Cheese

From the Owen Sound Sun Times: Durham area raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt and his four year old son William at his Durham area farm on Friday September 30, 2011. James Masters\The Sun Times DURHAM - Local raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt’s appeal of a British Columbia judge’s contempt of court finding against him is based what he views as the lack of proof anyone drank his milk and lack of clarity of the court order he was found to have breached, he said Tuesday in an interview. Schmidt said he restructured a Chilliwack, B.C. dairy farm to produce cosmetics to comply with an injunction which ordered him and others not to package and distribute unpasteurized milk for human consumption. But Superior Court Justice Randall Wong called the cosmetics claim a “ruse” and found Schmidt and farm owner Gordon Watson in contempt of the court by violating the injunction. Schmidt said in an interview it’s not his business what people do with the milk once he produces it. He said there’s no prohibition on drinking raw milk but “they’re (authorities are) trying to get around that by issuing these orders.” “We tried to find a way how we can comply with the court order.” Schmidt confirmed he has appealed Wong’s written decision was released June 5. The Aug. 26 2011 breach of the March 18, 2010 court order became the subject of a contempt hearing after the Fraser Health Authority filed a petition with the court calling for a finding of contempt and special costs. The Public Health Act, under its regulations in B.C., deems milk that has not been pasteurized at a licensed dairy plant as a health hazard. The Public Health Act stipulates a person must not willingly cause a health hazard or act in a manner that the person knows or ought to know will cause a health hazard. The judge handed each man a three-month suspended sentence, followed by one year of probation and granted costs to the health authority. Schmidt said the court needed to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt before making a finding of contempt. Yet there was no evidence, Schmidt said, that anyone had drunk the unpasteurized milk in the “cosmetics,” in which raw milk was the only ingredient, the court decision said….” Read more in the Owen Sound Sun Times.

Jenny Glazer is moving on from the Rainbow Cheese Department and it marks the end of an era. Not only is she one of my favorite people and a friend from before she started working at Rainbow, but she helped make our department what it is today. I think we were dressed up for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving here. That used to be our annual tradition: First off, I should mention two other folks. We had such a solid core of people involved in transforming our cheese section from an afterthought to a destination that it seemed like nothing would ever disrupt it. Six of us worked for more than a decade together making all the decisions, doing most of the cutting, wrapping, and talking, generally figuring out from scratch what to do next. I do not want to make this a you-kids-get-off-my-lawn essay but things are easier to figure out now. The adversity of just trying to find accurate information on cheese bonded us together. I still remember when the Cheese Primer came out. I hear it mocked now by newer cheese folks but it is impossible to overestimate how important that book was to so many cheese people at the time. Sure, it’s out of date and the American section, with the hindsight of all these years, is embarrassing in its brevity, but it was the only relevant cheese book published in the US in decades. It was pre-internet and we were starving for the information in there. I think we all bought copies the first week it was out. It encouraged us in our love of cheese and the feeling that we were accomplishing something. Kelly Parrott was the first to leave. It was expected because she had been talking about moving back to Oregon for years. I should have written a tribute to her when she left because without her attention to detail, her task-masterness and her cheese experience from Natures (A Portland grocery bought by New Seasons) I am not sure we could have progressed so fast. Kelly, if you are reading this, know that we still talk about you and when wrapping especially pretty things often ask, “How would Kelly wrap this cheese?” Kelly and Andreas at the Cheeseworks Warehouse. No more Mimolettes to bowl… Anna Costa left us once when she decided to live in the North Bay and make cheese at Redwood Hill. She eventually came back though, and worked a few more years behind the counter before the wrapping got to her and she moved upstairs to HR and our Board of Directors (I still blame all those years of working at the burrito place, not the cheese ). I never wrote a tribute to her because