Artisanal

Last night I had the pleasure of visiting Artisanal Bistro on Park Ave in NYC with some good friends, Mike & Michelle Richter.  Artisanal is a French Brassiere and Fromagerie, and we went a bit crazy with the cheese. Here’s what we had for dinner:

-    ARTISANAL BLEND Fondue, a traditional blend of Swiss and Gruyere cheeses with bread and crudités

-    SAUTÉED SKATE WING, with a delicious hash of blood oranges and cauliflower (split with Bill to conserve appetite for cheeses)

-    Accompanied by a CHENIN BLANC VOUVRAY ‘Argilex’ GAUTIER

Quite delicious. But the best part of the night was the cheese course, where they offer a large selection of cheeses a la carte and also some themed cheese & wine “flights,” which consisted of three cheeses paired with three wines for sample.  I had the “Unusual Ones” –

UNUSUAL ONES

Cheeses
Ibores (Goat, Spain*) – Spicy, Herbal and Rich
Amarelo da Beira Baixa (Goat/Sheep, Portugal*) – Yeasty Aroma, Vegetal and Unctuous
Uplands Pleasant Ridge, Wisconsin (Cow) – Nutty, Undertones of Garlic, Wild Onions

Wines
Grüner Veltliner Domaine Wachau 07
Vouvray ‘Argilex’ Gautier Loire 06
Dolcetto D’ Alba Ada Nada Piedmont 07

Unfortunately the wines don’t have descriptions on the menu (though I feel that like cheeses, this should be an essential component of the wine list, it appears most of the restaurateurs do not feel similarly).

My favorite cheese of the flight was the Uplands Pleasant Ridge. I don’t have photos from the main event, but I did purchase some of this one – for research purposes, of course. It’s got a strong flavor, finishes smoothly, and has a slight crystallized crunch to it.  As you can see, the color of the cheese is a milky yellow, and the texture is creamy with a slight flakiness.

According to the Uplands website,

Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an artisanal cheese made from the non-pasteurized milk of a single herd of Wisconsin cows fed and managed using natural, “old world” practices. Our cows graze lush pastures from early spring through fall, just as all cows did before the industrialization of our food system. The resulting milk has better nutritional value and more varied and subtle flavors that are expressed in the delicate flavor profile. […]Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an original cheese inspired by farmstead cheeses from the alpine provinces of southeastern France. The aging techniques we use were originally developed in the Middle Ages when cheeses similar to Pleasant Ridge Reserve were aged in limestone caves and washed frequently with a brine solution. Washing the rind keeps it free of unwanted microbes and produces a variety of pleasing flavors. Because of the time-consuming hand work involved this practice is rarely used today. Our Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese is the end product of a process linked to the seasons and life cycles of our animals as well as to the prairie soils and climate of southwest Wisconsin. The sweet flavors of the pasture grasses, clovers, herbs and wild flowers are experienced in every taste of our cheese.”

Artisanal paired this with a full-bodied red wine that elicited exclamations of surprised pleasure from the members of our table. The other cheeses were certainly delicious – but this one was exceptional.

I was, of course, very impressed with Artisanal. In addition to our terrific meal, they had a sizable spread of cheeses for purchase and a large back room lined with refrigerators for displaying the cheese called the Cheese Cave. Unfortunately there was a company meeting and later a private dinner going on in the Cave, so I did not get a chance to linger in it although I did take a few peeks. Now I know I’ll have to return just to get a private meal in the cheese cave.

I also purchased one other cheese, an eye-catching, bell-shaped goat cheese called Clochette, primarily for its cuteness factor following a single sweet sample of the milky cheese.  Clochette, in fact means “little bell” in French, and it is produced by Chevrechard. This specialty goat cheese manufacturer is located in Poitou-Charentes of France, a region known for the traditional mold-ripened goat cheeses like Clochette and its more famous cousin, Chabichou. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Clochette is matured for around 2 weeks prior to shipping, and has only a 45-day shelf life, which surely unnerves proprietors. I expect this cheese will be difficult to find outside of New York and other large cities, so I am especially pleased to have a little half-bell slice sitting beside me now.

The flavor is soft, earthy, musty, and enchanting. Taken without the rind, I like to let it dissolve on my tongue, really spreading the flavor around the mouth. The rind adds a slight bitterness to the cheese, making it a bit tart, strengthening the flavor. Like many goat cheeses this one can be consumed with or without the rind, however a user prefers.  Typically I prefer to eat cheese without the rind, but lately I have been trying both combinations. It’s a new and ever- exciting way to learn about cheese, and if I want to be a true connoisseur, I have to eat the rind. So basically I’ve been trying to be more open-minded and have been pleasantly surprised.

