Like many of the classic foods we enjoy today, including cheese itself, blue cheese was the result of a happy accident. But our editor’s appreciation for the blues is a direct result of his wife’s creativity.
As someone who is supposed to know something about cheese, or at least more than the average Joe on the street (I know people who have forgotten more about curds and whey than I will ever know), it is a little awkward to ’fess up that I have always had a somewhat precarious relationship with blue cheese. It’s not that I don’t like blue cheese at all but I am definitely in the camp that believes a little goes a long way, especially when considering the more assertive varieties. My wife, on the other hand, absolutely loves blue cheese and looks for ways to use it in the kitchen whenever she can; and it has mainly been through her great esteem for the blues and her creative uses for them over our years together that I have come to have a greater appreciation of one of the cheese world’s more curious specimens.
I have always loved the stories regarding the origins of blue cheese. You know the ones. They typically involve a shepherd boy who leaves his lunch of fresh curds and hearty rye bread to pursue a lovely shepherd girl. Returning much later, the boy finds that his curds have gone through a mysterious transformation in the form of blue streaks through what was now cheese. Having no other food for his supper, the intrepid shepherd samples the strange-looking mass only to find that he likes it. The rest, as they say, is history. In fact, many makers of blue cheese today still use moldy, ground bread to inoculate the curds with Penicillium roqueforti, the main bacteria that gets the party started inside the curds. In fact, the folks who make classic Roquefort cheese actually bake their own rye bread, let it go to mold and grind it themselves. Like so many of the classic foods we enjoy today, including cheese itself, blue cheese was the result of a happy accident.
Bessie Smith notwithstanding, it took me a long time to get used to the blues. As a kid, I thought they were simply awful, one of those things like coffee, alcohol and kissing that could only be enjoyed by adults. As I grew up, I discovered that there were actually many different kinds of blue cheese, from many different areas and with varying degrees of assertiveness. I was intrigued, but still not an aficionado, until my wife began to use it in all sorts of ways in our kitchen. Although our principal use of blue cheese at home is in the form of salad dressing, we also have used it in various sauces, in casseroles, crumbled on pasta and cooked into pasta sauce, as a topping for pizza with caramelized onions, in hors d’oeuvres, in soups (we had a lovely celery and Stilton soup in England last year that we have since replicated at home), on croutons for soups and salads, and, of course, as part of a cheese plate. I particularly like it when some sweet element like honey or caramelized onions is introduced to mitigate the strong flavor of the cheese. That being said, I also favor the less assertive varieties like creamy, sweet Gorgonzola (there are both Italian and domestic versions I like very much and that we use often), Maytag Blue, Point Reyes Blue and Danish Blue, to name but a few.
For a creamy and delicious salad dressing, stir together about 2 tablespoons of yogurt, about an ounce of blue cheese and a couple of teaspoons of good vinegar. Mix it thoroughly and then add enough olive oil to thin it out. I find that when using blue cheese this way, it is not necessary to salt the dressing. Toss with hearty greens such as butter lettuce or romaine.
For a delicious and healthy pizza, melt a stick of butter in a skillet (yes, a whole stick of butter). Slice up four large yellow onions, or six smaller ones, and sauté them very slowly over low-to-medium heat until the onions have caramelized to a golden brown, about half an hour, and let cool. Spread them out on pizza dough (you should have enough for more than one pizza) and crumble blue cheese over the whole thing. Bake and let the feasting begin.
Industry News
Fancy Foods for All
In case you’ve ever wondered what happens to all the leftover food at the Fancy Food Show, especially since attendees are not allowed to remove samples from the show floor, I have a great story for you. According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle, the NASFT has been working in partnership with global hunger relief organization Feed the Hungry, which in turn partnered with local San Francisco Bay Area organizations to distribute the food to families in need. Most of the donations this year were given to the Bay Area Dream Center, a five-year-old multidenominational Christian church in Hayward, a city just to the south of Oakland and across the bay from San Francisco. Last year, 100,000 pounds of food was collected from the Winter Fancy Food Show, and although exact figures aren’t available for this year’s take, Feed the Hungry said it was more this year, enough fancy comestibles, they said, to feed 5,000 families. Daniel Caraballo, senior pastor of the Dream Center, said this year was a little different.
