The Lady does indeed love this Feline Foodie. Last night as a snack, she fixed up a Tillamook Cheese Plate with three of my favorites: Cheddar with Peppercorns, Smoked Cheddar and Extra Sharp Cheddar.

To keep The Man appeased she threw in the Horseradish variety, which just about made The Man weep. He does love his horseradish and when you combine it with Tillamook, you can never go wrong…

As you can see below, The Lady was unable to get a picture of me with my head not moving…that’s because I was scarfing down those tasty morsels so fast, her lens couldn’t stop the action…

This Feline Foodie gives the Tillamook Cheese Plate 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got)…

The Lady has discovered that Customers are often reluctant to ask in-depth questions about cheese and instead either ask her to recommend a cheese she (or I) like or they’ll just pick a cheese that sounds or looks “familiar”.

Your favorite Feline Foodie and Tillamook Cheese Fan of the Month for November (that would be me) thought it might be a good time to start short tutorials about the basics of cheese.

First up: the eight basic styles of cheese – all cheeses fall into one of the following categories and understanding what each style is can help make your next cheese-buying trip anxiety-free and more enjoyable.

Fresh Cheese:  Any cheese that does not undergo any ripening period is a fresh cheese. These cheeses have high moisture content; are mild in taste and have a creamy texture. Fresh cheeses include cottage cheese, cream cheese, and ricotta. While mostly bland, they improve, taste-wise, when mixed with other flavors such as herbs, fruit and sweeteners. These cheeses often have acidic or citrus taste and also the taste of fresh milk. Most of these cheeses should be eaten within a few days to a couple weeks of when the package is opened. These cheeses have a short “Use-by” date.

Other fresh cheeses include Cotija, some Mozzarellas, Queso Fresco, Mascarpone, Feta, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Fromage Blanc, Fresh Goat Cheese aka Chevre, Bel Gioioso Burrata, Crave Brothers Mascarpone, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Crottin, Valencay, Cabecous Feuilles, Bel Gioioso Crescenza-Stracchino and BelGioioso Tiramisu Mascarpone.

Soft-Ripened Cheese: These are cheeses that ripen from the outside in and are soft even when chilled and can be runny when out at room temperature. The outside rind is often a white, bloomy rind that has been sprayed with a mold, usually penicillium candidum, before a short aging period. The most common cheeses in this category are Brie, Camembert and Triple Creams. In the United States most of these cheeses are made from pasteurized milk; whereas in Europe many of these cheeses are still made from raw milk. Because of the FDA Regulation requiring that raw milk cheeses be aged at least sixty days, most European Cheesemakers make both raw milk and pasteurized versions of their cheeses that fall into this category. I have addressed this issue in a separate posting that you might like to read.

Included in this category are Brie de Nangis, Humboldt Fog, St. Andre, Delice de Bourgogne, St. Albray, Champignon, Cambozola, Pierre Robert, Formager d’Affinois, Crave Brothers Les Freres, Florette, Explorateur, St. Maure, Le Chatelain, Soignon Chevrion Buche, Fourgerus.

 Semi-Soft Cheese:  Cheeses in this category have a smooth and mostly creamy interior with little or no rind. Like fresh cheeses, semi-soft cheeses usually have high moisture content and often are very pungent; but can also be quite mild. Raw milk and pasteurized milk are both used in this category. Blues and washed-rind category cheeses can also be in this category.

Semi-soft cheeses include Chaumes, Bel Gioioso Fontina, Havarti, Tillamook Monterey Jack, Bleu D’Auvergne, St. Agur, Bellwether Farms’ Carmody, Roth Kase Petit Swiss, Jarlsberg, Roth Kase ButterKase and young Goudas.

