Cheese Based Question aimed at Colonials.

[Toddy]

I bought some carrots, size XXL when I bought the cheezes, for the first time ever.
Not sure of otigin, but those my dad used to call cattle carrots.
They are grown for cattle in parts of Europe.
Huge &totally tasteless. Might be they give them to cattle in the US too, but the smart ’buyer’ figured out us colonial suckers would pay good money thinking we got quality.

This sucker did!

Yes it was in the old days, before the fortified feeds were developed.
Those Godzilla carrots I bought were utterly tasteless. Had one half watching Godless on Netflix.
I will stew some tomorrow and see.

We get some crap fruit and veg here. Transport chsin to long.
South America to somewhere in US, then to Miami, onto a boat to Cayman.
Mostly in refrigerated containers, but the time it takes.....

Janne, the BBC, in all it's esoteric wonderfulness has just put up an article on those very things.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-42833930/god-s-giant-miracle-carrots

I don't think I'd like eating those woody looking monsters either. The Germans call Dutch tomatoes waterbombs for all the flavour they have. Grown fast and perfect looking but sadly lacking. I think these carrots rather look the same kind of thing, tbh.

M

 

[Janne]

Thank you I will watch that tonight!
( thank Gods I have a machine that hides where we live, so we do have access to BBC and other ‘locked’ European media)

Yes, so many fruit and veg are beautiful, blemish free and totally tasteless! Grown in water with added chemicals/nutrients. Under plastic, much with artificial light 24/7
You would puke if you had to be a vegan here on island. I have friends that are vegan and vegetarian, and they struggle. Most have gone over to an Indian style diet as the spices give flavour to the food.

When will we consumers start demanding food that tastes? Or are we getting so used to it we think it is normal?

Here we import ‘water bombs’ from US. Many varieties, including one called ‘Heritage’. Still tasteless. Acidic.
From late December to March we can buy locally grown, full flavour tomatoes, bell peppers, aubergines, squash, American sweet potatoes, cucumbers. Delicious.
The tomatoes are pure heaven. The aubergines dense, lots and lots if flavour.
Do you think people buy those?
For one person picking local veg you see 10 people choosing the imports.
The person choosing local veg is usually a local person with darker skin. Imports - expats.

 

[Janne]

Just to write about cheese, even some european cheese makers are starting to produce shortly matured p, tasteless junk.

The Danish cheese Havarti for example. Used to be a very creamy, powerful, tasty cheese.
Today it is a soft whitish rubber, with added flavours like Dill and so on.
I think I saw about 5 different flavours at the supermarket.

I call it soap cheese.

 

[Toddy]

I live in the Clyde Valley. That's the mid reaches of the river, the upper river really where it runs through the fertile Lanarkshire lowlands. It's as much of a suntrap as Scotland really ever gets, the soils are very fertile, there's no shortage of good water, and the Clyde Valley used to be famed for it's orchards, glasshouses and vegetables. The growers couldn't compete with the Spanish and Dutch imports though....and now we miss the quality, the tastes (and smells), the varieties, and the seasonality of our own grown crops. The last three tomato farms in the two villages near me have been turned into housing in just the last fifteen years. Just too late for the advent of the real growth in 'organic' and 'home-grown' markets that are gathering pace here.
Some of the fruit orchards, plums, apples, greengages and pears, have survived, but untended for years they are being pruned back into productivity and an effort made to record individual trees and varieties to increase their numbers.
We live and learn, we really do.
Folks need to eat, and money can be very tight for many, but it's becoming apparent that often cheap food really is 'cheap' food.
I know, I'm a hearty advocate for grow your own, smallholdings and allotments

M

 

[Toddy]

Just to write about cheese, even some european cheese makers are starting to produce shortly matured p, tasteless junk.

The Danish cheese Havarti for example. Used to be a very creamy, powerful, tasty cheese.
Today it is a soft whitish rubber, with added flavours like Dill and so on.
I think I saw about 5 different flavours at the supermarket.

I call it soap cheese.

I find that "Basic", "Value" and "Family Pack" are often the indication that the cheese is pretty rubbery and tasteless even if it is cheese with all that makes cheese apart from time and flavour. Like small beer instead of a rich tasting one.
My favourite cheese is only made and sold in Scotland it says on the pack. McClelland's make a lot of cheese and it's sold right through the country, but their rich mature extra strong red cheddar is only sold here. I did not know that. Otherwise I'd say try some, because it's very good.
We had some 'basic' salad cheese (fake Feta) with salads today. Sticky, watery, vinegary stuff, not tasty and salty and firm. We live and learn; I'll no' buy it again.

M

 

[Janne]

I checked out McLelland, (now owned by Lactalic)

No, not available here.

I wonder what makes the owners of these small companies want to sell out to Big Food?
So many smallish manufacturers have been sold. Are they not happy with what they do?

