Origen designation, meaning it is a cheese of high integrity which meets specific criteria, such is the breed of sheep, and how and where it’s made. The Denomination Manchego Cheese includes the largest natural region of Spain, located in the center of the Iberian Peninsula. Its most northern part can be found 30 miles north of Madrid. This area is a plain with altitudes that range from 2,133 to 2,625 feet above sea level.
The rind of Manchego has a zigzagging crosshatch pattern on it. This was originally caused by the molds which were made from hand-plaited strands of a tough grass called esparto, and even though this grass is still found all over Spain, cheesemakers now use plastic molds that make the same impression as the traditional grass.
Manchego can be found in most tapas bars in Spain, usually alone on a plate in fanned triangles, sliced thinly from the wheel. Manchego is usually accompanied by olives, chorizo or Jamón serrano, and often washed down with a cava (sparkling white wine), fino (dry sherry), a light red wine, or some beer. Try it grated over grilled vegetables. Sometimes Manchego is served as a light dessert accompanied by membrillo, fig wheels, fresh fruit and honey.
Experience P'tit Basque, a Bit of the Old Country
P'tit Basque, made from pure ewes’ milk, has a rather dry texture and an earthy, nutty flavor.
This semi-hard ewes’ milk cheese is made in the French Pyrenees Mountain Range, the natural border that divides France and Spain. It is populated by the Basques, a people who have their own customs, and even their own language! Although the Basques live on both sides of the border, they produce this cheese on the French side. Amidst the breath taking, rolling mountains of the Pyrenees, vast pastures stretch as far as the eye can see, providing fertile grazing. I think the Pyrenees may be the most "flowerful" region in Europe that I've ever traveled through.
The French Pyrenees Mountain Range is one of the few regions that is still home to hundreds of small cheesemakers. While industrially produced cheeses have made major gains in the lowlands, there are still hundreds of small mountain cheesemakers left who stick to the same traditional methods their ancestors established centuries ago. Amongst these smallholders, flocks average a hundred or two hundred sheep. They are still hand-milked, yielding the shepherd, on average, only two or three ten-pound wheels a day.
This is a labor-intensive cheese… the curd is "cut" literally, by hand. The cheesemakers reach an arm into their kettle of warm curd, and ever so slowly, they break it into small pieces from which the final cheese will be formed. This ancient technique protects the gentle flavor of the finished cheese. Pyrenees cheeses aren't the kind that hit you over the head. Instead, they're lovely, smooth, subtly fruity with a nice little bit of a nose, the kind of cheese I could eat every day at lunch, or a simple dinner with a glass of dry white wine.
Flavor Notes
The rich and creamy milk that comes from ewes’ makes resounding and intensely flavored cheeses. You will find that it only takes small amounts too satisfy your palate… in essence, you can get a lot more flavor from a lot less cheese.
Manchego is a fragrant cheese with a complex and intense flavor, a wonderful nutty undertone, and a subtle, salty, tang on the finish. This cheese is aged 6 or more months... at any age Manchego is never overwhelming. P'tit Basque from France has floral and sweet caramel notes, while Italy’s Cacio de Roma is semi hard, mildly peppery and slightly acidic.
Scampi Alla Gratinata
1/2 lb. Cacio de Roma
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium onions finely chopped
2 lbs. tomatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
2 lbs. large shrimp
chopped parsley
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Saute' onions in a saucepan with olive oil. Add tomatoes, chopped parsley, garlic salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring from time to time. Place shrimp in a pan and coat with sauce. Sprinkle Cacio de Roma over the shrimp and bake uncovered at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked and the cheese is melted. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Veal Chops draped with Cacio de Roma in a double Dijon Sauce (Serves 4)
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3 tbsp. minced shallots
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
1 tbsp. coarse grained French mustard
4 veal chops (1/4 - 1/2 in. thick)
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
4 tsp. whole mustard seeds
2/3 cup dry vermouth
2 oz. thinly sliced Cacio de Roma Cheese
Combine 7 tbsp. butter with minced shallots, 2 tbsp. mustard, tarragon and 1 tbsp. coarse grained mustard in bowl. Season mustard butter with pepper. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Brush veal with 2 tsp. Dijon mustard. Press 1 tsp. mustard seeds onto one side of each veal chop. Season with salt and pepper. Melt remaining 1 tbsp. butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add veal and cook until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate; cover with foil and keep warm. Preheat oven to 350. Add vermouth to drippings in skillet; boil until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes. Whisk in mustard butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place sliced Cacio de Roma cheese on each piece of veal and heat in oven just until cheese has melted. Drizzle sauce over veal and serve.
Formaggio Alla Griglia (Grilled Cacio de Roma)
Slice a piece of cheese about 1/2 inch thick, coat lightly with flour and grill it on both sides until golden brown. (If you are using a stove, coat the pan very lightly with olive oil before cooking). Garnish and serve as an appetizer.