 Washed-Rind Cheese: These cheeses are surface-ripened by washing the cheeses with brine, wine, brandy, beer or other ingredients throughout the aging process. The washing encourages the growth of bacteria and promotes pungent, sometimes very pungent, aromas and are therefore sometimes known as “stinky cheese”. While at Roth-Kase last spring, one of the duties The Lady completed in her Cheesemaking Class was to wash the ripening Gruyere. Also in my review of Taleggio, I state that it is also known as “My Father’s Smelly Feet”. In contrast to their smelly rinds, many of these cheeses are quite mellow and mild in taste such as Epoisses and Taleggio. Both taste absolutely nothing like the way they smell…and that’s a good thing…who would eat cheese that tasted like smelly feet???

Washed-Rind Cheeses include Raclette, Morbier, Epoisses, Taleggio, Pont l’Eveque, Livarot, Le Timanoix, Abondance, Bel Gioioso Italico, Winey Goat and Roth Kase Raclette.

Blue Cheeses: These cheeses have distinctive blue or green veining which is created by injecting penicillium roqueforti mold. This mold adds an easily recognized flavor that ranges from mild to bold and pungent. In Italy these cheeses are called “Gorgonzola”, in France “Bleu” or Roquefort – a protected name and style and in Britain and the US “Blue”.

In this category are Rogue River Blue, Bleu D’Auvergne, Forme d’Ambert, Maytag and Black River Gorgonzola.

Hard/Firm Cheeses: This is a broad category that covers cheeses that may be elastic at room temperature or are hard enough to grate like a Parmesan. Most of the Beemster Premium Goudas fall into this category as do most Cheddars, Swiss-style and Gruyere-style cheeses.

Specific cheeses in the hard category include Beecher’s Flagship Reserve, Comte, Rembrandt Gouda, Parrano, Piave, Grana Padano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Manchego, Idiazabal, Roth Kase Grand Kru, Emmenthal, Tillamook 2-Year Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar,  Beemster XO and Beemster Vlaskaas.

Natural Rind Cheeses: These are cheeses that develop a natural rind during the aging process without the addition of molds and without washing of the rind. Because they age over several weeks, many of these cheeses are made using raw milk. Many “Tomme” style cheese including Tomme de Savoie are in this category. The rind is usually edible but not necessarily tasty and is often gritty – try a nibble before going full steam ahead with the rind.

Other cheeses in this category include Mimolette, Cantalet, Brillat Savarin, Garroxta, English Stilton (also a blue), Shropshire Blue (another blue), Testun and St. Nectaire.

Spun Cheeses: Often called “Pasta Filata”; these cheeses are usually Italian in origin. As the name says, they are cooked and then kneaded (spun). They can be fresh or very hard grating cheeses depending on the producer. The cooking occurs when the curd is exposed to warm water which in turn makes the curd silky and elastic. The softer cheeses are then brined and the harder cheeses are air-dried.

This category includes BelGioioso Burrata, Mozzarella and Scamorza which all have a high moisture content and BelGioiosos Provolone and Caciocovallo with lower moisture content.

(There is a ninth category sometimes included in a list of cheeses but since your humble feline foodie does not consider it cheese, I refuse to really include it here: processed cheese such as Velveeta, “American Cheese” and other cheeses that can withstand a nuclear war…)

Up Next: Cheese 101: What is a Cheesemonger and other Cheese Vocations

From The Cheese Reporter:

LYSOLAC, which is made of Lysozyme, has been used as a natural antimicrobial enzyme in foods and pharmaceuticals for over 30 years.
Extracted from the hen egg white without the use of solvents, Lysozyme food-grade is a completely non-toxic and highly effective natural preservative which protects against many spoilage microorganisms, such as the Clostridia tyrobutyricum spore responsible for “late blowing” in cheese, according to Bioseutica USA, Inc., Rhinebeck, NY, which markets LYSOLAC in the US.
“It is used to prevent late blowing, which is due to bacterium in the cheese,” said Gilles Lagarde, executive vice president business development and regulatory affairs for Bioseutica plc. “The defect occurs during the ripening stages of the cheese.”
These bacteria have the properties that produce a lot of gas which causes late blowing, as well as bad flavors and bad smells, Lagarde said.
Added to the cheese vat during filling, LYSOLAC binds to the casein to remain in the curd and within the cheese for years, protecting while improving the natural, organoleptic aspects of the cheese, the company explained.

