We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the TikTok baked feta and tomato pasta, the recipe that caused an international feta stampede. Google Trends, which tracks search volume, shows a near-vertical spike twelve months ago in the number of searches for “feta pasta.” As a feta fanatic, I’m a little saddened to see that the line crashed as quickly as it rose. But maybe the craze introduced a lot more people to this endlessly useful cheese.
Read moreGruyère Fights Back
Switzerland’s most famous cheese took it on the chin recently when a U.S. judge ruled that Gruyère is generic. American dairies have made Gruyère for years, he reasoned, so how can the Swiss claim the cheese is theirs? “The factual record makes it abundantly clear,” the judge wrote, that American consumers think of Gruyère as a type of cheese, not a product from a specific place. The Swiss will appeal, so the matter isn’t settled, but it’s a setback for those who believe we should respect European names like Asiago and Fontina. I wondered how the ruling was going down with people who sell both imported and domestic cheese.
Read moreCrackers by You!
You may recall that I went crazy for these crackers last year. They’re from Top Seedz, a small company in Buffalo, New York. Many of you told me you bought some and found them as irresistible as I did. Now you can make them. At home. So they’re as fresh as can be. Top Seedz has developed a packaged mix for home bakers, and it really works. I made the crispy shards pictured above.
Read moreSticker Shock in a Good Way
We’re all experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store these days. Prices are nuts. Plus, we have December to pay for. So it’s a good time to prowl the cheese counter for selections that over-deliver for the price. Bargains do exist, and here are three that you ought to find easily. I’m so grateful to these producers for making cheese that we can enjoy and afford.
Read moreHappy Ending
What are you putting on your New Year’s Eve cheese board? My panforte, I hope. Thick with toasted nuts, dried fruit, cocoa and baking spices, it’s awesome with blue cheese. Or any cheese. Open a dessert wine, maybe an Italian vin santo or tawny port. Leftover panforte keeps forever, or so I’m told. If you’re a guest, take panforte with you. It’s easy to make, easy to wrap, and it doesn’t crumble. (The name means “strong bread,” after all.) Part fruitcake, part confection, panforte will make your holiday cheese board the star of the meal.
Read moreAlsatian Tart is Crisp and Cheesy
When the recent cream cheese shortage sent me scrambling for alternatives, I discovered a dreamy spreadable goat cheese from Norway. Maybe you’re already a fan of Snøfrisk. Or maybe, like me, you’ve noticed its wedge-shaped package next to other fresh cheeses but never bothered to give it a try. I’m making up for lost time now. I love this stuff. It’s perfect for tarte flambée, the paper-thin Alsatian pizza, which is getting to be a New Year’s Eve tradition at my house.
Read moreWhat Cream Cheese Emergency?
So New York delis have a cream cheese shortage. What more trauma does this pandemic have in store for us? The good news is, we have alternatives. Several other fresh cheeses can fill in for the schmear on your bagel. In fact, they’re tastier than Philly cream cheese. A lot tastier. They don’t have the gums that make Philadelphia cream cheese so…gummy. So go ahead and buy your bagels. Here are five great choices to go under the smoked salmon until we get this cream cheese situation resolved.
Read moreCool Tool
Cheese plane lovers of the world, unite! I am certainly in the cult. I love the silky feel of a paper-thin slice and all the aroma released by the blade. This genius implement, invented by a Norwegian carpenter almost a century ago, is not universally appreciated. You won’t find a cheese plane in many French, Italian, Spanish or Swiss kitchens, but the Norwegians and the Dutch make up for that.
Read moreDrama Queen
A buttery Stilton is the conventional choice for a holiday cheese board, but who wants to be conventional? This year, try a nice wedge of Shropshire Blue, Stilton’s more colorful twin. It’s every bit as tasty as Stilton but more of a drama queen. I was delighted to see it at a cheese counter recently because it’s relatively uncommon in the U.S. I suppose merchants find it easier to sell what’s familiar—Stilton—than to take a chance on stocking a cheese you don’t know.
Read moreDo Good, Buy Cheese
Don’t you love it when you can do good by buying something you were going to buy anyway? Until the end of the year, the Whole Planet Foundation is donating a portion of its sales of Good Culture cottage cheese to fund microloans to entrepreneurs in impoverished communities around the globe. I had already fallen for this creamy cultured cottage cheese, but now I love it more.
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