Tag: cheese lover
-
10 Intimidating Cheese Names and How to Say Them
A specialty cheese counter can be an intimidating place. You walk up and are presented with 400 different types of cheese all sitting together, begging for your attention. If you don’t know what you want, it can be a struggle to pick something out from the multitude before you. (Luckily, that’s what cheesemongers are for—to…
-
Tasting Notes: Métier Brewing Company Beers and Cheese
This year has wrought its share of terrible things, but one bright spot in the darkness is the beautiful foods that are still being produced for us to enjoy. Just as animals don’t stop producing milk, plants don’t stop growing and people don’t cease needing to eat—even when lives are threatened by a pandemic, social…
-
How to Pair Cheese and Beer
The first beverage pairing that comes to mind for many cheese eaters is wine. But humans have been eating cheese with both wine and beer for a very long time. Humans started making cheese between 6500 and 6000 BCE.[i] Then they started making the oldest-known wines in 5980 BCE[ii] and the first beers around 5000…
-
How to Tell if a Cheese is for Cooking or Just Eating
Here’s a conversation that happens at least once every hour at the cheese counter: Cheesemonger: “Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.” Customer: “Yeah, I’m looking for a cheese that will go well on crackers.” Cheesemonger: “Well, you’ve come to the right place. Everything you see is good with crackers.” [Customer…
-
What is the Difference Between Chèvre and Goat Cheese?
“Where’s your goat cheese?” I answer this question at least three times a day at work; my response is usually not immediately helpful to the person asking. “Here is our goat cheese section in the cheese case, and over here we have two shelves of goat cheese on this wall. Is there a specific type…
-
Alp Blossom Smells Like Heaven
If I could only smell one scent for the rest of my life, it would probably be the scent of Alp Blossom. This stunning cow’s milk cheese from Sennerei Huban is a celebration of springtime. Decorated with a rind of flowers and herbs from Alpine Meadows, the cheese is made in Austria and aged in…
-
The Cheeses Every Home Must Have
This has been a big year for The PhCheese so far. Not on the blog front so much, unfortunately, but in more personal arenas. Things have been rather silent on the blog and social media because my fiancé and I succeeded in doing something we felt would be impossible in the Seattle metro area—and yet…
-
Parmesan vs. Parmigiano: What’s the Difference?
I grew up consuming Parmesan that came out of a green shaker. It was grated, it was white, and it went on top of spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, cannelloni, and pizza. As a child, I was fearful of tomato-based foods. (I have no idea why; I just knew mom was trying to poison me every time…
-
What You Need to Know About White, Fuzzy Rinds
The other day, a mother and her pre-teen daughter were in the shop buying cheese. In our soft-ripened cow’s milk section (which is not labeled as such), the mom picked up a small wedge and put it in their basket. “Mom, why does it say Bloomy?” the daughter asked, peering at the cheese’s label. “I…
-
Celilo is Here!
This weekend, an older couple came into the shop looking for Death & Taxes. While I knew exactly what cheese they wanted, I had to report that we did not carry it; in fact, I do not know of a shop in Seattle that does (please let me know if I’m wrong, people!). At that…
-
How to be Sweet on Citrus with Cheese
Ah, the dead of winter. That means different things to different people, to be sure. In general, we associate this time with darkness, cold, and snow. For much the northern US, Europe, and Asia, that is the reality of January and February life. When I lived in Arizona for my first 23 years, winter was…
-
House of Curds
Sorry I’ve been MIA, my dear cheesy friends. We’ve spent the last 6 weeks trying to buy a house in the super-duper competitive Seattle metro area, and it has been one of the most stressful experiences of my life after finishing a PhD (and this is the slow season for real estate!). Too bad we…
-
Health Questions About Cheese for the New Year and All Year
It’s only taken me half of January to get back online, but the holiday hangover is not at fault. Sadly, I was knocked flat by whatever plague it is that I caught at work just before Christmas. I blame the customers who cough into their hands, wipe their noses with their fingers, then proceed to…
-
The Logistics of Giving the Gift of Cheese
I was going to put together a holiday gift guide for last-minute shoppers, but I waited as long to finish writing it as I did to do my own holiday shopping—which meant it would be too late for anyone else to get their gifts in time for Christmas if they got an idea from my…
-
The 12 Days of Cheesemas
[Originally published on December 18, 2016; revised.] In honor of the holiday season that surrounds us, I give you the gift of poetry and music. Tonight is the first night of Hannukah, and tomorrow is officially 12 days away from Christmas. No matter what reason you have to celebrate, we can all take part in…