Cheese

[perrins57]

Had 'em, mate, and love 'em. In the fridge at the moment I have a Bleu d'Auverne, a full-fat Normandy Camembert and a hunk of Wensleydale as well as my cheddars. A superb Irish cheese that I bought in Barnstaple pannier market is Cashel Blue. I love a good, tangy, crumbly Lancashire on a butty with tomatoes or good piccalilli. I relish a good, flowing Brie too, but it mustn't have that nasty, chalky layer in the middle. It's just that I love cheddar especially but felt frustrated about the crap that usually passes for it. You haven't used the words "adventurous" and "cheddar" in the same sentence because you've had your senses dulled by the rubbish that generally goes by the name of cheddar. But there is good stuff around!

Steve

This all sounds wonderful, its got me dribbling (even more than playing whistle does) mind you I can't imagine the state of your arteries
I expect we are in a similar position, regarding being fairly close to farms that produce their own cheese from their own (single breed) milk. There's a farm I buy from in West Wales that makes its own Cheddar, Brie, Edam and Caerphilly. None of these chesses taste remotely like the stuff with same names in supermarkets - they're great. But again full cream milk is obviously used so you've got to watch the amount you eat!

[Lambchop]

What about Kraft Velvetta. I do prefer natural cheese from Vermont (sorry Wisconsin), but Velvetta is often on sale in my supermarket, and I like bargains.

"Pasturized processed imitation cheese-like food" A bargain?


If you like Velveeta, that's one thing, but if you're buying it because it's cheap "cheese," you're barking up the wrong health tree.

People think Velveeta is cheese, but it is not. Slick marketing has convinced Americans that it's cheese and a "real" food product. It's as much "cheese" as Kool-Ade is "fruit juice."

It's crap-food. Somebody invented it to make use of garbage . . . literally. They invented it to use up whey, a byproduct of the cheese industry which was thrown away or good only for animal feed. And then they marketed it as "cheese."

It looks like cheese because it's fats and casein held together with emulsifiers and dyed orange. It has a high calorie count because of the fat, but that doesn't make it good nutrition or good for you.

When you calculate the cost of your "bargain," are you factoring in the cost of your future angioplasty, your intracoronary stents, and/or your bypass? And the loss of 10 or more years from your expected life?

Cheese isn't something you need to be eating in large quantities, but it's at least decent food.

You'd have a better bargain to buy real cheese and eat less of it.


That being said, I should add that I have been known to enjoy macaroni and cheese made with it . . . and an occasional mini-slab layered over white bread . . . and niblets on crackers . . . and sometimes keep a brick of it in my hurricane evacuation kit . . . since it keeps pretty much indefinitely and does not require refrigeration. Even after you open it, it doesn't "go bad," exactly . . . it just kind of dries out. And that peculiar chemical plasticizer taste grows on you . . . :roll:

[dwinterfield]

What about Kraft Velvetta. I do prefer natural cheese from Vermont (sorry Wisconsin), but Velvetta is often on sale in my supermarket, and I like bargains.

"Pasturized processed imitation cheese-like food" A bargain?


If you like Velveeta, that's one thing, but if you're buying it because it's cheap "cheese," you're barking up the wrong health tree.

People think Velveeta is cheese, but it is not. Slick marketing has convinced Americans that it's cheese and a "real" food product. It's as much "cheese" as Kool-Ade is "fruit juice."

It's crap-food. Somebody invented it to make use of garbage . . . literally. They invented it to use up whey, a byproduct of the cheese industry which was thrown away or good only for animal feed. And then they marketed it as "cheese."

It looks like cheese because it's fats and casein held together with emulsifiers and dyed orange. It has a high calorie count because of the fat, but that doesn't make it good nutrition or good for you.

When you calculate the cost of your "bargain," are you factoring in the cost of your future angioplasty, your intracoronary stents, and/or your bypass? And the loss of 10 or more years from your expected life?

Cheese isn't something you need to be eating in large quantities, but it's at least decent food.

You'd have a better bargain to buy real cheese and eat less of it.


That being said, I should add that I have been known to enjoy macaroni and cheese made with it . . . and an occasional mini-slab layered over white bread . . . and niblets on crackers . . . and sometimes keep a brick of it in my hurricane evacuation kit . . . since it keeps pretty much indefinitely and does not require refrigeration. :roll:

All these are "American" cheeses. The words "Pasturized processed imitation cheese-like food" refer to percentage of butterfat. There are 4 or 5 similar gobbily-gook phrases, each of which signifies a different level of butter fat. Kraft makes an American cheese with a sub-title with the last word "cheese". My observation is that if it's individually wrapped it's not cheese.

