Vol 2 No 7

Featured Cheeses

Just Say, Aged Cheese Please!

Although I love the flavors of the many fine fresh cheeses we've got, I have to confess that most of my favorites are those with a lot of age on them. I'm not alone in my preference. Most every time I ask an artisan cheesemaker how they prefer to eat their own cheese, they tell me they like the really old stuff. Yet it's increasingly difficult to find well aged cheeses these days. I’ve asked many cheesemakers why do they sell it off so young, especially since, they like their cheese well aged? Nearly all of them offered up the same answers.

• Most every cheesemaker is under pressure to turn their milk into money as quickly as possible, so most producers are pushing to sell their stocks earlier than ever.
  
  
• People keep promoting the inaccurate mythology that Americans "don't like strong flavors," so Europeans hold their most flavorful cheeses off the U.S. market.

Aging cheese is a lot like making soup stock: the longer you let the stock simmer, the more moisture evaporates, and the more you concentrate the flavors in the remaining liquid. In my experience, when we can get the cheesemakers to give their cheese a little extra aging, we stand a good chance of getting our hands on something really special. The texture will of course be drier, and the flavors more intensely condensed in the remaining cheeses… much more interesting, with higher high notes, lower low notes, and longer, livelier finishes. The best of the bunch are the aged wheels, because the natural amino acids have crystallized into tiny crunchy little flavor crystals. And they are unbelievably delicious!

This month we've put together a selection of 3 wonderfully aged cheeses to transport your palate to Italy. This is the kind of flavor you would experience if you sat down for dinner at an Italian cheesemaker’s home!

Parmigiano Reggiano Is First Rate Collateral!

We cut this cheese from wheels that were made April 1999, which makes them just over two years old… aged about 35% longer than most of the Parmigiano that's imported to America.

As enjoyable as good Parmigiano is to cook with, I adore it even more when I make a meal out of it accompanied by avocados, strawberries, kiwis, and some grand crackers. There's really no better eating cheese anywhere. Break off a small golden nugget, and eat it slowly, enjoying the burst of flavor that's loaded into every bit. As you eat it, take note of the tiny, crunchy crystals, one of the historical hallmarks of Great Parmesan Cheese. Try grating some on a salad of fresh arugula and toasted pine nuts, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Parmigiano Reggiano is called "The Greatest Cheese for Eight Centuries" because this ancient formula has remained unchanged throughout 800 years… 800 years of history that has transformed the face of continents, and the borders of most countries. Records dating back to 1200-1300 AD describe the characteristics of Parmigiano Reggiano as they have been handed down to this day. One can therefore assume that the true origins of the cheese date back to a much earlier time when many fine cheeses were extolled by early Latin writers. These ancient cheesemakers developed techniques that created a crystallization in Parmigiano Reggiano that has clearly withstood the test of time! Your cheese is the same as that enjoyed by armored knights, bonded serfs and saints throughout history!

The Making of a Masterpiece

Let me take you to the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy… north of Tuscany, and south of Veneto. This region is famous for Parma ham, Balsamic Vinegar and of course Parmigiano Reggiano. Production is only allowed within the "zona tipica," which includes the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantova on the right bank of the Po river, and Bologna on the left bank of the Reno river. Cows must be fed a diet that is so specific and well defined that it takes several pages to describe it… and there’s more pages telling you what they can’t eat! The only additive permitted in the cheesemaking process is salt. A wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano must weigh between 66 to 80lbs, is about 12 inches tall and has a diameter of approximately 24 inches, the slightly convex sides are caused by natural expansion, due to the weight of the cheese pressing the rind outwards during the initial phase of maturation.

Your ½ LB of Parmigiano Reggiano
was made from more than 2 quarts of milk

Parmigiano Reggiano is made in a "casello" where four to ten cheeses are made daily. Two successive milkings are used in each batch of cheese. The evening's milk is poured out into small trays to rest throughout the night, then it is combined with the morning’s milk that has rested for only one hour. A portion of the naturally accumulated cream is skimmed off, and used to make butter and other dairy products. Now we are ready to create this exquisite cheese!

Milk is poured into a copper kettle shaped like an inverted church bell, the “starter” is added to the milk. The “starter” is a small amount of fermented whey from the previous day's production … sort of like using starter yeast to make sourdough bread. Next the milk is heated to 90 degrees, while being gently stirred. Then the heat is turned off and rennet is added to the milk. Coagulation occurs within 12 or 15 minutes, excess whey is drained off, and the curd is turned over and broken up with a sharp-edged tool known as the "spino" (thorn-brush). This is not easy work!

Once the coagulated mass is reduced to fragments the size of wheat grains, it is ready for the second cooking. Over a low heat, the temperature of the curd is raised to 112 degrees, and then the heat is stepped up sharply until the curd reaches a temperature of 131 degrees. When the heat is turned off, the curd settles into a solid mass at the bottom of the kettle. After 30 minutes, this mass is lifted out with a wooden paddle and placed on a large square of cheese-cloth.