He was quoted in the Chronicle as saying, “During this recession, we really can’t judge a book by its cover. We’ve had families show up with very nice vehicles, but with empty refrigerators at home.”
The Chronicle said that 500 church volunteers worked to sort and pack the fine foods that were donated by show exhibitors from all over the country and 32 other countries. Were people surprised at the high quality of the foods handed out? “When you’re hungry,” said one recipient, “it doesn’t matter.”
DAIRY
Wyfe of Bath and King’s Favorite
Maybe you can chalk it up to my new love affair with County Dorset and the city of Bath, but out of all the cheeses I tasted this year at the Winter Fancy Food Show, I was particularly taken with two cheeses from one of England’s finest cheese purveyors, The Fine Cheese Company, located in Bath. Owner Ann-Marie Dyas was on hand to let me taste her King’s Favorite and Wyfe of Bath, both of which are available to Yankee cheesemongers through Cheeseworks. King’s Favorite is made at Manor Farm in Ashmore, the highest village in Dorset, officially designated as an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,” providing green pastures and a mild climate. Made from unpasteurized cow’s milk collected from a local farm, the rind of King’s Favorite is washed with local cider made from the King’s Favorite apple variety. The texture is crumbly but buttery with a full, delicious flavor. Wyfe of Bath, named for a lusty character in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” is made just outside of Bath (located in Somerset, a county just to the northwest of Dorset) by Graham Padfield and James Ellis of Park Farm in Kelston. It is a Gouda-style cheese made in a basket mold and aged for four months. Padfield describes the cheese as “an organic, handmade, semi-hard cheese, not dissimilar to Gouda, but we don’t press the cheese.” Both these fine English cheeses — from one of the most renowned cheesemaking areas in the world — are fantastic and well worth seeking out for your store. For more information, go to www.finecheese.co.uk, and to obtain them, visit www.cheeseworks.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 401
Sir Laurier d’Arthabaska and His Lady
DPI Specialty Foods introduced several new cheeses at the Winter Fancy Food Show this year from Quebec. Sir Laurier d’Arthabaska is named for Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the first French prime minister of Canada, and Lady Laurier is named for his much loved wife. Apparently, despite Sir Wilfrid’s premier status, he was not much loved by his constituents, hence his is the washed-rind (washed with the local cider), more assertive cheese, while the one named for his wife is a sweet and creamy soft-ripened cheese. Both Sir and Lady Laurier come in traditional corrugated cardboard boxes with labels that bear the likenesses of the distinguished first family of Canada, and they are both delicious (we featured them on TGR TV). Rumor has it that due to Sir Wilfrid’s philandering ways, another cheese is in the works, to be named Temptation. These cheeses are made in Quebec by La Fromagerie 1860 DuVillage and are available through DPI’s air shipment program. For more information, visit www.dpispecialtyfoods.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 404
Tillamook Adds New Products and Flavors
Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) has added a couple of great new products to its extensive line of premium dairy products, a natural sour cream and four new flavors of its all-natural yogurt line, including Baked Apple Pie, Passion Fruit Orange Guava, Strawberry Lemonade, and Watermelon. The line of low-fat yogurts has no artificial colors or flavors, and uses no high-fructose corn syrup. The natural sour cream is the newest addition to the line. It is made with Grade A cream, milk and enzymes, giving it a clean, simple taste and texture. Both the sour cream and the yogurt are made in the Pacific Northwest using only the highest-quality milk from cows not treated with the artificial growth hormone rBST. TCCA, formed as a farmer-owned cooperative in 1909, has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s premier makers of cheese. TCCA is a national marketer of naturally aged cheddar and a variety of other cheeses, butter, and an extensive line of premium dairy products. For more information, visit www.tillamook.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 407
DELI
Roasted Turkey Galantine From Fra’ Mani
