I was just wondering if there was a cheese thread.  Because cheese is awesome and I figured that if there's a bacon thread, there must be a cheese thread.  M'mmmmm...cheese.

 

 mem_313 wrote: 
"Do you have any cheese at all?"

Cest Cheese

 cc_rider wrote: 
Look, you just do your part for cheese and then come back and gripe, OK?

 Lazy8 wrote: 
Well... I'm only a semi-vegetarian myself... I only eat animals which eat vegetables. 

Yes, there are many sources of rennet these days but in traditional Swiss cheeses like Emmenthal and Gruyere they use traditional rennet.

 samiyam wrote:
 
Rennet comes from calves' stomachs, not intestines. It provides enzymes that coagulate the solids out of milk, but lactobacillus does the work of creating cheese. There are other sources these days for rennet-like enzymes, but the old fashioned kind is all we've ever used.

A "moral vegetarian" is fooling him/herself eating any dairy product. Milk comes from mammals that had babies, half of which are male...and can't live to old age. No room/food for all of them.

 samiyam wrote: 
Rennet is an digestive enzyme which is extracted from the stomach linings of cows or goats, and has been used to produce many of the "traditional" and/or artisan cheeses for hundreds of years.  I suppose it depends on one's point of view whether or not it's actually "meat".  One can find out which cheeses still use natural rennet through a little research, since there are cheeses made with other enzymes, some made with synthetic "rennet", or some that are even labeled "rennet-free".  Stores like Whole Foods usually have that kind of info, (I was a dairy buyer for them years back and had to obtain all sorts of information for customers).  Anyhow, the rennet enzyme does produce CO2, but the bacteria used specifically to make Emmental, increases the amount to make the large and plentiful bubbles.  There's a short piece about it in this Wiki article.

 bokey wrote:  Apologies? Mere apologies hardly excuse that. Maybe go to his house and mow his lawn, or clean his gutters or something. Sheesh, that was horrible.

I like cheese
 It makes me a jolly good fellow
I like cheese
 It helps me unwind and sometimes it makes me feel mellow (mellow yellow american cheese)

- apologies to Tom T. hall

 Proclivities wrote: 
Instead of a bacteria, I always thought it was the "rennet" which is the lining of the small intestine of cows which were slaughtered which caused the creation of the CO2.  I was told this by a vegetarian who told me not to eat Swiss cheese if you wanted to be a vegetarian because the rennet is a type of meat.

 agnes wrote: 
otay buttweet!

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
Yes, that AOC concept is a very good idea.  It really is better for the producers and the consumers to have those artisan traditions maintained.

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
The Jura is where I believe that cheese originated a very long time ago.  I have never been to France or Switzerland, but my wife has been a cheese-monger since before I met her 13 years ago, so I've read her cheese books and magazines for years, and can sometimes even remember what I've read.  Sounds pretty idyllic eating Comte in the mountains, hope you had so wine to go with it.

 manbirdexperiment wrote: 
Really?  Hmmm...  I'm headed down there tomorrow...  perhaps  swap for some sweet, sweet eye jelly? 

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
"Swiss" cheese, as a product, is defined by the method in which it is made. A specific bacteria (the name of which eludes me) is added during fermentation, and that creates the slightly acidic flavor, and the resulting CO2 makes bubbles, which create the distinctive "eyes" in the cheese.  Emmental is made by such a method, but unfortunately, there are some cheaper varieties made all over the world, which can be called "Swiss Cheese" since they are made by similar methods. Gruyère, is also a Swiss cheese, (but because it originated in Switzerland); it is made by a different method and generally aged longer. I believe that agricultural authorities in Switzerland and France are still debating whether or not a cheese can still be called "Gruyère", if it were not made in specific regions of Switzerland, (since the French make some "Gruyère-style" cheeses, such as Comté).   Anyhow, they are quite different cheeses, though occasionally used together in fondues or other dishes.

 cookinlover wrote: 
They don't make it here - I think it's made in Mexico or S. America. and imported into the states. But yeah, it's called canino or ruta cheese not dog cheese. Mucho tangy!

 manbirdexperiment wrote: 
That's cause Sonoma County exports all the good dog cheese to New Zealand... but we call it le canine here.

I LOVE dog cheese. It's almost impossible to get in Sonoma County but you can get it down south of LA. 

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 

Yum!! Local's always best!

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
Hi MrsH,

Most of the "specialist" cheeses you find here are imported from all over... but I often suspect that exporters (shipping to N.Z.) kind of unload their less than best products on us here. Either that, or the kiwi importers are bargain hunting and getting what they're paying for... cheap and nasty.
Cheddar in one form or another are produced and sold here in those 1 kilogram blocks at the supermarkets... labeled tasty, mild, or cheddar, they're all still cheddar. Just aged differently, I'm guessing. You adapt when you live down under.