While still wrapped in its cheese-cloth, the cooked curd is placed inside a circular wooden mould called a "fascera," and lightly pressed to ease out the remaining whey. This mould gives the cheese its characteristic wheel shape. After a few hours the cloth is removed and a special matrix is inserted between the cheese and the inside of the mould. The matrix impresses over the entire side of the new cheese the words "Parmigiano Reggiano." At frequent intervals, the cheese is turned to rest on each of its flat ends alternately, and is left in the mould for a few days until "set" in its final shape.

Next comes a salt water bath. You can begin to see why such cheeses are called handcrafted! For about 20-25 days, the cheese is immersed in a salt brine, and is then taken into the "cascina," the storehouse where the first stage of maturing takes place. The cheeses are placed on massive wooden shelves where they are regularly brushed, turned over and checked while the Parmigiano Reggiano undergoes a long process of ageing. The rooms used for maturing Parmigiano Reggiano are spacious… made to accommodate as many as 2000 cheeses in each room.

Generally speaking, the maturing installations are managed by banking houses or co-operative organizations. They watch carefully over these cheeses, ensuring that all the finishing operations take place exactly as they should. Essentially, these cheeses have in essence become collateral for the financial assistance the banking houses have provided to the dairies.

Auricchio Provolone Aged Over One Year!

If you take Mozzarella, hand-rub the surface with brine, bind it with rope and hang it up in a room with the proper temperature and humidity, it will turn into an entirely different cheese, called Provolone. This cows milk cheese is found in virtually every Italian home.

In 1877 in San Giuseppe Vesuviano near Naples, a company named “Auricchio” was founded by Gennaro Auricchio, the inventor of a special rennet, or as people said, the "secret of don Gennaro,” which gives Auricchio Provolone its unique taste. Auricchio Provolone gained fame quickly and by the end of the 19th century, the surname of its producer had become a byword for the cheese itself.

Provolone was originally the traditional cheese of Southern Italy. Production had already spread to the Po Valley and the area between Brescia and Cremona in particular, by the end of the nineteenth century. Its name derives from the Neapolitan words “prova” or “provola,” which mean globe shaped. Provolones are created in a variety of globe-like shapes, in a range of sizes from half pound melons to 200 pound torpedo shapes.

Aged Italian Provolones are sooo much more flavorful than standard issue sandwich provolone… they really should have a different name! Made into huge 70 pound "salamis," then aged for over a year, this succulent, sharp, buttery, flavor will be the star of your antipasto plates. When I serve this cheese to friends, they feel like they've discovered a whole new Provolone persona. Serve it with Italian olives and thin slices of Prosciutto di Parma. If you've only tried the soft, supermarket "deli" version of Provolone this cheese will be a revelation. This is Provolone as they eat it in Italy!

Pecorino Toscano

Pecorino is the Italian word for sheep and Toscano is the Italian name for the area we call Tuscany, so Pecorino Toscano means the sheep cheese of Tuscany. This is no ordinary cheese, Pecorino of Tuscany is famous around the cheese world since just about every village in Tuscany makes their own unique one, based on the same recipe! You may think that some would be better than others, but the Tuscans love their Pecorino so much that each one is equally delicious.

Most Pecorinos are oily cheeses because sheeps milk contains very high amounts of butterfat… one of the reasons this cheese is so delicious. So when Pecorino comes to room temperature don’t be surprised if you see beads of oil on the cheese, these are “butterfat tears” that weep naturally from the cheese, and they indicate that it’s the perfect temperature for eating.

Pecorino Toscano can be eaten young right through to very aged, my most favorite age is about 6 months old, which is what you have in this shipment. Pecorino is usually eaten as a table cheese but will occasionally be shaved on top of fresh beans (perfect for summer salads) or lightly sautéed greens. Try it instead of Parmigiano on your next bowl of pasta. Its flavor is dense and nutty with a wonderful rustic finish.

Cheese Notes

Sheep's milk cheeses break down into smaller molecules in the body that are much easier to digest. Many lactose intolerant people find that they can enjoy sheep's milk cheeses without repercussions to their health.

Cheese is a living, breathing organism. Imported cheese is often sealed in plastic when it travels to the U.S. to help prevent mold growth, but mold should be expected when dealing with natural cheese. Just cut it off and eat your cheese.

You will notice that we never wrap our cheeses in plastic. Check out our website to see why. But, if you purchase one wrapped in plastic, unwrap it immediately and let it breathe for several hours. A packaged cheese, especially a vacuum-sealed one, has been in a “coma,” and it needs to breathe fresh air in order to return to it natural state.

Simple But Elegant Roasted Pears

8 ounces Pecorino Toscano cheese
4 large pears, not quite ripe
1 cup Chianti or other dry red wine
½ cup sugar
¼ cup chestnut or orange blossom honey

Trim the bottoms of the pears so they'll stand up and arrange them in a small baking dish. Pour the wine and the sugar into the pan around the pears. Bake at 400 degrees until soft, about 40 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Strain the liquid in the bottom of the pan and set aside. Place each pear in the center of a dessert plate. Drizzle with the honey and spoon the wine sauce around the base of each. Using a peeler, shave pieces of Pecorino over the pears and serve.