30 years ago, in rural Maine, I could buy "store" cheese. In general stores, near the check there would be a large 20-30 lb wheel of cheese under a plastic dome. Customers would cut off a chunk. The cashier weighed it and off I wen. I think it wasn't a moderately aged cheddar, locally produced. It used to be common, now it's gone.

Lately I've been eating cheshire and manchego.

[Denny]

They invented it to use up whey, a byproduct of the cheese industry which was thrown away or good only for animal feed.

Yo, Lamby...
You vegetable or mineral?

Its just that there is so much of it between milk and cheese...

[Lambchop]

They invented it to use up whey, a byproduct of the cheese industry which was thrown away or good only for animal feed.

Yo, Lamby...
You vegetable or mineral?

Its just that there is so much of it between milk and cheese...

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.

So much of what between milk and cheese?

[Cynth]

I would guess so much whey between milk and cheese. It's the vegetable or mineral part that seems weird to me. Wouldn't she be animal?

[Denny]

Ah... I found it ironic that you, Lambchop, would say.

"They invented it to use up whey, a byproduct of the cheese industry which was thrown away or good only for animal feed."

So, since it seemed that you were inferring that you were not animal, it followed that you must be vegetable or mineral.

Yes I know that I left out fungus... Just trying to be polite here feel free to go with it if you want.

Good morning'

[Cynth]

I'm not sure we could really be going anywhere with a joke that had to be explained to us so thoroughly! You are very polite, Denny. Okay, Lamby, take it away!

[djm]

When I think of cheese I always think of Martin Luther, and how I used to piss off a certain history teacher. All I could ever remember about Luther was Worms and terminal constipation.

djm

[Doug_Tipple]

30 years ago, in rural Maine, I could buy "store" cheese. In general stores, near the check there would be a large 20-30 lb wheel of cheese under a plastic dome. Customers would cut off a chunk. The cashier weighed it and off I wen. I think it wasn't a moderately aged cheddar, locally produced. It used to be common, now it's gone.

My parents used to shop in a similar kind of store in my home town in Indiana. Some food was in bulk in barrels on the store floor. However, the can goods and other foods were behind the counter. You told the store clerk what you wanted, and he or she got it for you. There wasn't any comparison shopping. If you asked for a can of tomatoes, that is what you got.

With regard to unrefrigerated cheese being left out on the counter for customers to slice off a piece, that practice would no longer be tolerated by health inspectors. There are strict guidlines for how deli type foods must be handled. The deli that I frequent has separate saws for cheese and meats, and the saws must be sanitized daily. I remember how I once cut up blocks of cheese for a food coop that required all members to donate several hours of their labor in the store as part of the conditions of coop membership. Looking back on that experience now, I don't think that the conditions under which I was working with cheese was very sanitary. I didn't have to pass any health tests or answer any health questions.

I agree that much of the processed cheese doesn't taste very good, and most of it is too salty. I think that what I would like in a cheese is a low-fat cheese that tastes good at an affordable price. Any suggestions?

[SteveShaw]

I expect we are in a similar position, regarding being fairly close to farms that produce their own cheese from their own (single breed) milk. There's a farm I buy from in West Wales that makes its own Cheddar, Brie, Edam and Caerphilly. None of these chesses taste remotely like the stuff with same names in supermarkets - they're great. But again full cream milk is obviously used so you've got to watch the amount you eat!

One of the best cheeses I ever had was called Llangloffan, made on a small farm from the milk of an organic Jersey herd. I can't remember the name of the chap now, but the farm was at Castle Morris, near Haverfordwest.

A lot of Welsh cheeses are excellent but you do have to choose Caerphilly.

Steve

[SteveShaw]

I'm probably not adventurous enough when it comes to cheese - I favour full flavoured stuff like Cathedral City, when I have a cheese hankering.

Cathedral City has gone a bit mass-market and it does come in big factory blocks. It doesn't taste too bad, but try Quickes - it's infinitely superior. Some supermarkets sell it.

Steve

[perrins57]

A lot of Welsh cheeses are excellent but you do have to choose Caerphilly.

Steve

Mega groantastic :roll:

[flanum]

hmm. Kilmeaden cheddar ...nice!

Have you seen that revolting cheesy strings stuff aimed at "kids" yeeeuch"!


Q.Has anybody ever had "fromunder" cheese?

[TonyHiggins]

Wallace and Grommit. Wallace was always going on about having cheese. I have to agree- cheddar is the best. But, we have a few other nice cheeses out here. I like the 'pepper-jack' which is Monterrey Jack (white cheese) with jalapena pepper bits in it.

Yes, I like to make fun of people around here who eat 'American cheese' in the individually wrapped slices or 'cheese food' in a squirt tube. My brother-in-law carried a tube in hand on a backpacking trip we did a few years ago. Says it saved his life. He's a guy who's always hungry. I don't believe he was eating it for the taste. Then, I've never known him to be a fussy eater.
Tony