France is the King of Cheese. It's undisputed. They say in France that there's a different cheese for every day of the year. There are more kinds of fermented curd there, from more mammals' milk, using more bacteria and molds than anywhere else in the world. And most of the time, they don't even practice safe fromage-making; yeah, that's right, they do it with unpastuerized milk. Louis Pasteur, full of more mold and bacteria than all the cheese of France, just rolled over in his coffin.
And so it was in France that I learned how to eat and love cheese, proper cheese...from the soft Trivial Pursuit wedge-shaped cheeses like Brie and Camembert to the hard cheese from the Alps (Beaufort), the Jura (Comté), and the Pyrenees (Ossau-Iraty); from the deliciously banal chèvre (goat cheese) to the ones-of-a-kind Roquefort and Mont d'Or.
And as importantly, I learned that cheese can be combined with some rather unexpected foods and produce some mind-blowing combinations. For instance, chèvre tastes great in the conventional way, on a baguette, with tomato, cucumber, and lettuce; but that's too easy. For a sweeter snack, pour some honey over the chèvre. I'm drooling. Likewise, try eating the Basque cheese Iraty with some cherry jam. Never would have thought of that on my own !
So your humble narrator, a true turophile, arrived in South America with his mind open and palate ready for new experiences... There was a landslide happening on my nutrition pyramid due to a sudden lack of cheese.
Well, Venezuela and Colombia don't have enough cheeses to eat a new variety every day, but perhaps one per month. That's a start. Here's a list of the cheeses I've met personally during my random inspections in the supermarkets. Most of these cheeses edible, most of them forgettable.
Just as the French like to experiment, try new combinations, these Northern South Americans are also fond of experimentation with queso. They put their
cheese, often after shredding, on fried platanos, alongside guava jelly, on pancakes (please tell me this a war crime), and
(my fingers hurt just typing this) on rice pudding. Rice pudding.
So innocent : just milk, rice, and sugar. It never hurt anyone. If you wanted to add anything else, just mix in an egg
or add cinnamon or raisins, but for the love of all things sacred,
leave the cheese in the fridge. And maybe Mr. Pasteur will stop his somersaulting.
[update]
In Medellin, I witnessed perhaps the most savage and heinous act thinkable against cheese. We were eating at a cliffside eatery overlooking the valley below. My friend ordered some hot chocolate; it was a chilly night. He also ordered some a plate of chicken, and beans, and cheese, and bread. Then, he picked up the cheese, but did not put it in his mouth, no. He put the cheese in his hot chocolate. I asked if he had accidentally dropped the cheese. It was a greasy cheese, and accidents happen. I told him that we could buy another, not a problem. He gave a me a curious look, and said "no, that how I like to drink it." Remember the look that Braveheart gave to Robert the Bruce when he was betrayed ? Yeah, that was the look I gave him. He shrugged, "what, it's good," as the cheese started to melt and globules of cheese fat started to float on the surface. So, I told him that he was a sick man. Then he calmly stated that everyone in Colombia takes their hot chocolate like that. I think I blacked out after that...
And so it was in France that I learned how to eat and love cheese, proper cheese...from the soft Trivial Pursuit wedge-shaped cheeses like Brie and Camembert to the hard cheese from the Alps (Beaufort), the Jura (Comté), and the Pyrenees (Ossau-Iraty); from the deliciously banal chèvre (goat cheese) to the ones-of-a-kind Roquefort and Mont d'Or.
And as importantly, I learned that cheese can be combined with some rather unexpected foods and produce some mind-blowing combinations. For instance, chèvre tastes great in the conventional way, on a baguette, with tomato, cucumber, and lettuce; but that's too easy. For a sweeter snack, pour some honey over the chèvre. I'm drooling. Likewise, try eating the Basque cheese Iraty with some cherry jam. Never would have thought of that on my own !
So your humble narrator, a true turophile, arrived in South America with his mind open and palate ready for new experiences... There was a landslide happening on my nutrition pyramid due to a sudden lack of cheese.
Well, Venezuela and Colombia don't have enough cheeses to eat a new variety every day, but perhaps one per month. That's a start. Here's a list of the cheeses I've met personally during my random inspections in the supermarkets. Most of these cheeses edible, most of them forgettable.
- Queso de Mano (Hand cheese) : Several images come to mind, all of them disturbing.
- Queso Blanco (White) and Queso Amarillo (Yellow) : Very descriptive. I'll take the white one. Yeah, that one over there. No, no, a little whiter. Well, that's too white !
- Queso Guayanés (from Guayana) and Queso Llanero (from the Plains) : These come from two cow-filled regions of Venezuela.
- Queso Ahumado (Smoked) : They'll smoke anything here.
- Queso de Año (Year Cheese) :Is this its age or sentence ?
- Queso Costeño (Coastal Cheese) : The only coastal mammals I know of here are whales, dolphins, manatees, and otters. They are all suspects...
- Cheese in a pressurized squirt can : This should disturb all peoples save Americans.
- Queso de Castor (Venezuelan Beaver Cheese) : Does not exist...yet.
Just as the French like to experiment, try new combinations, these Northern South Americans are also fond of experimentation with queso. They put their
cheese, often after shredding, on fried platanos, alongside guava jelly, on pancakes (please tell me this a war crime), and
(my fingers hurt just typing this) on rice pudding. Rice pudding.
So innocent : just milk, rice, and sugar. It never hurt anyone. If you wanted to add anything else, just mix in an egg
or add cinnamon or raisins, but for the love of all things sacred,
leave the cheese in the fridge. And maybe Mr. Pasteur will stop his somersaulting.[update]
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| "Everyone in Colombia drinks chocolate with cheese ?" |
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