Vol. 3 No. 2

S.A.F.R. Port Salut

The Trappist Cheese

SAFR Port Salut is smooth, delectable cheese made in the province of Brittany on the west coast of France. A region very similar to Maine, the countryside of Brittany is bordered by the ocean, boats and fish, and is steeped in coastal weather extremes. It has been said that Brittany is more influenced by England than its own motherland. It also happens to be great dairy territory - it's responsible for 20% of France's entire cattle raising, produces 20% of its milk and 33% of its butter.

Port Salut (pronounced POOR sah-LEW) has an honorable past and fascinating history. Originally named Port du Salut after the abbey of Notre Dame du Port du salut at Entrammes, it was produced in the mid 1800's by Trappist monks, strictly for consumption at the monastery. A visit to Paris by the head of the abby in 1873 resulted in an opportunistic distribution agreement with a Parisian cheese seller. A year later sales of this disc shaped cheese were phenomenal - enough to incline the monks to register Port du Salut as a trade name to guard against imitations. It has also been said the origin of Port Salut is closely linked to the French Revolution of 1789. Escaping from the persecutions of the "Terror," a congregation of Trappist Monks set themselves up abroad and learned how to make cheese for their very survival. Upon returning to France in 1815 they built a new abbey and continued to their cheese production. The name later became the registered trademark of the Société Anonyme des Fermiers Réunis for Saint-Paulin which is what the SAFR stands for.

Produced in thick disks of about 9 inches in diameter and weighing about 5 pounds, Port Salut keeps well for several weeks, or longer, if securely wrapped. A cheese that is often confused with "Port du Salut," it is produced in Entrammes, in northwest France. The rind of the cheese is slightly moist and colored, with regular traces of the plastic-covered cloth used in production. Affinage (refining) takes one month as the cheese is polished with brine, which also contributes to its rich flavor. The result is an exquisite cheese with an orange rind and pale-yellow interior. A cheese that pairs beautifully with Chinon and Bourgueil wines, it's also a perfect partner for fruit and makes any cheese board more lusciously tempting.

St. Andre

The Triple Creme de la Creme

A country cheesemaker started the St. Andre Creamery in Villefranche de Rouergue, France, (the famed region that gives us Roquefort cheese) back in 1928 to ensure the plentiful flow of fresh milk for his store. More than 40 years later, a soft-ripened, triple-cream cheese named St. Andre made its debut. With a taste described as a blend of the perfect brie mixed with equal parts of thick, sour cream and whipped sweet cream, St. Andre is a cheese for the uncompromising connoisseur in you. A soft-ripened cheese with bloomy rind, it has a downy white, edible rind with a smooth paste. Being made from cow's milk and enriched with pure cream, gourmands consider it a treasure. St. André is also fairly rare. Its "triple-creme" status means that that this beauty has no less than 75% butterfat for every 100 grams of cheese. It's about 50% richer than the average Camembert, and it gets that way by adding more cream to the already rich curds during the cheesemaking process, resulting in a cheese that resembles a beautiful, velvet-coated cheesecake.

This sinful delicacy is beautifully paired with a light, fruity rosé or ale - and no cheeseboard should be served without it. To appreciate its nuance of flavors, we suggest indulging in this cheese at room temperature without the "distraction" of strongly flavored bread or crackers. Wait until the aftertaste of the cheese has "set" before taking a sip of wine or other accompaniments. We know that, once you taste St. Andre, you'll want to indulge in this seductress again and again.

Scottish White Cheddar

A Celtic Treasure

The terrain of Scotland is well suited to cheese-making. The short cheese-making season in Scotland meant that traditional cheeses were usually required to be capable of being stored (matured) through the winter - hence the predominance of hard cheese in Britain. It is in this traditional vein that we bring you a delightful, mature cheddar from Scotland. Aged between 6 and 9 months, this selection was picked from one of a handful Scottish artisan cheese makers and has a medium tangy flavor in the classic, British style.

Cheddar accounts for 70-80% of the total output of cheese in Scotland. The main creameries are located at Locherbie, Stranraer and Campbeltown and on the islands of Bute, Arran, Islay, Mull (a peninsular), Gigha and Orkney. The advent of modern temperature controlled facilities and refrigerated transport has revived artisanal cheesemaking in small creameries and farms across the country, making it more possible for us to bring you this magnificent taste of the Highlands.

Tasting Notes

Port Salut

Port Salut is a semi-soft natural cheese that is most recognized by its orange rind. It is rather mild with a savory, sweet flavor, unlike many other French cheeses. It is a cheese that has universal appeal with its smooth, velvety texture and light acidic taste. The pâte is elastic, cream-colored, soft, and supple with a very faint aroma. Bon appetit!

St. Andre

The intensity of flavors in St. Andre vary from being pleasantly creamy to a rich, buttery taste due to the addition of sweet cream. Many connoisseurs describe it as being as lush, creamy, and rich as cream cheese.

