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Cheese... The Beginning
Cheese has always been the staple of the peasant and the serf throughout the ancient western world (Scandinavia, Europe and eastern Asia). In Britain, it was known as white meat. Although the long-horned auroch (a very large, extinct type of cattle, originally prevalent in Europe) which is ancestor of all our modern cattle was the first domesticated milking animal, most milk came from sheep or goats until the Vikings came and improved cattle strains. More and more milk came from cows after that but most cheese still came from goats. It was an economic factor because cows ate much more than goats, therefore, serfs and peasants could only afford goats’ cheese.The Inca, Aztec and Mayan civilizations of South America and the North American Indians relied heavily on milk but had no knowledge of cheese making. There were no large milking animals in the Pacific, and in China they considered drinking milk or eating rotten milk (as they considered cheese) disgusting.
Permanent settlements were first made in the West so that crops could be grown and grain harvested. The most useful animals that were previously hunted were now domesticated. This process started about 6000 BC in northern Greece. It made sense to rely on milk and cheese rather than to kill an animal and hunt for another one. Slowly, the dietary balance of grain, flesh and milk meant that people became masters of their environment and, somewhat, their destiny. Soon communal ambition became individual competitiveness that led to the rulers and the ruled.
Displays of power or wealth were vital to be able to discourage others. Not only were you seen with more food but also better food. Thus was born the basic division of society-those who ate well and those who worked; ie, the nobles and the serfs. From the beginning, the rich ate meat and soft cheese while the poor ate no meat and hard cheese. It was those who could not afford to eat meat who led the great migrations to the southern hemisphere and to the New World. Today, nowhere else in the world will you see such quantities of meat served or cheese made as in North America, Australia and Southern Africa.
Permanent settlements were first made in the West so that crops could be grown and grain harvested. The most useful animals that were previously hunted were now domesticated. This process started about 6000 BC in northern Greece. It made sense to rely on milk and cheese rather than to kill an animal and hunt for another one. Slowly, the dietary balance of grain, flesh and milk meant that people became masters of their environment and, somewhat, their destiny. Soon communal ambition became individual competitiveness that led to the rulers and the ruled.
Displays of power or wealth were vital to be able to discourage others. Not only were you seen with more food but also better food. Thus was born the basic division of society-those who ate well and those who worked; ie, the nobles and the serfs. From the beginning, the rich ate meat and soft cheese while the poor ate no meat and hard cheese. It was those who could not afford to eat meat who led the great migrations to the southern hemisphere and to the New World. Today, nowhere else in the world will you see such quantities of meat served or cheese made as in North America, Australia and Southern Africa.
The types of cheeses produced in America continue to grow and expand, fueled by market demand and knowledge gained by cheese makers. The numbers of new cheeses being offered, from specialty, and small farm cheese makers, have dramatically increased over the last decade, resulting in literally hundreds of cheeses being available in supermarkets, specialty stores, farmer’s markets and the internet.
Cheeses produced in the United States may be made from cow, goat, or sheep’s milk or a blend. Federal Department of Agriculture regulations require that any cheese aged fewer than 60 days be made from pasteurized milk; however, those cheeses aged beyond 60 days may be made from non-pasteurized, or “raw,” milk.
Like wines the best way to decide on your favorite cheese is to taste them, and any fine cheese shop will be happy to provide a sample before you buy. Try to buy only as much as you can consume within a few days. Most refrigerators will dry out cheeses over long periods of time. The best place to store refrigerated cheese, because of its high humidity level, is the vegetable compartment, usually located at the bottom of the refrigerator.
In 1841, Mrs. Anne Pickett from Wisconsin made cheese making history when she opened the first cottage industry cheese factory using milk from neighbors’ cows. In 1851, Jesse Williams opened the first cheddar factory near Rome, New York.
Today, the United States is the world’s largest producer of cheese, in fact, more than 25% of the world’s cheese is produced here.
In the past, many of the native American cheeses Colby, Coon, Cornhusker, Monterey, Pineapple, Tillamook, Washed-Curd, Soaked-Curd, Stirred-Curd and Grandular were variations of cheddar, often with regional roots. Colby, for example, is a mild, semi-firm type of cheddar traditionally from Vermont. Coon is a sharper cheddar made in New York. Cornhusker is a Nebraska cheddar first introduced in 1940 and is similar to Colby. Monterey, also known as Monterey Jack is made in Monterey County, California and was introduced around 1892. Pineapple is a cheddar matured in net bags giving it a pineapple shape. Tillamook is an Oregon cheddar.
