ignorance is bliss

Last night at the cheese class I attended at Whole Foods, I learned something that I really, really wish I hadn't. It is about the rennet. I previously knew that rennet came from the lining of a cows stomach, that is disgusting enough, but there is detail that is much darker and more sinister than I was prepared for. Rennet is the a milk curdling coagulating enzyme found in the fourth stomach of ruminating creatures. And the only time such a creature would need to produce this enzyme is when they are still nursing, i.e. a baby. : (

There is a substitute rennet developed in a lab that can be used instead, but apparently, an artisanal cheese maker is more apt to use genuine rennet and I, being a fancy pants cheese eater am more apt to eat artisanal cheeses. So I am sad.

What is really at the core of my glumness is that during the twenty I spent as a vegetarian I was unwittingly eating dead baby cow food product. At least, before yesterday, when I ate whatever I wanted, I felt that I had done my time, I done my good deed, I abstained from eating creatures in my former life. Now that I am a recovering vegetarian I could be OK with the amount of meat product I so gladly consume.

So what did I learn yesterday? That for twenty years, I was full of crap!

Anyway, on to the cheese!!!

The class was kind of a throw-down between old world and new world cheese; America vs Europe. There were three pairs of cheese; in each pair one was American and one was European. The first pair were soft ripened, bloomy rind cheeses; 1) Le Chatelain Camembert from Normandy, and; 2) Constant Bliss from Vermont. For me there was no comparison, they were both fantastic and different enough from each other that I didn't want to pick my favorite. Next pair were Cheddar's. I have never been ga-ga over cheddar but that is probably because I consumed mass quantities of mediocre cheddar as a kid (Kraft sharp cheddar to be specific). But the Montgomery Cheddar from North Cadbury, Somerset in England was unlike any other that came before. It is a clothbound Cheddar aged for two years and has a complex dimensional flavor that I can't wait to have again. It had a minerally smell to it on the side that was in contact with the cloth. Its a smell that I have smelled before but I can't place. Maybe it is the smell of mummy's, I don't know. Its challenger, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar had a simpler, brighter taste that left me nonplussed. Next up were two Aline style cheeses, and what a way to end the evening because both of these two cheeses blew me away and I will be serving them at my next wine tasting meeting. The first one Rolf Beeler Appanzeller is from Appanzeller, Switzerland has a nutty, herby flavor (it is washed with wine and herbs) and its challenger was Upland Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin that has a nutty caramel flavor. Both were intense. But while I savored the Upland, the girl to my right, hated it. Oddly she, her boyfriend and I all share the same favorite cheese, Comte (they like theirs with honey while I like mine with under ripened pears). I guess if we share one like, that doesn't mean we will share all likes.

So that was the class. It was fun, delicious and I learned a lot even some things I wish I hadn't. Plus the instructor, Aaron Foster had a rad tattoo of a pig with a butchers diagram on it. I am going to sign up for the Blue Cheese class next.

I learned something else culinary today; you can't rush crepes. I thought I would just quickly whip up the batter this morning and give it its 12 hour rest it needs. What I wound up with was a brown cloggy mess. I think all the ingredients were too cold and didn't want to hang out with each other. Like it was too early in the morning and they were pre-coffee. I understand, next time crepes.