Cheese Based Question aimed at Colonials.

[Toddy]

You have herbs that don't grow here outside of 'gardenised' varieties, you have bison (can you milk bison ? if not, why not ? our ancestors domesticated the Aurochs, and bred them for milk, draught and meat...been reading, apparently they're are small teated and don't respond well to commercial milking; though that does rather imply that hand milking might not be so much of an issue ?) and you have cattle, etc., that thrive in dry/salty/hot, etc., lands, why can't you have distinctive cheeses.

On that note, I have had American cheese; Monterey Jack. A bit like a Gouda, but not quite. Not enough intensity for my tastebuds, though it seems to favour highly on many Mexican type recipes.

M

p.s. Scottish Cheddar is rich and stronger than the Cheddar/cheddar. Saltier too though. I suppose it's bad for us but it tastes very good indeed, and it cooks well too.
It's become it's own type Cheddar, Stilton and the like have become varieties rather than just places of origin, haven't they ?

 

[santaman2000]

You have herbs that don't grow here outside of 'gardenised' varieties, you have bison (can you milk bison ? if not, why not ? our ancestors domesticated the Aurochs, and bred them for milk, draught and meat...been reading, apparently they're are small teated and don't respond well to commercial milking; though that does rather imply that hand milking might not be so much of an issue ?) and you have cattle, etc., that thrive in dry/salty/hot, etc., lands, why can't you have distinctive cheeses.....

I don't know if you could ever domesticate bison well enough to milk them or not. Even the so called domesticated ones we grow for meat aren't truly domesticated; just very well fenced in with steel fencing. I also don't know how much milk one would produce nor how well it would mimic the milk from the water buffalo used elsewhere.

I think we do have "distinctive" cheese. Just not really a "different varietal. Our cheddars are distinctive from yours (NY cheddar is also distinctive from Wisconsin cheddar and both distinctive from Southern cheddar) Which is best is nothing more than personal taste.

 

[santaman2000]

....On that note, I have had American cheese; Monterey Jack. A bit like a Gouda, but not quite. Not enough intensity for my tastebuds, though it seems to favour highly on many Mexican type recipes.....

That's not surprising. Monterey Jack began in California (which used to ba a part of Mexico)

 

[Robson Valley]

Monterey Jack, laced with jalapeno pepper bits, is pretty good. Plain is kind of Blah.
Plus, the species of bacterial cultures make such signature distinctions.
Soft textures and pale flavors seem to be the broad middle of the cheeses here.

Bison have the disposition of Cape Buffalo. You cannot pay me enough to set foot in the local bison pasture.
They seem to trust(?) the rancher but nobody else. Some days, they don't like him, either.
Maybe you can successfully milk a water buffalo. None of that applies to bison.
They want to wander up close to meet you and greet you and gore you and stomp you into a pulp.
Apparently, some are worse than others but I won't be the one to decide.

 

[santaman2000]

.... Scottish Cheddar is rich and stronger than the Cheddar/cheddar. Saltier too though. I suppose it's bad for us but it tastes very good indeed, and it cooks well too.
It's become it's own type Cheddar, Stilton and the like have become varieties rather than just places of origin, haven't they ?

That would be my opinion as well. My main lament with our US naming is with "Swiss" cheese. we tend to always thiunk of only one type cheese when the name Swiss is used. That negates several oither even better cheeses from Switzerland.


Not anything to do with the rest of this thread but does anybody on here like Limburger?

 

[santaman2000]

Monterey Jack, laced with jalapeno pepper bits, is pretty good......

Once you add peppers it becomes Pepper Jack.

 

[Janne]

“Swiss cheese” is copied after Emmenthal cheese, correct?
Everybody loves that sweet, nutty flavour. Lots of manufacturers all across Euope
But ( in Europe) we use names. In Finland it is named Finlandia. In Norway - Jarlsberg, or Norwegia, the Swedis version is called Grevé

They do make a distinct cheeses in North America.
In Mexico.

 

[santaman2000]

“Swiss cheese” is copied after Emmenthal cheese, correct?......

