Serious Cheese: Bush's Legacy, Making Roquefort Almost Impossible to Buy
For the last eight years, Americans have seen their fair share of questionable leadership and head-scratching policy decisions. Leave it to Dubya, however, to save the best for last. The Agence France-Presse is reporting that before leaving office, Bush has enacted legislation that will increase tariffs on France's beloved Roquefort cheese to 300 percent, an amount that would make purchasing it in the U.S. untenable.
As the Huffington Post pointed out yesterday, Bush has never been known for his gastronomic tendencies, preferring canned vegetables to fresh, so it isn't too surprising that he would use Roquefort as a pawn in a trade war that began when the E.U. banned growth hormone-treated meat in the late '80s. But the result—that Americans won't be able to buy Roquefort cheese anymore—is abhorrent to cheese-lovers, foodies, and thinking people everywhere.
Roquefort is a sheep's milk blue cheese made in the South of France and aged in the Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where the molds that grow naturally there infuse the the cheese with its inimitable blue-green striations. The high fat content of the sheep's milk makes Roquefort silky smooth and moist, with a texture that melts in your mouth on every bite.
To be sure, many of these last-minute presidential decrees are overturned just as fast as they are enacted, but it's still a major insult to the French, especially to those hard-working farmers, cheese-makers, and affineurs who produce this wonderful cheese. Here's hoping that Obama will be able to meet all the myriad challenges he has ahead of him, including this latest assault on one of the greatest cheeses in the world.
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.
View other entries from Serious Cheese.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
9 Comments:
This cheese adoring Dutchie will be happy to send Roquefort to anyone who really needs it. Stupid legislation!
jenneke at 9:07AM on 01/20/09
One last slap in the face! Take this shoe and shove it!!!!!!!
1stmakearoux at 9:11AM on 01/20/09
The inauguration can't come soon enough!
mncheese at 10:19AM on 01/20/09
This increase is in response to the EU’s high tariffs and outright banning of USA made products.
dsquare at 11:16AM on 01/20/09
Politics is all about balance / give and take (or eye for an eye). It's the way ALL govts run. Obama will do the same. His choices may not affect you as much.
I don't care for cheese so I could care less about this. Some care for cheese so it's a HUGE injustice bordering impeachment. Do this to unagi or Kewpie, and I'll be mighty peeved to be paying 10x more. I'd still pay it though.
Cassaendra at 11:30AM on 01/20/09
"This increase is in response to the EU’s high tariffs and outright banning of USA made products."
Not exactly accurate, since American products (an awful lot of which are now made in Asian countries, ) have a plenty of shelf space in in all EU countries, and they're not inevitably expensive, either.
Although I don't care for cheese myself, I think this is a shame, since it will be difficult to give this matter high priority, and it will probably be a long while before anything is done to reverse this, even if the new goverment has an interest in the matter.
mongoose at 2:19PM on 01/20/09
I don't think i've ever tried that kind of cheese before. It doesn't look very tastey, but then again, it's cheese, and it's hard to find cheese that isn't yummy for the tummy.
Raiders757 at 2:34PM on 01/20/09
What a shame.
...not to mention *not fair*! I haven't even had the chance to try Roquefort yet!
Not fair...
Steen at 1:05PM on 01/21/09
Roquefort is great, but surely there are some American blue cheeses that you could eat instead? I'm not American, so have no idea.
I'm a big advocate of experiencing foreign culture, and this "trade war" is a same, but I also believe supporting local producers as well (unless it's crap of course).
timwebster9 at 2:37PM on 08/07/09