Very Caerphilly

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

For this installment, our lactose-based delight hails from a land of great beauty in the western part of the British mainland... Wales. The cheese? A raw cow's milk variety with a heavenly buttery flavor and varied texture called--

Caerphilly

--named after the town in South Wales near which it was originally produced.


Caerphilly has an interesting history.  A simple cheese--mild, semi-firm, with a slight squishiness around the edges--Caerphilly was a staple of the diet of Welsh coal miners, who wrapped it in cabbage leaves to take down with them into the mine for their mid-day meal.

In the early 20th century, demand for this popular cheese in England overwhelmed supply in Wales, so cheesemakers across the Bristol Channel in Somerset, England, started producing it, as well. Between the World Wars and for years after the Second, traditional farm production of Caerphilly ceased entirely. A manufactured variety replaced it and, although called "Caerphilly," this mass produced cheese bore little resemblance to the original.

Since then, however, traditional farmhouse Caerphilly, with the same delightful creamy flavor and texture, has made a comeback, both in South Wales and Somerset.

The cheese comes in 8-to-9 pound wheels, 3 inches thick and 12 inches in diameter, has a natural gray rind and a paste that is creamy beige to yellow in color, and is slightly runny in the center. When buying Caerphilly,  avoid any with paste that looks dry or is moldy. The rind should be dry and gray, never black, moist, or mushy.  Because Caerphilly is not a particularly dense cheese, it will dry out and go stale after about  a week. So, buy just enough to last that long, and you'll enjoy every bite.

Caerphilly is a lovely snack cheese, good with bread, fruit, chutney, or preserves. It's also a great melter and works well sliced or shredded for a fantastic toasted cheese sandwich!

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Like Cheese? Check out America's Chevalier du Taste-Fromage Steven Jenkins' blog here.

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

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Shropshire Blues

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling’s “Mouse in a Million” BIG CHEESE Blog!

Long time, no write. Sorry about that. I’ve been up to my whiskers in research and nibbles as part of my quest for the best in cheesy lore.

Today’s featured delight is another marvelous offering from my native land—

Shropshire Blue.

Shropshire Blue is a “new” cheese, which means it’s been in existence less than 25 years. Originally produced in Scotland, it was marketed in England as having come from the County of Shropshire, near Wales. This wondrous Blue is now actually produced in Shropshire and in Melton Mowbray in the County of Leicestershire.

Shropshire Blue is like Stilton in that it has a creamy texture, a rough, brown rind, and the same dimensions:  cylindrical shape, 11 to 12 inches in height, 7 inches in diameter, and weighing 14 to 16 pounds. Its similarity to its venerable and much esteemed counterpart ends there, however; its paste is bright orange, its blues are bluer, and its flavor is considerably sharper than Stilton's.

When buying Shropshire Blue, the most important consideration is its freshness. A fresh cheese has that bright orange hue I mentioned, with veins of vibrant blue/green running through it. Its texture should be creamy. No cracks, no crumbling, no slimy or powdery rind. The flavor should be quite sharp and tangy with a lasting, piquant aftertaste.

Shropshire Blue is a great cheese to serve after dinner with sweet fruit, crusty bread, and a robust red wine, sweet dessert wine, port, Madeira, or sherry. 

Buy yourself a hunk today and enjoy!

Like Cheese? Check out Steven Jenkins' blog here. 

And don't miss the latest installment from that wise and worthy cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray.

Like mice and bats and other critters of the night? Then you'll love Darklings! Buy it here...

Source: Cheese Primer, Steven Jenkins, Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1996

Wonderful Wensleydale

Welcome to another installment of Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

"Rule Brittania! Britannia rules the waves!"

Yes, I'm feeling patriotic these days. As such, tonight I begin a series on the virtues of cheese from my beloved island home---England.

And the best cheese to start with is one of my all-time favorites...

Wensleydale

What lovely pup-hood memories I have of sitting around the dinner table with my 10 brothers and sisters, doing battle over the last crumbs of this delightful cheese. Oh, the flying fur, the howls, the bite marks! And were they worth it? You bet!