Two native American varieties that departed from a cheddar base were Brick and Liederkranz. Brick is a sweet, semi-soft cow’s milk cheese described as being between Cheddar and Limburger in both taste and style. Brick cheese was first made in Wisconsin by John Jossi, a Swiss immigrant. Supposedly, he had to squeeze the cheese between two bricks for the right texture, and thus Brick Cheese. Liederkranz was created by Emil Frey, a young Swiss cheese maker in Monroe, New York, in 1891, who also created Velveeta there in 1923. He named the cheese after the Liederkranz Club, a singing society, where the owner of the cheese factory had taken the first samples of the new cheese. Liederkranz is a cow’s milk cheese, with an edible pale yellow crust, and a semisoft, pale interior with a mildly pungent flavor and distinct aroma. At present Liederkranz cheese is no longer made.
In the last several years the U.S. cheese industry has enjoyed a renaissance of specialty cheese making. Over 400 varieties, types and styles of cheese are available from skilled U.S. cheese makers.
This new interest in artisanal cheese making has led to a renaissance in farmhouse cheese making in New England and New York.
Cheese making is not a new art in New England. In the 1620’s the earliest settlers of Plymouth Plantation brought the tools and skills needed to make cheese with them from England to America. In Healdville, Vermont, Crowley Cheese Company still makes the same creamy, sharp cheese it made in 1843 in the oldest continually operating cheese plant in the US. From the farmlands of the Southern Tier to the pastures of the Hudson Valley and the high peaks of the Adirondacks, a growing number of highly skilled New York State cheese makers are creating quality, artisanal cheeses. These talented individuals have rediscovered what many believed was a lost art in the United States. Through intensive study and a strong dedication to the art of cheese making, the New York State cheese makers are bringing handcrafted, distinctive cheeses to market for consumers to enjoy.
“Only peril can bring the French together. One can’t impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 different kinds of cheese.”
-Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle 1890 - 1970
History Of Wine Vinegar
The simplest way to make vinegar is to leave an open, 3/4 filled bottle in a warm place for a couple of weeks. This technique yields just one bottle, however. For a steady supply of vinegar, take a wide-mouthed glass jug whose capacity is at least a gallon and pour a quart of wine and a cup ofvinegar into it. Keep the container covered most of the time, but open it for a half hour every day. In a couple of weeks the madre, a viscous starter, will have settled to the bottom of the jug, while the vinegar above it will be ready for use. Add more wine as you remove vinegar to keep the level in the jug constant.
Better quality wine vinegars are matured in wood for up to two years and exhibit a complex, mellow flavor.
Balsamic vinegar is the unfermented juice or must of the white Trebbiano grape. The must is boiled down to a sweet, intensely fruity syrup that is then aged in a series of barrels made from various woods including, chestnut, mulberry, juniper, oak and cherry. It is in this manner of aging that imparts the dark color and pungent sweetness to the vinegar. True balsamic vinegar is aged a minimum of six years and is traditionally made in Modena, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. As you can see, a bottle of wine will not turn into vinegar without help.
Sherry
The three types of grapes used today are: the Palomino Blanco, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel. Of these the Palomino, grown on the Albariza soil and largely used for making Finos and Amontillados, is the sherry grape par excellence. The Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel are widely grown in other parts of Spain for the production of sweet wines.
After the grapes have been harvested they are laid out on Esparto grass mats with the object of concentrating the juice by evaporation. After pressing, the must (grape juice) is then poured into butts (casks) to ferment and be transported to one of the large bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Sta Maria or Sanllicar de Barrameda to begin the years-long processes of maturing, blending and fortification.
The first and most important difference between the making of sherry and most other wines is that it is fermented and matured with free access to the atmosphere, which is achieved by leaving a space in the cask above the liquid and only loosely stoppering it. It is because of the individual property of the wines that they spontaneously grow a flor (or ‘flower’) on the liquid interface. It consists of a thick layer of yeasts which serves the double purpose of regulating the access of air to the must and also of eliminating the harmful vinegar producing bacterium, thus permitting slow and controlled development.
At this early stage the butts are usually kept in a shaded patio to allow circulation of air, only later being transferred to the bodegas. After some six months the initial cloudiness disperses and the must is left clear beneath its protective film of flor. It is at this stage that a second peculiarity of sherry becomes evident. No two butts develop in quite the same fashion even though the grapes may have been gathered at the same time from the same vineyard and their subsequent treatment looks to be identical.
By the time the wines are two years old they have several times been racked free of sediment and solid matter, and sparingly fortified with grape spirit or suitably diluted alcohol. By this time they have also been classified according to the quality and type of sherry for which they are best suited; Fino, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, etc.--
Blending and maturing is a process that takes years, the length depending on the type and quality of wine in view. It is accomplished in a solera, a word derived from the Latin soltum, or Spanish suelo, meaning a floor. In essentials, it consists of tiered rows of oak butts of 108 gallons capacity, subdivided into ‘scales’ or series of butts containing wine of identical type, but of progressively younger vintages. From time to time a limited amount of wine for bottling and final blending is withdrawn from the series of butts first laid down. These are replenished or ‘refreshed’ from butts of rather younger wine, which are in turn refreshed down all the scales of the criadera or “nursery.” Even the youngest of the wine is not less than nine months old.