 

[Janne]

I live in the Clyde Valley. That's the mid reaches of the river, the upper river really where it runs through the fertile Lanarkshire lowlands. It's as much of a suntrap as Scotland really ever gets, the soils are very fertile, there's no shortage of good water, and the Clyde Valley used to be famed for it's orchards, glasshouses and vegetables. The growers couldn't compete with the Spanish and Dutch imports though....and now we miss the quality, the tastes (and smells), the varieties, and the seasonality of our own grown crops. The last three tomato farms in the two villages near me have been turned into housing in just the last fifteen years. Just too late for the advent of the real growth in 'organic' and 'home-grown' markets that are gathering pace here.
Some of the fruit orchards, plums, apples, greengages and pears, have survived, but untended for years they are being pruned back into productivity and an effort made to record individual trees and varieties to increase their numbers.
We live and learn, we really do.
Folks need to eat, and money can be very tight for many, but it's becoming apparent that often cheap food really is 'cheap' food.
I know, I'm a hearty advocate for grow your own, smallholdings and allotments

M

Local varieties are developed over centuries for the local soils and climate. Once lost - lost forever.
Sweden almost lost the own commercial applegrowing in south east Skania ( Österlen) about 30-40 years ago.
Thankfully the ’green movement’ made people more aware.

 

[Janne]

My problem with you, Toddy, is that you remind me exactly of what I am missing. You are cruel!



Proper, tasty food.
I could murder for an Egremont Russet!
A Kingdom for an half hour in a PYO orchard!

We bought a bunch if import bananas yesterday, as none of ours is mature yet.
Waste if money, taste like a potato sprinkled with a tiny bit of sugar. It even sticks to the teeth.
We must have the most travelled bananas here.
They start a couple of hundred miles to the west. Get picked and shipped somewhere in the US, at least a couple of thousand miles. Then another trip to Miami.
Onto a ship, then down to Cayman.......
Carbon footprint? Criminal!

 

[Janne]

I saw the carrot program. The big ones here are about 1/2 size.

I suspect that the big ones are from imported seed of large carrots, plus as he shows, loads of chemicals.
Not from what they used to grow before.

 

[Robson Valley]

Carrot seed may seem to be expensive. Hand pollinated every second year and cross bred for hybrid vigor.
Pick and choose from dozens of varieties. I like purple skin & orange interior for taste.
Size-wise, they really are on the small side. Not all species grow to elephant size. There is determinate growth.
I'll be buying "rainbow" carrots again this summer = white, yellow, orange, red and purple.

Fertilizer works. Just goes to show you what sorts of things can and often are limited in natural soils.

BTW, the semi hard cheese from the cheese making class back in October is matured.
I'll not get a taste until I get home, maybe in 2-3 more weeks.

 

[Janne]

What ‘style’ is the cheese culture?

 

[santaman2000]

Janne, the BBC, in all it's esoteric wonderfulness has just put up an article on those very things.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-42833930/god-s-giant-miracle-carrots

I don't think I'd like eating those woody looking monsters either. The Germans call Dutch tomatoes waterbombs for all the flavour they have. Grown fast and perfect looking but sadly lacking. I think these carrots rather look the same kind of thing, tbh.

M

Sadly even very good tomatoes will be tasteless after transportation. If they're going any distance at all they'll be refrigerated and that kills all taste in tomatoes. Unfortunately bringing them back to normal temperature doesn't restore taste; the loss is permanent.

Likewise the acidity is effected by transportation related issues (more often than quality product issues) If the producer knows they'r being transported long distances they harvest before they're fully ripe. Tomatoes will continue to grow redder but that's only cosmetic as they don't really get "riper." Therefore they'll stay more acidic than otherwise. That said, tomatoes are supposed to be more acidic than sweet anyway. That acidity is what makes them delicious!

 

[Toddy]

I think that's true of an awful lot of fruits and vegetables nowadays. Too much emphasis on how it looks and not enough on how it tastes, smells and is healthy.
I am very fond of fresh cherries, and quietly look forward to those few weeks in Summer when we have fresh cherries here.
Himself bought me cherries a fortnight ago, in the middle of Winter, all the way from Peru. Looked lovely, absolutely tasteless a real disappointment. I'd rather wait for Summer than buy these again.
Grapes seem to travel well though, I like the smallish dark red ones and they're sweet and juicy, and I know they're chilled for export to the UK.

I miss the smells of food. No smell of tomatoes, or lettuce, even cress is mostly rapeseed now, or cut flowers apart from lilies. Scentless roses and carnations are abominations, might as well buy silk flowers that at least will last. Fresh cut UK daffodils are in the shops though, and they do have a scent. It's a surprise and a quiet delight when the narcissism come with that lovely perfumey smell.

 

[Janne]

Yeah, you are so correct, the flowers do not smell these days......
Wonder why they cultured away the smell? Afraid people would start suing - "allergies" ?

 

[Toddy]

Probably, or more likely they'd clash with the fake scents of those weird 'air fresheners'

M

 

[Janne]

We do not use those. Why spray chemicals into your lungs when you can open a window?

As an ex smoker I need to take care om my poor lungs!