 
“Lysozyme is a protein that has a strong positive charge, so when it is put in milk and mixes with the casein, which has a negative charge, the Lysozyme binds with the casein,” Lagarde explained. “Therefore it does not affect the whey in any way. In fact with LYSOLAC the whey is highly sought for its use in applications such as infant formula.”
LYSOLAC is already very popular in the European cheesemaking industry, according to Bioseutica USA; 99 percent of the Italian Grana Padano and 85 percent of France’s hard cheese industry uses Lysozyme.
“It is well used in Italy where they use it systematically with the hard cheeses there,” Lagarde noted.
Lagarde said LYSOLAC is perfect for any cheese where extensive ripening is used and there is a heavy risk of loss.

“They use LYSOLAC because they cannot afford to age the cheese and find out the spores have caused the cheese to blow,” Lagarde said. “If it does, all you can do with it is for grated cheese and the loss is enormous.”
He also said LYSOLAC is used on high pH soft cheeses like Brie.
“The higher the pH,” Lagarde said, “the higher the chance for Clostridia to occur. Any cheese, except for the fresh cheeses.”
Affirmed as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 10 years ago, LYSOLAC is also USDA-approved for use in organic products and available certified Kosher and Halal. Products containing LYSOLAC are required to put “egg white lysozyme” on the ingredient listing by the FDA.

Extensive studies over the years have demonstrated Lysozyme is effective against a variety of microorganisms, including Clostridia, lactic acid bacteria, Listeria, Streptococcus thermophilus and Clostridium tyrobutyricum.
Lysozyme is described as a pure, white microcrystalline, odorless powder with a slightly sweet taste. Lysozyme activity is demonstrated to be effective by attacking the cell wall polysaccharide of different bacterial species, which leads to a breakdown of the cell wall and destruction of the microorganisms.

Granular LYSOLAC has a shelf life of two years when maintained dry and at moderate temperature. Mixing a solution in the cheese plant is said to be simple and requires a minimum of 15 minutes imbibing time prior to addition to the vat.
LYSOLAC 22 percent solution has a shelf life of one year, and can be stored in the refrigator once opened. For more information about LYSOLAC, contact Bioseutica USA, at (845) 876-8616.

Your humble Feline Foodie has been honored by being chosen as ”Tillamook Cheese Fan of the Month”. You may check out the detalis by visiting the Tillamook FanClub Website…WooHoo!!

(And they revealed a “random fact” that I have tried to keep secret…the result of another Burbank “incident” that ocurred before The Lady had me “tutored”…)

My thanks to the kind folks at Tillamook Cheese!! (And I guess I have to thank The Lady…who introduced me to the finer things in life when I adopted her…I’m referring to cheese…especially Tillamook VWESC…but, of course!!)

From New York Daily News

Mouth of the Potomac by The Washington Bureau

Cheesecake Vs. Cheese Steak »

By Michael McAuliff

From the Wall Street Journal  (Copyrighted by the wsj.com):

Food & Drink

By DAVIDE BERRETTA

Bra, Italy

After wrestling for a spot on the gourmet drink list, beer is trying to push deeper into wine territory: right by the cheese platter.

“Some cheeses are considered to be jewels. And for now wine is a more prestigious partner,” says Leonardo Di Vincenzo, owner of Birra del Borgo, a young Italian artisanal brewery that has recently begun exporting to the U.S. But once they try beer with cheese, he says, “People are struck by how easily the two go together.”

The combination has long been a staple in Belgian cuisine, but in recent years, the pairing of beer and cheese has gained legitimacy even in wine-obsessed Italy — where beer is hardly the default drink to accompany fine dining. Similarly, in New York, at gourmet beer spots such as the Beer Table, serving cheese with a $10 brew no longer raises eyebrows.