New pictures!

A typical spread for a pre-dinner appetizer.  Lately I’ve been enjoying cheese on thin slices of French bread in lieu of crackers, which break apart and are sometimes difficult to eat.  In the picture below, clockwise from top left you’ll see Pesto, Salami, Point Reyes Blue, Saint Andre, Aged Gouda, Garrotxa, ?, Dubiner Cheddar, and Ubracon (with the purple fingerprint). Often in a spread I prefer to mix several different types of cheeses – for example this has a blue (Point Reyes), a bloomy cheese (Saint Andre) and several firm cheeses. The various textures and flavors add contrast and make the experience more pleasurable for me than simply having two of the same type of cheese.

Clockwise from top left: Pesto, Salami, Point Reyes Blue, Saint Andre, Aged Gouda, Garrotxa, ?, Dubiner Cheddar, and Ubracon.

I also enjoy contstructing small flavor bites to mix the cheeses and compliments, such as this pesto, salami and cheedar concotion:

Some additional photos of the Saint Andre, a delicious buttery French cheese which Bill selected. This falls into the bloomy cheese category, but I am not sure it quite like a brie.  The flavor was so buttery and delicious – this is clearly a decadant cheese best enjoyed without accompaniments.  Note how there is a bit of a natural rind around the center of the the cheese where the best portion resides. This is always a challenge when selecting bloomy cheeses, especially when purchasing a slice instead of the entire round. Make sure that you look for slices which have the smallest outer layer possible, and don’t buy if the inner layer is discolored. I occasionally find that if the cheeseshop fails to properly handle this delicate cheese it will go bad in less than a week.

Point Reyes (continued)

A continuation of my thoughts on Point Reyes Blue started on August 11th.

As you can see, the cheese has a very interesting texture. Blue cheeses can range in texture from very soft to quite hard and crumbly. I think the most common use of blue cheese is as an accentto a salad or dish in the crumbly form, but I really prefer to eat it in slices. (of course, this is true of most cheeses) This blue, in contrast, did not crumble but produced compact, creamy slices which slid off the knife.

We also tried out the portobello mushroom recipe.  We grilled portobellos and large slices of yellow pepper, topped with the blue cheese on a French roll. I highly recommend this. I think this cheese would also be good in a number of other recipes because as blues go it did not have an overpowering flavor. It could be mixed well with chicken, other vegetables (for some reason eggplant comes to mind as a possible compliment), or in a savory pastry.

Cheesy Collateral Keeps Credit Flowing as Recession Bites Parmesan Makers‏

 Aug. 12  (Bloomberg) — The vaults of Credito Emiliano SpA hold the pungent gold prized by gourmands around the world — 17,000 tons of parmesan cheese.

The regional bank accepts parmesan as collateral for loans, helping it to keep financing cheesemakers in northern Italy amid the worst recession since World War II. Emilia Romagna-based Credito Emiliano’s two climate-controlled warehouses hold about 440,000 wheels worth 132 million euros ($187 million).

“This mechanism is our life blood,” said Giuseppe Montanari, 65, a cheese producer and dealer who uses the loans to buy milk. “It’s a great way to finance our expenses at convenient rates, and the bank doesn’t risk much because they can always sell the cheese.”

So precious is the cheese that each 80-pound wheel, worth about 300 euros, is branded with a serial number so it can be traced if it is stolen. Thieves tunneled into one warehouse in February and made off with 570 pieces before they were apprehended by police.

“Thank heavens we caught the robbers before they grated it,” said William Bizzarri, 58, who manages the cheese vaults.

Nestled in the valleys of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, southeast of Milan, Credito Emiliano has been using parmesan as collateral since 1953, entrusting management of the cheese to a unit called Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate.

The bank offers loans for as long as 24 months, equal to the time it takes the parmesan to age, at the euro interbank offered rate, plus 0.75 percent to 2 percent, Bizzarri said. The bank gives producers as much as 80 percent of the value of the product, based on current market prices.

550 Liters of Milk

“Parmesan cheese has been used for financial operations since the Middle Ages,” said Leo Bertozzi, head of Italy’s Parmigiano-Reggiano Producers’ Association. “This is both due to its value, since each compact wheel holds the equivalent of 550 liters of milk, and the fact that aging takes years, making financing necessary until the product can be sold.”

The bank considered taking prosciutto ham, another of the region’s specialties, and olive oil as collateral but such products are harder to store and brand, Bizzarri said.

“It’s easier to steal or replace them,” he said.