Made from either cow's or sheep's milk, I believe the best Wensleydale comes from Yorkshire in northern England. This cheese is tangy, yet delicate, with a crumbly texture and pure white color.

Sometimes you find it mixed with cranberries or other fruit. Personally, I like mine unembellished.  I love to eat it all by itself, with only a humble cracker to convey it to the lips.

But Wensleydale is worthwhile no matter how it comes--plain or fancy. So, should you come across it while foraging in the aisles of your favorite grocery store or cheese shop, grab some. You won't regret it.

For more exciting cheese lore, check out the latest offering from that fabulous cheese-loving feline, Spaulding Gray, here.

And now for this important commercial message.

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Buon Natale!

Merry Christmas!

Welcome to Prudence Dapperling's "Mouse in a Million" BIG CHEESE Blog!

For my final entry of 2012, I'm going to write on something I probably should have weeks ago.

Why has Italian cheese been my preoccupation lately?

Surely other countries produce fantastic cheese and possess cultures rich in cheese lore and a commitment to maintaining the sacred traditions of cheese making.

But, of course. And they shall receive my undivided attention in the coming months.

Italy, you see, has a special place in my heart. And not only is it the wondrous variety of lactose-based ambrosia the nation produces that enthralls me.

Italy’s geography and culture are a smorgasbord of enchanting and sometimes befuddling disparity. Each region, distinct and unique, has its own marvelous thing going on, as seen in its loyalties (regional identification is fierce), dialect, cuisine…You name it. This banquet for the senses is embodied in the singular character of each region's cheeses.

When you shop for cheese in Italy, you'll find only the cheeses produced in the region you're in. Each locale is passionate regarding their own. With rare exceptions, a shop keeper wouldn't dream of selling a cheese from anywhere else.

Italians take their cheese very, very seriously. So much so, that a whole raft of laws have been put in place to ensure that a cheese bearing a particular name is made in its proper region, according to time-honored processes with traditional ingredients, and that it achieves a consistent standard of flavor and quality. These laws are referred to as Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C. for short). To date, 26 cheeses have been granted the coveted D.O.C. status. These (and their regions of origin) are as follows:

•   Asiago: Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

•   Bra: Piedmont

•   Caciovacallo: Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania

•   Canestrato Pugliese: Apulia

•   Casciotta d'Urbino: The Marches

•   Castelmagno: Piedmont

•   Fiore Sardo: Sardinia

•   Fontina d'Aosta: Piedmont

•   Formai de Mut: Lombardy

•   Gorgonzola: Lombardy

•   Grana Padano: Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto

•   Montasio: Friuli-Venezia Giulia

•   Mozzarella di bufala: Campania

•   Murazzano: Piedmont

•   Parmigiano-Reggiano: Emilia-Romagna

•   Pecorino Romano: Lazio, Sardinia

•   Pecorino Siciliano: Sicily

•   Pecorino Toscano: Tuscany

•   Pressato: Veneto

•   Provolone: All regions

•   Ragusano: Sicily

•   Raschera: Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna

•   Robiola di Roccaverano: Piedmont

•   Tallegio: Lombardy

•   Toma: Piedmont

When you visit your favorite cheese shop, look for the D.O.C. stamp on the rind or wrapper of the goods on display. Although a name-controlled cheese may vary a little in flavor and appearance due to various factors (e.g., different cheese makers, ripening times, season in which the cheese was produced, etc.), nonetheless you can be confident that it's the real deal.

Treat yourself this holiday season to a selection of some of the finest cheeses on earth. It's a treat that will make your Christmas and New Year's feasts memorable ones, indeed!

For the latest and greatest on everything CHEESE, follow the blog of America’s #1 Cheese Maestro, Steven Jenkins, at www.fairwaymarket-jenkins.blogspot.com and get the ultimate cheese "bible"--his Cheese Primer here.

One more time this year... Darklings  Get it here, curl up in front of a fireplace, and enjoy a good after-Christmas feed read!