For brewers, teaming up with cheese is part of a campaign to show that beer is as sophisticated as Bordeaux, not just a tipple associated with student parties and sports bars. The idea is to “bring it up at the same level as wine,” says Marc Stroobandt, a master beer sommelier and consultant at U.K.-based F&B Partnership, a company that trains restaurateurs on the best way to pair beer with food. Mr. Stroobandt says he sees “a lot of interest in experimenting” with pairing beer and cheese across Europe and in the U.S.

Slow Food, for one, is putting its clout behind the beer-and-cheese combo. At the nonprofit group’s Cheese 2009 — a biannual international fair held last week in Piedmont, the northern Italian region that shares a border with another cheese superpower, France — cheese lovers and producers from around the world tasted dozens of varieties, with beer helping wash down the food in addition to the usual wine.

Alberto Farinasso, events coordinator for the fair, says Slow Food is eager to give more attention to artisanal brews, and has elevated beer’s role from bit player to supporting actor. In previous editions of the fair, beer was present, but wine was recognized as the default partner for cheese tasting.

This time, the fair’s program and the crowds around the beer stands made it clear that beer no longer plays second fiddle to wine. Of 37 “taste workshops,” six were dedicated to pairing beer with cheeses. On Monday, the last day of the fair, one section dedicated to artisanal beers had to shut down because it had run out of beer to sell.

“It is a very valid union, both in terms of sensory experience and in terms of stories it can narrate,” says Mr. Farinasso.

At the fair, Parmigiano Reggiano, known in Italy as the “king of cheeses,” was paired with Italian artisanal beers. In other workshops, American and Italian microbrews accompanied U.S. cheeses such as Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin and Rogue River Blue from Oregon. At another session, 39 people sat for more than an hour, tasting five raw-milk cheeses from central Italy paired with four unpasteurized Italian beers, guided by the cheese and beer producers.

Mr. Di Vincenzo, who led two of the beer workshops, says pairing beer and cheese is a no-brainer — “like bread and cheese. Beer is a bit like liquid bread.”

“The bitter note of hops gives a skimming strength that allows to cleanse the mouth from the fat” in cheeses, allowing for a better savoring of the flavors, he says.

Part of the appeal comes from the fact that beer and cheese are part of a common farm cycle. In the 19th century, Belgian monks would brew beer, feeding their cows the leftover barley husks. The cows’ milk yielded cheese that the monks — many of them vegetarians — liked to munch while enjoying their beers.

“You will often hear the argument that cows don’t eat grapes,” says Justin Philips, owner of New York’s Beer Table, a gourmet beer bar in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Mr. Philips, who has been serving beer and cheese since opening the bar a year and a half ago, says palates have warmed quickly to the pairing, such as his proposed meeting of Swiss cheese with Swiss Rebetez beer.

“A year ago, it was a new experience for everybody we presented it to,” Mr. Philips says. “Now just one in 10 are surprised.”

But beer fans still have a long way to go if they want to convince the public that suds are a worthy partner for cheese, especially in France.

“Have you ever seen anyone drink beer in Bordeaux?” asks Emeric Sauty de Chalon, president of 1855, France’s largest online wine shop. Mr. Sauty de Chalon agrees that the most flavorful cheeses have a flavor that is too strong for some red wines, but doesn’t think beer and cheese is necessarily the right alternative.

“With some lower quality cheese, why not?” he says. “But with the most high-quality cheeses from Italy or from France I really would not recommend it. Try something else.”

Mr. Stroobandt, though, thinks consumers just need a little hand-holding. “So far, wine people have been so much better at education and marketing,” he says. “They give people the confidence to try new things, telling them this is how you taste it and appreciate it.”

Write to Davide Berretta at davide.berretta@wsj.com

My Thanks to “Buteos” for sending me this award winning list of Dairy Goat Cheese:

For more information about the American Dairy Goat Association, please click here.

Once we have had more time to review the list, we will begin to review these award-winning cheeses.