Emilia Romagna is the only area in the world legally allowed to use the “parmigiano-reggiano” name for the hard, dry skim milk cheese that was first made in the region around 1200. Sales of parmesan equaled 1.54 billion euros in 2008, 25 percent from exports, according to the producer’s association.

Once the bank accepts cheese as collateral it oversees the aging process, which includes turning the wheels several times a week and checking periodically for cheeses that have gone soft. As a master tester taps each cheese with a small metal hammer, Bizzarri listens for hollow sounds that would indicate the wheel is a “dud” and result in its disposal.

Like a Check

Most wheels pass the test, said Bizzarri, who sold financial products and managed bank branches before taking over the cheese unit. After a year they are branded with the parmigiano-reggiano logo and serial numbers and tags.

“It’s just like a bank check,” Bizzarri explained. “If we catch any thieves in time we can easily trace the cheese.”

When loans aren’t repaid, Credito Emiliano sells the cheese collateral to recover its investment, returning any difference to the producer. This makes the operation low risk for the bank, Bizzarri said, adding that very few producers default.

Producer prices for parmesan averaged 7.27 euros a kilogram in July, down from 7.49 euros in January, according to data from the Parmesan Producers Association in Reggio Emilia. Prices peaked at 9.36 euros a kilo in January 2004.

“Fortunately, prices have now stabilized and while the global economic crisis remains a concern, consumption, including sales abroad, is holding up,” Bertozzi said.

Economic Boost

Credito Emiliano has almost 6,000 employees and 590 branches, mostly in central and northern Italy. First-quarter net income fell 75 percent to 11.8 million euros on lower commissions and trading losses of 33 million euros.

While cheese accounts for less than 1 percent of the bank’s revenue, the unit is important because it helps keep parmesan makers in business, bolstering the local economy, Bizzarri said.

Italy is facing its fourth recession in seven years, with the economy likely to shrink 5.3 percent this year, the worst contraction on record, according to research institute Isae.

“The government has been asking banks to help the economy and keep lending, but credit quality is a problem these days,” said Edoardo Liuni, an analyst at IlNuovoMercato.it in Rome. “With this system, defaults are less likely.”

While other local banks have at times had similar programs, and larger institutions sometimes accept high-value goods such as art as collateral, Credito Emiliano is the main bank offering loans to Italy’s 429 parmesan producers, Bizzarri said.

“It’s not our main source of funds, but it helps producers and shows there are more ways than one to keep doing business,” he said. “Let’s say it’s a way to put our heritage to good use.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Alessandra Migliaccio at amigliaccio@bloomberg.net Flavia Rotondi at frotondi@bloomberg.net

Let’s get down to business!

This weekend Bill picked up a variety cheeses from Eddie’s Market in North Baltimore and we ate them along with some older cheeses already in the fridge on Saturday evening. The cheeses were:

• Point Reyes Blue
• Some French Brie Butter Cheese
• Aged Gouda
• Ubracon

For the moment I’m just going to tell you about the Point Reyes, but check back for additional profiles for the others. Pictures are also on their way!

I was eager to try the Point Reyes since I read an article about it in last winter’s edition of Culture. It’s a firm blue cheese that had a nice, creamy texture and a milder, but slightly sour flavor than I expected.  Most people know that the blue cheeses are a type of mold which grows on the cheese, but I recently learned that cheesemakers actually will either aerate or inject the mold bacteria to produce the veins. According to the website, “Several natural ingredients are added to the Grade A, raw milk: cultures for flavor and to increase acidity, enzymes in order for the curd to form, kosher salt for flavor and mold (penicillium roqueforti) to create the blue veins in the cheese.”   I’d like to try cooking with this cheese, because I think the mild flavor might lend itself well to combinations with other ingredients. Proposed sandwich? Perhaps some grilled Portobello mushrooms and arugula on a French loaf.

What a Friend We Have in Cheeses

Welcome to the inaugural post of Pour L’Amour De Fromage! For anyone who doesn’t speak French (including myself) this means “For the love of cheese” – something quite close to my heart. I’m starting this blog at the suggestion of friends to help express my enjoyment of the most delicious food ever introduced – cheese! I believe that food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, certainly one of the most transferable and easiest to share with peoples of all cultures. So now here I am hoping to share some of my appreciation for delicious cheese with you.

What a Friend We Have in Cheeses
What a friend we have in cheeses,
Mozzarella, Cheddar, Swiss!
Bleu and Limberger’s sweet breezes
Lingering like a lover’s kiss.

Humble milk’s apotheosis,
Muenster, Provolone, Brie
Damn cholesterol’s thrombosis
Cheese is Gouda stuff by me!