she is still at Rainbow, still making it a better place every day. As for the cheese department, she brought her early FFA education and cheesemaking skills in addition to being pretty much the nicest person I have ever met in my life. Anna and I showing off the mold on a (non-Vella) Dry Jack and our new cheese cooler jacket: Jenny, moving to Pittsburgh, PA after 16 years at the store brought so much to the cheese that it is difficult to encapsulate it all in one blog entry. She had no previous cheese experience but she had more enthusiasm than anyone I can think of. She summed up the act of selling cheese in a up-from-hippie natural food store in the way I still think about it today. We are the permission department. Much of the rest of the store is about avoiding bad things and we are the ones who say, “Have something with tons of butterfat. Have something that tastes great just for the sake of eating something that tastes great!” Pete and Jenny in the early years: We often had the same brain about things. When one of us would propose something like keeping a cheese registry, the other would often say, “I was thinking of something like that too!” She was as committed to cooperative ideals as much as me and, even having worked at the store a long time was able to, be a bridge between new and older workers. She is a person who can always find common ground and, quite honestly, that ability is rare and will be next to impossible to

From Scott Dunn in the Owen Sound Sun Times: Michael Schmidt raises a glass of raw milk in a toast to his supporters at a raw milk rally outside the Grey Bruce Health Unit in Owen Sound in October 2011. Photo via Owen Sound Sun Times. “Local raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt is appealing a British Columbia Supreme Court judge’s finding of contempt against him for violating an injunction to stop the distribution of raw milk for human consumption under the “ruse” of saying his raw milk was a cosmetic. Justice Randall Wong, in a June 5 written decision, found Schmidt and B.C. farm owner Gordon Watson in contempt of the court’s March 18, 2010 injunction after the Fraser Health Authority filed a petition calling for a finding of contempt and special costs. “In this case, distributing raw milk as a purported cosmetic product was patent lip service and ruse to distribute raw milk for human consumption,” Wong’s decision says. Wong noted the farm’s website, “Our Cows,” said nothing about cosmetics at the time the milk was said to have been produced for cosmetic purposes, nor that it was not for human consumption. “The articles are directly aimed at raw milk, its virtues, and campaigns to advocate to legalize raw milk for human consumption.” The judge handed each man a three-month suspended sentence, followed by one year of probation and granted costs to the health authority. Schmidt could not be reached for comment Monday. It’s Schmidt’s second contempt of court finding related to the distribution of raw, unpasteurized milk. “With all due respect, Justice Wong got it totally wrong,” Schmidt said in an e-mail to The Sun Times after the B.C. decision was released. He said he was filing an appeal. Schmidt and fellow raw milk advocate Gordon Watson operated “Our Cows,” farm in Chilliwack, B.C. Schmidt “reorganized” the farm under a “new business model.” It involved producing raw milk products for cow-share members as cosmetics labeled with such names as Cleopatra’s Enzymatic Alpine Lotion. The products contained just one ingredient — raw milk, the decision said. Wong described Schmidt’s court testimony as “very vague and cagey about the raw milk.” He also found Schmidt was “directing” the farm operations. “The farm operates as a cow share in which members join and receive ‘dividends’ in the form of raw milk and/or raw milk products,” Wong’s decision says. Watson said he hired Schmidt as the farm’s agister, or livestock manager, the decision says. It says Schmidt sought the Fraser Health Authority’s view on his intention to call the raw milk product a “cosmetic.” In reply, the health authority told him in an Oct. 4, 2010, letter to “cease and desist from the production and distribution of raw milk whether it is labeled as a cosmetic product or not and that he comply with the March 18, 2010 B.C. Supreme Court Injunction Order.” A public health inspection of the farm Aug. 26, 2011, to check compliance with the injunction found jar lid labels which indicated “Cosmetic Skin treatment Only — Our Cows Sharemember Dividends — Packaged Not for Human Consumption.” Health Canada, in response to Schmidt’s inquiries, told him that since the milk was not for sale but rather was shared among the cow-share members, it had no jurisdiction to consider classifying the milk as a cosmetic, the court decision says….” Read more in the Owen Sound Sun Times.