Before it is bottled the wine is clarified with egg white and ‘Spanish Earth’ and is usually blended with wine from other soleras; but this is better considered after discussion of the basic classes of sherry, which are: Fino, Palo Cortado and Oloroso.
Apart from certain Manzanillas, Fino is the lightest, palest and most delicate of sherries, usually of 15 to 16 % alcoholic strength. If left to mature indefinitely, a good Fino may retain its character, growing steadily more intense in flavor, but more often it develops into an Amontillado, deeper colored, with a characteristic bouquet and ‘nutty’ flavor, and of 16 to 18% strength.
Oloroso breeds little or no flor. The wine is darker than the others, less delicate, and when in its natural state and fermented to completion, dry. However, since Olorosos are used for dessert sherries, they are often blended and sweetened. They may approach 24% in strength.
Manzanilla cannot properly be classified with the other sherries. It is made in the small town of Sanlucar de Barrameda on the Guadalquivir estuary. The grapes are picked a week or so earlier and are not sunned, so that the must contains less sugar and more acid. There are also differences in the operation of the soleras, which possess more scales than those used for a Fino sherry--sometimes as many as fourteen. Manzanilla exists in various styles, but in normal usage the word refers to a Fina, an extremely dry and delicate wine with a penetrating aromatic fragrance, and a degree or so less strong in alcohol than a Fino sherry. The keeping properties of sherry vary according to type. Finos and light Amontillados are not at their best after more than three months in bottle; dry Olorosos may safely be kept for several years.
Sweetened dessert sherries actually improve and become smoother with bottle age, their sugar, after a period of ten years or so, being very gradually consumed. Once the bottle has been opened, a Fino should be drunk within three days or it will become noticeably coarser; on the other hand, a brown sherry can safely be left for a month. The rules for serving sherry are the same as for other white wines: a dry fino should be drunk chilled, but not iced, and dessert sherries at room temperature.
The islands of Madeira have a long winemaking history dating back to the Age of Exploration when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirits were added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavor of the wine as the wine producers of Madeira found out when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking process which involves heating the wine up to temperatures as high as 140°F for an extended period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxidation. Due to this unique process, Madeira is a very robust wine that can be quite long lived even after being opened.
Madeira was an important wine in the history of the United States of America. No wine quality grapes could be grown among the thirteen colonies so imports were needed with a great focus on Madeira. One of the major events on the road to revolution in which Madeira played a key role was the British seizure of John Hancock’s sloop the Liberty on May 9, 1768. Hancock’s boat was seized after he had unloaded a cargo of Madeira and a dispute over import duties arose. The seizure of the Liberty caused riots to erupt among the people of Boston.
Madeira was also a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, and it was used to toast the Declaration of Independence. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are also said to have appreciated the qualities of Madeira. John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, of the great quantities of Madeira he consumed while a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress.
There are four major types of Madeira, named according to the grape variety used. Ranging from the sweetest to the driest style they are: Malvasia (also known as Malmsey or Malvazia), Bual (or Boal), Verdelho, and Sercial. The initial winemaking steps of Madeira start out like most other wines with the grapes being harvested, crushed, pressed and then fermented in either stainless steel or oak cask. The grape varieties destined for sweeter wines, Bual and Malvasia, are often fermented on their skins to leech more phenols from the grapes to balance the sweetness of the wine. The more dry wines made from Sercial, Verdelho and Tinta Negra Mole are separated from their skins prior to fermentation. Depending on the level of sweetness desired, fermentation of the wine is halted at some point by the addition of neutral grape spirits. Producers of cheaper Madeira will usually ferment the wine completely dry, regardless of grape variety, and then fortify the wine so as not to lose any alcohol due to evaporation during the estufagem aging (aging using heat). The wines are then artificially sweetened and colored.
Sercial is fermented nearly completely dry with very little residual sugar (0.5 to 1.5° on the Baumé scale). This style of wine is characterized by high-toned colors, almond flavors and high acidity.
Verdelho has it fermentation halted a little earlier than Sercial when its sugars are between 1.5 to 2.5° Baumé. This style of wine is characterized by smoky notes and high acidity.
Bual has its fermentation halted when its sugars are between 2.5 to 3.5° Baumé. This style of wine is characterized by its dark color, medium rich texture with raisin flavors.
Malmsey has its fermentation halted when its sugars are between 3.5 to 6.5° Baumé. This style of wine is characterized by its dark color, rich texture with coffee-caramel flavors. Like other Madeiras made from the noble grape varieties, the Malvasia grape used in Malmsey production has naturally high levels of acidity in the wine which balances with the high sugar levels so that the wines do not taste cloying sweet.
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