Entries tagged with 'cheese'
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Vermont's hills are alive with the sound of "Oma!" Brothers Sebastian and Dan Von Trapp (yes, they are related to those Von Trapps) have just released Oma, an amazing new cheese from the Mad River Valley in Vermont. A washed-rind raw cow's milk cheese, Oma's silky texture (soft and supple, but not runny) is perhaps its most unique feature. But its taste delivers too. The cheese is earthy, barnyardy, and buttery, and the raw milk makes for a complexity of flavor absent in most American cheeses of its ilk. "Oma" is German for "grandmother," and the cheese is named after Sebastian and Dan's Oma, Erica Von Trapp, who started the family farm 50 years ago. The farm has a...
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Photograph from WordRidden on Flickr Your first reaction to this headline might have been, "What do you mean, is blue cheese gluten-free? Isn't all cheese gluten-free?" Well, the short answer is yes. But blue cheese is a potential corner-case that needs some investigation. The reason is that there are steps in the production process of blue cheese where the potential for cross-contamination of gluten is definitely a possibility. Most people know that the blue in blue cheese is actually mold—penicillium mold to be exact, which during aging breaks down the fats and the proteins in the cheese to change its texture to a silky smooth, and to add depth and piquancy to its flavor. Originally the mold would have...
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"The more acidic the cheese, the less lactose is in there, and the more tolerable it should be for most people." Photo from Murray's CheeseIn the intervening weeks since the last post about my apparent lactose intolerance, not only have I been able to tolerate small amounts of dairy consumed infrequently, I have also spent a lot of time caring for a new baby in our family. All this to explain that a) I haven't yet seen a doctor about my sudden inability to enjoy vast amounts of gelato and Ukranian food, and b) I haven't had much free time in which to experiment with my new-found lactose intolerance. I have generally not shied away from dairy, however, even if...
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It's the fear I never had until now: to return to my hotel room and find everything—walls, ceiling, furniture, floor—covered in melted cheese. In 1999, Canadian artist Cosimo Cavallaro covered Room 114 at the Washington Jefferson Hotel in New York City in 1,000 pounds of cheese from the Swiss Cheese Foundation. I wouldn't have wanted to visit that room on a hot day. Watch the video after the jump....
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"On a couple of occasions I've been bold enough to try a bowl of cereal with one-percent milk." I have been humbled, surprised, and, frankly, a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and advice in response to my post last week about my lactose intolerance discovery. You have shared many ideas, from the practical to the fanciful. Probably the best advice I received was to make an appointment with my doctor to get tested. Lots of folks said that gallbladder problems, dairy allergies, and celiac disease can all produce symptoms similar to lactose intolerance. I have heeded this advice and will be seeing my doctor soon. I have a feeling he'll send me straight to a gastroenterologist, so I...
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I was honestly a tad underwhelmed with the Logan Square Farmers' Market last year. There were too many pre-made food vendors, and not enough whole vegetables for me to buy and take home. I went back this weekend to see if I had caught the market too late in the season last year, or just on an off week. And luckily, I had. The Logan Square market was bursting from its seams with fresh vegetables, mounds of lettuce, and interesting stalls. It was a glorious Sunday....
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Our Serious Cheese columnist had an awful stomach attack after some gelato, which at first he thought (and on some level, probably hoped) was food poisoning, but later reasoned that it could be sudden-onset lactose intolerance. Gasp! Could the curd nerd really be lactose intolerant?
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Photograph from Goulven Champenois on Flickr The combination of crusty dough and melted cheese has spawned some of the greatest foods in the world. Pizza and grilled cheese come first to mind for many Americans, but the United States can hardly claim ownership. Indeed, thousands of miles across the world, in a land wedged between the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east, the bread-and-cheese meme has perhaps reached its apex in the form of the Georgian food khachapuri—literally, "cheese bread."...
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Photograph from Balakov on Flickr For some reason the American kitchen is a breeding ground for useless gadgets, tools, and knickknacks. Do we really need a separate tool to make balls out of melons? (Actually, melon ballers are quite useful for many different tasks, but that's a subject for another post.) Living in New York City, where most apartments have tiny kitchens with only a handful of cabinets, I am forced to be ruthlessly Spartan with my gadgetry. This is why I am generally opposed to cheese knives. I tend to follow Alton Brown's golden rule: never own a kitchen gadget that has only one use. So what kinds of knives do work well with cheese? My suggestions, after...
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Photograph from cheese-rolling.co.uk I'm not the most outdoorsy person, but this is a competition I can get behind. Every year on Cooper's Hill in Gloucester, England, a cheese-rolling race is held. No, it isn't a race between different rounds of cheese—it is something much better: One round of cheese is rolled down the hill and participants chase after it. Last year our cheese correspondent Jamie Forest wrote about 2008's winner and the cheese used in the race. You can see photos from this year's race, which took place on May 25, in today's post at The Big Picture from The Boston Globe. The tradition has been going for for at least 200 years and is always growing in popularity....
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