The Lady was exhausted when she returned from the cheese mines yesterday… so she wanted something delish and easy to prepare. The great folks at Sartori had recently sent several wedges of their sublime cheeses and I suggested she build one of those fabulous David Eyre Pancakes around the wedge of Merlot Bellavitano we had. Here’s what she did: Ingredients: 6 ounces of Merlot Bellavitano, shredded 1/4 stick butter Dollop EVOO 4 eggs 1 cup flour 1 cup whole milk 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup fresh blueberries Handful almond slivers Preparation: Pre-heat oven to 425. Pre-heat cast iron skillet in oven. Add and melt butter to pan. Add EVOO to pan. Heat but don’t allow to smoke. Mix eggs, flour, milk and salt in bowl. Fold in blueberries and half of the cheese to the mixture. Pour into pre-heated skillet. Top with almonds. Bake for 15 minutes until puffy and golden brown. When you take from oven, top with remainder of cheese. Cut into four slices and serve with maple syrup or your favorite jam. Inspired by the recipe of David Eyre which you can review by clicking here. You can read my interview with Jim Sartori by clicking here. FTC Full Disclosure – The manufacturer sent me their product(s), without any obligation on my part, hoping I would review the product/cheese. For more information, please see my About Me page.

Dear readers, I am here to tell you that you have been tricked. Bamboozled. Flim-flammed. By McDonald’s, of all places. The most universally trusted fast food restaurant in the world. Okay, that’s probably not true. Neither is the idea that you’ve been tricked, per se. The truth is, McDonald’s has, rather quietly, removed the Angus Third Pounders from their menu and replaced them with three new Quarter Pounders. The old Angus Third Pounders were Bacon and Cheese, Deluxe, Mushroom and Swiss, and, later on, the Chipotle BBQ Bacon and Cheddar Bacon Onion. A lazy amount of Internet research seems to indicate that the Angus Third Pounders weren’t doing that well, possibly due to their high price – $3.99 – in relation to the rest of their menu and the current trend towards value menus. This idea is directly contradicted by the fact that the new Quarter Pounders are the exact same price, so I’m just going with “nobody seemed to like the Angus Third Pounders so we’re trying something else”. The new Quarter Pounders are Bacon and Cheese, Deluxe and Bacon Habanero Ranch. Guess which one I chose to review? …Oh, right, you don’t have to guess. It’s in the review title. Gosh darn spoilers. The Bacon and Cheese and Deluxe varieties are just as boring as you can imagine they are, containing ingredients like…bacon, and…cheese. I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to be impressed with in the Deluxe – it’s got mayo, and lettuce, and tomatoes, and zzzzzzzzzzzz. So I find myself with the Bacon Habanero Ranch Quarter Pounder, which, in stark contrast to the other two, actually sounds interesting. “A quarter pound* of 100% beef topped by smooth white cheddar,** thick-cut Applewood smoked bacon, tomato and leaf lettuce, and a spicy-cool habanero ranch sauce, all on a toasted, bakery-style bun.” If you’re curious about the asterisks, the first lets you know that’s the weight before cooking and the second informs you that the cheese is pasteurized process. There, I’ve done my boring due diligence. At this point I was about to launch into the part where I actually eat the fucking burger, but I stumbled upon something on McDonald’s website that I just could not, in good conscience, ignore. In recent times I’ve made a point of not poaching pictures, because I’m pretty sure there’s copyright issues involved. But a picture is worth a thousand words, which I’ll probably end up writing anyways, and I just couldn’t help myself on this one. So up it goes until I get a cease and desist email from Ronald. Look at it. Love it for its ridiculousness. HABANEROS SLAPPING YOUR TONGUE! ZING! Bacon shaming! The tongue-slapping is my obvious