2009 Cheese Competition Winners
Amateur Division

Best in Show – Amateur Division
Creeping Thyme Nigerian Dwarf Goat Yogurt
Marie Clements

Reserve Best in Show – Amateur Division
Lookover Feta
Susan Yetter

The Products Committee wants to thank ALL of the entrants in the 2008 Cheese Competition.
Amateur entrants included:

3 Sisters Cheese, Kalina Vendetti
Alcea Rosea Farm, Bev Michels
Antiquity, Richard Grossman
Coursey Family Farm, Annette Coursey
Creeping Thyme Farm, Marie Clements
Decimal Place Farm, Mary Rigdon
Karen’s Hilltop, Karen Von Dollan
Klamath River Alpines, Tutti Hacking
Lookover, Susan Yetter
Lorberau Farms, Jane Lorberau
Mabie’s Farm, Elisabeth Mabie
Moonlight Dairy, Dawnn Repp
No Barn Farm, Sharon Crumb
Sherpani Alpines, Renee Fish
Triple Creek, Brendia Kempf
Blair McCloskey
Joe Sellers

Hope to see you all back in 2010!

Commercial Division

Best in Show – Commercial Division
Bonnie Blue Farm Tanasi Tomme
Gayle Tanner

Reserve Best in Show – Commercial Division
Split Creek Farm Feta in Olive Oil
Evin Evans

The Products Committee wants to thank ALL of the entrants in the 2008 Cheese Competition.
Commercial entrants included:

Appleton Creamery, Caitlin Hunter
Asgaard Dairy, Rhonda Butler
Baetje Farms, LLC, Veronica Baetje
Belle Ecorce Farms, LLC, Wanda Barras
Blue Heron Farm, Lisa Seger
Bonnie Blue Farm, Gayle Tanner
Caprikorn Farms, Alice Orzechowski
Carlisle Farmstead Cheese, Tricia Smith
Cherry Glen Farm, Diane Kirsch
Fairview Farm, Laurie Carlson
Farmhouse Bakery N Cheese, Virgil Shunk
Fat Toad Farm, Judith Irving
Fern’s Edge Dairy, Shari Reyna
Firefly Farms, Matt Cedro
Garden Side Dairy, Kim Roos
Goldin Artisan Goat Cheese, Carine Coldin
HeatherLane Farms, Yvonne Cobourn
Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy, Dawn L. Jump
Latte Da Dairy, Anne Jones
Lovers Retreat Dairy, Cynthia Wilson
Mackenzie Creamery, Jean Mackenzie
Meyenberg Goat Milk Products, Tracy Dammon
Mozzarella Company, Paula Lambert
Mt. Sterling Coop Creamery, Allen O’Brien
MV Cheesery, Joseph Crosby
Natures Way Farm, Tina Moller
Painted Pepper Farm, Lisa Reilich
Redwood Hill Farm, Jennifer Bice
Reichert’s Dairy Aire, Lois Reichert
Rivers Edge Chevre, Patricia Morford
Round Mountain Creamery, Linda Ann Seligman
Saxon Homestead Creamery, Larry Hedrich
SommHerr’s Dairy, Jay Sommer
Split Creek Farm, LLC, Evin J. Evans|
Spriggs Delight Farm, Joyce Powers
Erika Scharfer

Miss Anne, The Man and The Tall Guy

The Lady and The Man get to do all the fun things and all I get to do is stay home, nap and eat cheese… at least they took Miss Anne and The Tall Guy with them yesterday and I had some peace and quiet…but all good things come to an end…they returned and Miss Anne pestered me the rest of the night…

Yesterday, The Lady and The Man treated the interlopers to a tour of the Oregon Coast which included a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, home of Tillie and oh so many delish milk products. When they returned, I could smell the cheese and alas, they brought me none…nada…ziparoo…nothing …what’s up with that??? But I’m not bitter…

They took the tour and watched the cheese being wrapped and prepared to be shipped to all the cheese lovers of the world…but they brought me none…nada…ziparoo…nothing …what’s up with that? But I’m not bitter… 