I don't know which one it's copied from to be honest. The one we cal "Swiss" here is the one that has holes in it when sliced. The size of the holes are regulated by law here (so it can be sliced on automated machinery)

 

[santaman2000]

......They do make a distinct cheeses in North America.
In Mexico.

So you're saying that US made Swiss Cheese is indistinguishable from Swiss made? Or US Cheddar is identical to British Cheddar? Et al. Not sure who should be more offended by that opinion; the US cheese makers or the Old World cheese makers? LOL

 

[Robson Valley]

I can believe that they are all different. Why? You simply cannot duplicate conditions and supply stocks. You can't.

That was the lesson after Day One in the Cheese Making Class.
Do whatever you like. Take written notes to do it again.

Is it the Swiss gruyere or the emmenthal which has a highter milk fat % and also some conversion to butyric acid
which gives the cheese the aroma and tang?

I like many of the herbed cheeses, one with caraway seed and another with dill herb in it.
Others, I like just plain as in cheese fondue.

Recent import here is a British cheddar = "Coastal." Really ripe and savory.
Extra-old cheddar from just the other side of the Rockies in Hinton AB would be #2 in my kitchen.
Cheddaring is a process of cooling the curds.

 

[snappingturtle]

p.s. Scottish Cheddar is rich and stronger than the Cheddar/cheddar. Saltier too though. I suppose it's bad for us but it tastes very good indeed, and it cooks well too.

There was a cheddar you could get local in Frome Somerset, that was so zingy it had salt like crystals in it, It was the most acrid and tasty cheddar know to man! I'm sure of it!

 

[Toddy]

The McLellands extra mature Scottish Cheddar I had with dinner tonight is like that. Wonderful stuff

http://www.seriouslystrongcheddar.co.uk/our-cheddar/

 

[Robson Valley]

The crystals might have been lactate = lactic acid. That's what the specific bacterial cultures do.
Butyric acid was another one that I pointed out.

Lets get back to that pinnacle of gustatory prowess in North America, the cheese slice.
Wait until you try the mozza slices. They give new meaning to the word "blah."

 

[santaman2000]

I can't say I've ever seen sliced Mazzarella.

 

[Robson Valley]

Really sliced, yeah I could do that for major batches of lasagne.
Ij
This crap is cast as hot goo on the plastic then chilled befor sealing.
Same story as the orange cheese slices. Is that still Red #2 or really carotenoid pigment?
They must use a taste filter.

 

[Toddy]

There was a cheddar you could get local in Frome Somerset, that was so zingy it had salt like crystals in it, It was the most acrid and tasty cheddar know to man! I'm sure of it!

From McLellands, "WHAT ARE THE WHITE CRYSTALS IN THE CHEESE / WHY HAS THE CHEDDAR A WHITE COATING?
Seriously® cheddar may have a white coating and contain small white crystals of Calcium Lactate. These are produced naturally as part of the maturation process and are typically found in the best quality extra mature cheddars"

 

[Janne]

So you're saying that US made Swiss Cheese is indistinguishable from Swiss made? Or US Cheddar is identical to British Cheddar? Et al. Not sure who should be more offended by that opinion; the US cheese makers or the Old World cheese makers? LOL

No, I am not saying that. I am saying that they do make a couple of cheeses in North America that I have not eaten in Europe. They are made in Mexico. Do not remember the names, but one is spelled with an X as a first letter.

 

[Janne]

I can't say I've ever seen sliced Mazzarella.

He refers to the cheese that comes either presliced (Kraft makes one) or in large square blocks, made in the US and called Mozzarella.
Grated too if I recall correctly. In plastic bags.
Mozzarella? By name only.

 

[santaman2000]

He refers to the cheese that comes either presliced (Kraft makes one) or in large square blocks, made in the US and called Mozzarella.
Grated too if I recall correctly. In plastic bags.
Mozzarella? By name only.

Y

Yeah, seen and used the pregrated stuff.

 

[santaman2000]

No, I am not saying that. I am saying that they do make a couple of cheeses in North America that I have not eaten in Europe. They are made in Mexico. Do not remember the names, but one is spelled with an X as a first letter.

So you're disregarding Monterey Jack? And Colby?