favorite, but I’m also very fond of, “I see you looking at me?” With some different punctuation, it could be construed as an amusing threat from the aggressive habanero pepper. But phrased as a question, it a.) makes no goddamn sense and b.) makes the habanero sound insecure. I’m lovin’ it. (Please kill me.) Okay. Burger time. Hab. First off, I took pictures and ate my Bacon Habanero Ranch Quarter Pounder before I did all that researchy stuff, which led to me being surprised by the lack of habanero peppers on my burger. I thought it was bacon, habanero and ranch, not bacon and habanero ranch. I was a little disappointed, but that’s okay. As far as I can remember, this is the first time a major fast food chain has gone habanero, in any form. In case you didn’t know, habaneros are pretty serious business. To give you a point of comparison, jalapeño peppers rate between 3,500–8,000 units on the Scoville scale, while habaneros are between 100,000–350,000 units. Even if you don’t know what the Scoville scale is, and you should, you can see the impressive disparity in those numbers. What I’m trying to say here is that habaneros are hot. Let’s

I can’t go on vacation without stopping at least one cheese place. However, I didn’t realize that on this trip it would be so easy. We decided to vacation in Bend, Oregon for the hiking and for Beer Week, but it is also only ten minutes from Tumalo Farms. We are currently selling a ton of their Classico Reserve which is one of the best American Aged Gouda-style goat cheeses around. I actually think all of the Tumalo cheeses are underrated. Great clean flavor. Good tang. Good sweetness. Great balance of added ingredients to cheese on their flavored cheese… they do not make a mediocre cheese. Partially because Cypress Grove launched their (Dutch) goat gouda (Midnight Moon) years before Tumalo hit the Bay Area, I have always thought that the Tumalo cheeses were really under appreciated down here. And my timing for visiting was good because I even got to see a few little baby goats The farm itself is beautiful. It’s in the high desert of Oregon, surrounded by mountains. If I were a goat, I would love to live there. It was overcast the day I visited, but it is hard to imagine a more picturesque setting. Oh, what the heck, here is a picture of more cheese: here is a picture of me and Flavio DeCastillos, the owner of Tumalo Farms. Can someone remind me to get a haircut before I go on vacation next time? p.s. Little Jewels aging. I am putting this here so I remember to order some.

The recent Wall Street Journal story quoting the findings of Canadian researcher Nadine Ijaz to the effect that, contrary to current regulator attitudes, raw milk is in fact an inherently low risk food, has prompted some backlash, notably on Doug Powell’s Barblog: Doug Powell’s Barfblog logo, David E. Gumpert, Nadine Ijaz “The scientific fringe craves the credibility – the impateur — of the scientific mainstream. It fuels conspiracy theories, drains public health resources, and unnecessarily worries a lot of folks; it’s a recycled tactic often used in the politics of genetically engineered food, water fluoridation, and so on. Mainstream science can be wrong; but it’s better than astrology….” and so forth. To counter this attempt to discredit the science supporting the “raw milk is a low risk food” thesis, David E. Gumpert and Nadine Ijaz have put together a new post on The Complete Patient blog: David: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has had no hesitancy about spending taxpayer dollars to promote its viewpoint that raw milk is a mortal  danger. A couple years back, I called the FDA on its practice, after it spent nearly $2,500 with a press release service to put out  single warning on a slow-news weekend about possible illnesses at a private food club from raw milk, long after any possible threat had passed. The hidden agenda behind the press release was clearly propaganda. It had nothing to do with safety or science…” “Ijaz made a well-received evidence review on unpasteurized milk at the British Columbia (Canada) Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC). Her research debunks raw milk health and safety claims across all sides of the debate. It was picked up by the Wall Street Journal thanks to a media release from the Weston A. Price Foundation.  