rennet dilemma

Have you ever tried to make cheese? I know I have. One of the hardest parts of making cheese is finding the ingredients. This is probably because I can not find one store that stocks freaking rennet.

Rennet is extracted from the stomach of certain animals. (Yuck.) Vegetarians use a substitute made out of plant extract. But for regular cheese, apparently Trader Joe’s doesn’t want something that says: “Yummy Yummy Pig Extract” – wait, then why do they stock lard? Guess there’s only one answer for that: Paula Deen.

Cheese tips

Tips:
*ask to sample cheese before buying
*bring to room temperature before serving
*store in Tupperware when not being served
*ask if it’s made with cow, sheep, or goat milk. it may change the taste
*know how aged the cheese is as it may drastically affect its taste
*weird farmer’s market cheese may be good so try the strange local stuff
*know if rinds are edible

prima donna

When I first tried this cheese I thought it was a gouda no a parmesan no a gouda I read the label and it said it was a “maturo cheese.” Go figure. it tastes like a sharp gouda with a after taste that some would call stale. I personally don’t think its stale.

rating: * * * *
made in:  Holland

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trader joe’s shredded parm

I started this review thinking: “oh shredded cheese, I’ll need something to put it on.” but it turns out you just take a hand full of the stuff and stuff it down your pie hole. I know I have never reviewed a shredded cheese before but this is all I had in the fridge. on the package it says: “at least 10 month old parm” I estimated that it is about 11 months old but it is yet to obtain the hard parmesany taste to it.

made in: ???

rating: * * * *

email for questions

Email me at cheesefriend1@gmail.com for all questions and comments, and I will try to write back.

how to make a cheese platter

A perfect cheese platter consists of 3-4 cheeses, crackers and optional salami.

To start, we’ll go over the cheeses. For a solid base, you should start with something salty like a traditional parmesan or a 5-year-aged gouda. Then include a soft cheese, particularly brie which can be picked up at any supermaket or cheese shop for better quality (or a farmers’ market if you have one near you). Then get something in between like manchego – not too hard, not too soft (although I’ll admit, its texture is a lot like rubber). Now for your 4th, just pick your personal favorite – Yancey’s Fancy XXX Cheddar would be one of my choices.

As for the crackers, I have no real tips except don’t use Saltines – they’re incredibly tacky. Everybody uses them with oysters but I think they’re tacky with a cheese platter.

For salami, get only hard. Get it in the plastic air-sealed tube package – you don’t want the big fat soft stuff.

To finish it off, you can position it all around a small bowl of honey which will be good for your parmesan or gouda. Maybe put some olives on the side too, preferably green. I could keep going on and on like this for 7 hours.

You can get a kit for cheese naming  or you can just put a toothpick in the cheese with a sign on it. It’ll help for people who think they know a lot about cheese but are really newbies.