History of Cheddar Cheese

Local folk tales have it that Cheddar cheese was discovered by accident when a milkmaid left a pail of milk, for safety, in the nearby Cheddar Gorge caves. Upon returning Later, the milkmaid found that the milk had turned into a new delicious substance and Cheddar cheese was born. It is for certain that cheesemaking was well established more than 800 years ago. King Henry II pronounced Cheddar cheese to be the best in Britain, and the Great Roll of the Pipe (the king's accounts) records that in 1170 the king purchased 10240lbs. of Cheddar cheese at a cost of a farthing per pound. It was so popular that the king's son, the famous Prince John, purchased a similar amount in 1184. By the reign of Charles I, the parliamentary records show that the demand at court for cheese made at Cheddar was so great it was 'bespoke', that is, the cheese was sold before it was even made. It was then only available at the court, much to the dismay of the common people. In 1724 Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe" visited the Mendips and wrote "A Tour of the Islands of Great Britain", devoting an entire section to Cheddar and its cheese. During the rein of Queen Victoria, the monarch was presented with an immense wheel of Cheddar cheese, made from the milk of over 700 cows! In 1901 the village of Cheddar was chosen to despatch an order of 3500lbs. of cheese to Captain Scot RN aboard the ship "Discovery", for his famous Antarctic Expedition. Thus was, and still is, the popularity of the one and only, Cheddar cheese.

Say "Cheese!"

Savory Historical Quotes on the World's Most Beloved Food

"I was blown up while we were eating cheese." --Frederick Henry after Caporetto (Kobarid) in Hemingway's Farewell to Arms"

"Richard Nixon...committed unspeakable acts with cottage cheese." --Jay Jacobs

"A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains cheese, milk's leap toward immortality." --Clifton Fadiman

"How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over 200 varieties of cheese? --Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

"Much like a cheese, consumes itself to the very paring" --Parolles in Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, Act I, Scene 1

"Cheese is probably the friendliest of foods. It endears itself to everything and never tires of showing off to great advantage. Any liquor or, I may say, any potable or any edible loves to be seen in the company of cheese. Naturally, some nationalities choose one type of companion and some another, but you very seldom find clashes of temperament in passing." --James Beard

"A poet's hope: to be, like some valley cheese, local, but prized elsewhere --W.H. Auden in "Shorts II"

"Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats" --Robert Browing in The Pied Piper of Hamelin

"Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese--toasted, mostly" --Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island, Ben Gunn speaking

"In baiting a mouse-trap with cheese, always leave room for the mouse" --Saki, in The Infernal Parliament

"But I, when I undress me Each night, upon my knees, Will ask the Lord to bless me, With apple pie and cheese." --Eugene Field in "Apple Pie and Cheese"

Recipes

Chanterelle Mushrooms with St. Andre in Miniature Cream Puffs

You will need:

1 recipe cream puff pastry

1 recipe duxelles (mushroom mixture)

1/3 lb. St. Andre cheese

For the cream puffs:

8 Tbs. butter

1 cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

5 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut up butter into tablespoon sized bits. Combine butter, water and salt in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Put over medium heat and cook until butter melts and mixture boils. Remove from heat. All at once, add the flour; vigorously stir until blended. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly 4-5 minutes. The mixture will form a thick mass that leaves a light film on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Add one of the eggs to the mixture and beat to completely blend. Repeat with remaining eggs, one at a time. Place rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough onto prepared baking sheets. With pastry brush dipped in beaten egg, round the mounds so they rise in the middle. Bake 30 minutes or until pastry is puffed and well browned. Allow steam to escape by pricking each puff with a knife. Turn the oven off and put the puffs back in for 5-10 minutes. If not used within a day, store in an airtight container. If storing, re-crisping will be necessary.

For the duxelles:

1/2 lb. chanterelle mushrooms

Finely chopped 1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. fresh sage, finely chopped

3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Freshly ground nutmeg to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Slowly sauté the mushrooms in the butter 3-4 minutes over medium to low heat. Add shallots, sage and nutmeg and sauté 5 more minutes or until most of the mushroom juices have evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in heavy cream until uniformly mixed. Cook the mixture until the juices have thickened. Let cool 20 minutes.

To Assemble:

Cut puffs in half and remove doughy pieces from inside each puff. Fill each bottom with 1 tsp. of St. Andre cheese and 2 tsp. of the mushroom mixture. Replace top half of puff, and place them on a prepared baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh sage, serve immediately. Makes about 30 two inch puffs. Wonderful with Domaine Carneros sparkling wine.

Squash Gratin with White Cheddar Cheese

1 c. onions, thinly sliced

2 lbs. yellow squash, thinly sliced

1 tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 eggs

2 tbs. sugar

1/2 c. milk

1/2 pound (8 ounces) white Cheddar cheese, grated

1-2 tbs. butter

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, blanch the onions and squash in a small amount of boiling water until almost tender, (about 2-3 minutes). Drain well. Arrange in a 2-quart baking dish. Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine the eggs, sugar, milk and cheese in a medium bowl. Pour over the squash mixture and dot with thin slices of butter. Bake 45 minutes. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 6-8 servings