Tips and Tricks from the Professionals
Cheese
Visceral disgust can be no better described than by the existence of maggots. Really though — soft-bodied legless larva writhing around in decaying matter? Gag. One way to make it all even grosser is to imagine eating these vermin. Lo and behold, people go as far as breaking the law to do just that. Meet …
Crackers can be made out of all sorts of ingredients and flavored with all sorts of spices, but there’s one characteristic they all share: holes. It’s likely that every cracker you’ve ever seen is punched with holes. Why? It’s not decoration or even tradition. Those holes serve a very real purpose. Breathe in, Breathe Out …
Fish and dairy can make for a delicious mix, despite popular belief. ALL ILLUSTRATIONS: AÏDA AMER IN A RECENT EPISODE OF Top Chef, a team of contestants puts forth a dish featuring lightly smoked trout and a grated hard, salty cheese. The reaction from the judges is as predictable as it is—to me, at least—completely …
Where Did the Prohibition on Combining Seafood and Cheese Come From? Read More »
The story of Britain’s smelliest cheese involves monks, drunks, and endangered cows. Stinking Bishop is an award-winning artisanal cheese. Among these accolades is “smelliest cheese in Britain.” Though it has a subtle, nutty flavor, the Gloucestershire specialty is most famous for its strong aroma, which has been described as putrid and evocative of a rugby …
Cheddar cheese flavors a classic frozen treat in the Philippines. Few things warrant a bare-footed trot over hot pavement like the promise of frozen treats. Around the world, kids demonstrate a Pavlovian response to the sound of an ice cream truck or the bark of a vendor calling out flavors. But not all children grow …
Norwegians buy a special slicer just to eat their brunost. This “brown cheese” has a texture more like fudge than cheddar and a salty-sweet, almost tangy flavour. Brunost is essentially leftover whey from the cheesemaking process that’s been simmered into a sweet, caramelized paste, and left to harden. Diners slice into the finished product and serve it …
The pungent odor and tangy taste of the Roquefort cheese, with its distinctive spots and veins of blue-green mold throughout, is not for everyone. But those who appreciate cheese swear it’s the best blue cheese in the world. While you may not agree, Roquefort is officially known as ‘the king of cheeses.‘ This particular cheese …
When cut, buffalo mozzarella should ooze milk and have a sweet flavour with just a hint of sourness. Campania in southern Italy is the home of true mozzarella, which is traditionally made from the milk of water buffalo (mozzarella di bufala), although most mozzarella today is made with cow’s milk (fior di latte). Originally unpasteurised, …
Scientists now know why those holes exist – and no, it’s not cartoon mice chomping their way through the cheese. The mystery of Swiss cheese and its disappearing holes has been solved: it’s all about the moment the milk for the cheese is collected. A Swiss agricultural institute discovered that tiny specks of hay that …
This is the story you’ll often hear about how humans discovered cheese: One hot day 9,000 years ago, a nomad was on his travels and brought along some milk in an animal stomach—a sort of proto-thermos—to have something to drink at the end of the day. But when he arrived, he discovered that the rennet …
How a Massive Environmental Crisis Led to the Invention of Cheese Read More »
Microwave circles of shredded parmesan cheese until they’re golden brown. Then carefully place the circles on upside down bowls; let them harden.
I love cheese. There are now over 700 varieties of British cheese, almost twice as many as the French. However the French still eat twice as much cheese per head. The British cheese market is worth £1.8 billion of which 55% can be attributed to just cheddar. That’s nothing compared to the global cheese market, where …
From foot bacteria to fungal goo, the living things in cheese make it taste wonderful. Veronique Greenwood explores a microscopic world we rarely think about. Cheese, once primarily a way to extend the useful life of milk, is today quite a darling in the foodie world. It’s also fertile territory for adventurous eaters, from Stilton …
What’s happening inside your pizza as it cooks? Food scientists have gone to surprising lengths to find out, says Veronique Greenwood. And in the video above, BBC Future peers inside a restaurant oven to show why not all mozzarella cheese is the same. When you bake a batch of brownies from a box or pop …
What’s happening inside your pizza as it cooks? Food scientists have gone to surprising lengths to find out, says Veronique Greenwood. And in the video above, BBC Future peers inside a restaurant oven to show why not all mozzarella cheese is the same. When you bake a batch of brownies from a box or pop …
The story goes something like this: an ancient Arab sets out on a journey across the desert. In preparation, he puts a ration of milk into a handy sheep’s stomach to transport it. (Those ancient Arabs didn’t waste many animal parts.) When the sun goes down, he makes camp and discovers that, due to the …
Alcohol is added to fondue because it lowers the boiling point of the cheese and, thus, helps to prevent curdling. Daven Hiskey
Grate Parmesan cheese at room temperature. The cheese is softer, which makes it easier to grate and less likely to cause a cut on the grater. Mirko Paderno Executive Chef of Oliverio
I discovered a great kitchen shortcut the other night on the Vineyard: using the water some feta cheese comes in as the base of a cheesy sauce for pasta. You pour the water in from the container into the same pot you used to make the pasta while it’s still hot, put in little pieces …