This kind of exposure represents a wonderful opportunity for sincere scientific debate based on actual evidence…or so Ijaz thought. But, of course, discussion is the last thing some food safety professionals in the academic and government orbit seem to want. Anyone who advocates such a rational approach tends to be shot down, such as in this case, with terms like ‘astrology’ and ‘conspiracy theories’ and ‘scientifically-sounding garble.” This arrogant academic said he decided to `leave it to others to comment on the uh, unique interpretations of risk assessment`.  So much for scientific rigour….” Nadine: “In my BC CDC Grand Rounds presentation of May 16, 2013 entitled Unpasteurized milk: myths and evidence, I reviewed a substantial number of peer-reviewed studies to deconstruct myths propagated on various sides of the raw milk debate. In that presentation, I employed evidence-based perspectives towards a balanced critique of raw milk consumer claims as well as those presented by North American public health bodies.  My goal is to begin depoliticizing the raw milk debate and to bring a higher standard of scientific rigour to this long-controversial subject. My evidence review concluded that while little evidence substantiates several common raw milk consumer claims, neither is raw milk as uniquely hazardous today as it was in the 1930s.  While acknowledging the ongoing value of pasteurization as a public health intervention, I systematically deconstructed what appears to be a fundamental and unprecedented bias against unpasteurized milk in the scientific literature and by public health bodies. I also critically examined recent evidence around the proposed protective effects of raw farm milk on the development of atopic conditions in young children, as well as evidence pertaining to industrial milk processing`s possible health impacts….” Get the whole story on The Complete Patient blog. Watch Nadine’s full presentation to the BC Centre for Disease Control here.

Hudson Flower aging in Murray’s Cheese Cave. Every once in a while, a cheese comes along that is so special words can’t do it justice… this is one of these cheeses. While in New York earlier this month, The Lady was lucky enough to taste Hudson Flower two nights in a row and bring some home to The Man and Moi. Hudson Flower begins life at Old Chatham Sheepherding Company in the Hudson Valley of New York State. Soon after making these small disks of young sheep milk cheese they are shipped to Brian Ralph, Murray’s Cheese Affineur, who uses his expertise and imagination to create “A Come to Cheeses” moment. Some of Brian’s inspiration comes from the Corsican Fleur de Maquis, a sheep milk cheese coated with rosemary, fennel seeds and juniper berries. Brian has coated this young cheese with some of the same herbs and flowers that the sheep are eating as they graze the Hudson Valley. The secret blend which includes rosemary, lemon thyme, marjoram, elderberries and hop flowers brings terroir front-and-center. Brian then ages the cheese for a few weeks, allowing the rind to bloom around the herbal coating and infuse the sublime paste with pine, woodsy and flowery notes. The richness of the sheep milk combined with all those herbal notes makes for a cheese that lingers on your palate and in your head… I can still taste it… amazing how the brain (not to be confused with The Brain…) can conjure up past scents and tastes long after the event… this is one of those cheeses. I give Hudson Flower 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got)… if I had more, I’d give it that as well. Photo is Hudson Flower aging in the Murray’s Cheese Caves and courtesy CheeseMaster Chad of Ohio.