Fra’ Mani Handcrafted Salumi is working with the Diestel family to create a unique delicatessen roasted turkey galantine, combining both light and dark meat. Diestel Turkey Ranch is located in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in Sonora, Calif., where the birds are sustainably farmed and range-grown with plenty of room to roam about. They are never given antibiotics, growth enhancers or animal byproducts, and are fed a wholesome, all-vegetarian diet of corn and soybeans milled on the ranch. The galantines are slowly oven-roasted to retain juiciness, and seasoning is limited to salt and pepper in order to highlight the refined flavor of the Diestel bird. They are gluten-free and contain no MSG, nitrates, nitrites, except for those that occur naturally in sea salt and celery juice. Fra’ Mani Handcrafted Salumi, located in Berkeley, Calif., was founded in 2006 by Chef Paul Bertolli, former executive chef at Chez Panisse and Oliveto, and the author of two powerhouse cookbooks, “Chez Panisse Cooking” and “Cooking by Hand.” Fra’ Mani produces authentic, handcrafted dry salami, cooked hams, pancetta, Mortadella, salame cotto, sausages and pâté. The products are made using all-natural meat raised without antibiotics or growth-promoting agents, and there are no added nitrates, nitrites or MSG. For more information, call 510-526-7000 or visit www.framani.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 402
“69 Quickies in the Kitchen” by Joan Vogel
Author Joan Vogel, better known to some as “The Ojai Cook” and “The Shopping Cart Chef,” has written an intriguing new book that should be of value to gourmet retailers everywhere. Provocatively titled “69 Quickies in the Kitchen,” with the subtitle, “The Shopping Cart Chef’s Amazing Assemblies from Prepared Foods, Fresh Produce, the Salad Bar and Off the Shelf Products.” In other words, this is a book that shows one how to cook/assemble meals using as little actual cooking as possible and relying on good-quality products from around the store to cut time and add flavor. The book is a colorful, witty and thoroughly delightful guide for cooks with little time that includes such takes as “15 Commandments in the Kitchen” (No. 2, if they make it better than you, buy it) and “Brands We Love,” an appendix of specialty food manufacturers, many of whom I would venture to say are on your store shelves right now. This would be a perfect book to merchandise all around the store — in produce, packaged foods, the prepared foods section and the fresh meat and seafood departments since she takes advantage of all those areas to create her classic and contemporary meals. Vogel self-published this book, and did a marvelous job, so for more information, call 310-291-9100 or go to www.69quickiesinthekitchen.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 405
Sustainably Caught Sardines From Wild Planet
Wild Planet Foods, a packaged seafood company committed to producing the finest tasting wild seafood, has announced the addition of Wild California Sardines and Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon to its line of sustainably caught Wild Albacore Tuna, Wild Skipjack Tuna, Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon and Wild Pink Shrimp. The new Wild California Sardines line is available in four distinctive varieties: Wild Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Wild Sardines in Spring Water, Wild Sardines in Marinara Sauce, and Wild Sardines in Oil with Lemon. Wild Planet sources these sustainably caught, premium sardines from the central California coast fishery that made Monterey’s Cannery Row famous. Wild California Sardines are packed with nutrients to support optimal health, ounce for ounce providing three times more calcium and phosphorus than milk, more iron than spinach, as much protein as beef and as much potassium as bananas. An excellent source of heart-healthy omega-3, Wild California Sardines are also one of the few foods that naturally contain coenzyme Q10, a nutrient with antioxidant properties essential for immune system health. Each tasty little fish is cleaned and scaled before being packed into convenient pull-top cans. With four varieties from which to choose, these firm textured and meaty fish are perfect as an ingredient in a favorite pasta sauce, as a protein-packed topping for a salad or as a flavorful component of a Mediterranean-inspired antipasto platter. Wild Planet Wild California Sardines are OU Kosher Pareve certified. For more information, call 631-368-5287 or visit www.wildplanetfoods.com.