They had their very own tasting of cheese curds and cheese samples…but they brought me none…nada…ziparoo…nothing …what’s up with that? But I’m not bitter…

And they sampled ice cream. (There will be no reviews by your favorite feline foodie as no one brought me home anything to sample and review…none…nada…ziparoo…nothing…what’s up with that??? But I’m not bitter…)

Tillamook makes 38 flavors of ice cream and if you are hale and hearty enough, you can try them all by buying “the 38 flavor tour” for $25.95. Evidently Miss Anne was game enough to buy the tour but the fainter of heart (think weenies…) talked her out of it and each ordered their own creamy delights as follows:

The Tall Guy aka Dad or Richard had one scoop (in a cup) of Caramel Butter Pecan. He said it was terrific and gave it two thumbs up.

The Man had Mint Chocolate Chip (on a sugar cone)…now there’s a newsflash…imagine him ordering Mint Chocolate Chip…has he ever ordered any other flavor??? Not in this cat’s several lives with him… but I digress. He said it was delish…another real newsflash from The Man…another two thumbs up…

Miss Anne ordered a three-scoop sampler – all sugar-free: Mountain Huckleberry, Caramel Pecan Praline and Oregon Black Cherry. .. Another two thumbs up…

The Lady also had a three-scoop sampler: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coffee Almond Fudge and Pistachio Pecan. And she, too, agreed they were delish and awarded them her own two thumbs up.

And after the 8 scoops, even Miss Anne agreed that the 38 scoop sampler might have been a bit over the top… however, this Feline Foodie has no comment as no one brought me home anything to sample and review…none…nada…ziparoo…nothing…what’s up with that??? But I’m not bitter…)

Beecher's World's Best Mac n Cheese (before cooking)

As you know, The Lady has allowed two interlopers to invade the manse. As of today, they have been here torturing me for an entire week…will it never end…

And just when I was adjusting to Miss Anne and her constant wanting to pet me…what does she think I am, a pet???…in walks an entire brigade of humankinds who came for Sunday Brunch…it seemed to me that there were hundreds of them…but in reality I can’t be sure as I was under the bed and didn’t venture out…

The tall guy known as Dad or Richard is the brother of another tall one named Marv and they were doing some brotherly bonding…or some such nonsense that brings pleasure to humankinds. Marv brought his family with him and he has a big family in all sizes and ages.

The Lady and Miss Anne fixed brunch for the crowd and horror of horrors, they served two of my favorites from Beecher’s:  No Woman , Marco Polo and Rogue Creamery’s Smoky Blue…for a second I thought The Lady had lost her mind and was sharing the last of the Rogue River Blue but thank the cheese gods, she saved that for me… but did she have to let them eat my No  Woman??? She can be so annoying…there had better be No Woman left for me or The Lady will be sleepless in Vancouver tonight…

When the throng arrived they were served the cheese plate as mentioned above with 34° Rosemary Crispbread as an appetizer.

The Lady's Signature Salad

Then they moved on to The Lady’s “signature” salad of field greens (aka “weeds” according to The Man), baby spinach, red seedless grapes, mushrooms and pecans topped with crumbled White Stilton Lemon Zest cheese and a dressing of Modena Balsamic Vinegar and EVOO.

The main course was Beecher’s World’s Best Mac n Cheese  (and everyone agreed it is indeed the World’s Best)which The Lady made using the recipe in Kurt’s Pure Flavor Cookbook; one with dried Chipotle Peppers crumbled on top and one plain. Both were gobbled up and everyone was asking for more… lucky for me and the sleeping schedule of The Lady, she saved some for her favorite feline foodie…that would be me.

The meal ended with bite size brownies, biscotti, Pepperidge Farm Milanos and a selection of Tillamook Ice Creams.

Finally as my afternoon snack time came and went (which I missed…thank you very much…) they left…all except Miss Anne and the tall guy…I hear Miss Anne calling me now…sheesh…

Here’s a short video on cheese knives from chow.com:

There is a better one at MarthaStewart.com but I can’t embed it here…