As you, my loyal readers, know The Lady travels… a lot… a lot more than The Man and I like… but there is an upside to her travel and it’s spelled C-H-E-E-S-E… glorious C-H-E-E-S-E… Recently The Lady spent several days in New York attending meetings at our favorite Cheese Shop, Murray’s Cheese located in the West Village. Two nights in a row she and dinner with some of her favorite Cheese Swells at Murray’s Cheese Bar, located a mere 30 steps down Bleecker Street from Murray’s Cheese… what a sublimely, cheesy street Bleecker has become… Each night, the Mongers at the cheese bar started these dinners with a cheese plate… not just another cheese plate… but a cheese plate so special that The Lady brought home all of the ingredients and delighted The Man and Moi with the same plate… if she’s gotta travel… at least she brings home the cheese… First on the plate was one of  Pat Morford’s babies: Up In Smoke, which we recently reviewed. UIS is a great start to any cheese plate; this fresh chevre is wrapped in smokey maple leaves and then spritzed with Bourbon… how can you not be opening the door to a perfect cheese plate when you start with Up In Smoke? Next on this plate was The Star of The Show: Hudson Flower. Every once in awhile, a truly special cheese comes our way and Hudson Flower is one of those. A detailed review follows this posting… receiving my coveted 4 Paws doesn’t really do justice to this cheese… but ” that’s all I’ve got”… stay tuned to read my thoughts on this sheep’s milk cheese that began life at Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, just up the Hudson Valley from Manhattan. The third cheese on the plate was Etivaz, a seasonal, raw cow milk cheese from Switzerland. I would describe this cheese as Gruyere on steroids. Made by about three dozen producers, Etivaz is only available four months of the year and to our delight, The Lady was in Manhattan during one of those months. The cows wander the grasslands of the Alps providing milk that is gently warmed in copper vats before traditional rennet (animal) is added. After curdling, the curds are finely cut and warmed to 57 degrees Celsius. The wheels are made and labeled with the producer to ensure traceability. Aged to perfection( in the either in Switzerland or Murray’s own caves), this cheese became the first food (after wine) to be awarded the coveted PDO designation in 1999. Nutty and sweet with just a hint of the smoke from the fires beneath the copper vats… another 4 Paws cheese… Following Etivaz was Gabietou, a washed rind from the Pyrenees. This cheese was created in 2001 in the mountainous area of Southwest France from the raw milks of cow and sheep. The cheesemaker washes the wheels with a brine made from local warm springs and rock salt. Murray’s buys young wheels and ages them in their caves on Long Island (previously under the shop in Greenwich Village) under the watchful eye and care of Murray’s Affineur, Brian Ralph. Brian uses cheese alchemy and imagination to coax out the best of the cheeses entrusted to his care. Dense, fruity and earthy… another 4 Paws cheese… Wrapping up the plate, The king of  Blue Cheeses, Stilton… what do I even need to say… reviewed by us in the past. If you think there’s a method to this cheese plate; you would be right… only the best of the best… five cheeses all of the 4 Paws caliber… I must commend the Mongers of Murray’s Cheese Bar for creating such a stellar cheese plate and thank The Lady for re-creating it here at the manse for The Man and moi… The Man swooned; I swooned… even The Lady swooned… Cheese plate and Hudson Flower photos courtesy CheeseMaster Chad of Ohio and copper vat photo courtesy etivaz-aoc.ch.

Outside Schneider’s of Capital Hill. A great experience awaits within. In preparation for an upcoming Tequila/Mezcal appreciation party, we needed to get our hands on some major Tequila – and we needed assistance is setting up a respectable Tequila buffet. I searched online for the best liquor store in DC and up popped Schneider’s of Capitol Hill. Easy! The first thing your notice about Schneider’s is that it is small. Like REALLY small. And REALLY full of every liquor you could imagine. We were immediately greeted by Terry, who foolishly asked, “can I help you find something?” Well, 30 minutes later, poor Terry was still helping us. Not because he didn’t know anything, but because he knew everything about everything. He was a Tequila expert. He was a Lillet expert. He was an Absinthe expert. He was a Scotch expert. He helped me pick my new favorite Gin (Green Hat – from DC!), which made the perfect martini last night, and a new Vodka that he said would knock my socks off. Let me put it this way – we went in for Tequila and walked out with a massive box of everything. A box that someone carried out and placed in our trunk! And we walked out with the most valuable thing of all… the memory of a GREAT experience. Sadly, the whole time I was in Schneider’s, all I could think about was that it is impossible to have this kind of quality experience in Virginia. Simply walking into a state-run liquor store here is depressing. Trying to get any information is futile (unless you want “the Tequilas are over there” type of guidance). Schneider’s provides superior education and unique products so customers can’t imagine going anywhere else – and DC allows them to do that. So, to sum up, Schneider’s = awesome experience.  Next time we need to stock up, this is where we’ll go. Oh – and state-run monopolies are bad.