 CHAPTER 8 PIZZAS, BLINZES, PASTS, CHEESECAKES, etc. No matter how big or hungry your family, you can always appease them with pizza. Pizza, the tomato pie of Sicily. Dough, one package yeast, dissolved in warm water, two cups sifted flour, one teaspoon salt, two tablespoons olive oil. Make dough of this, knead twelve to twenty minutes, pat into a ball, cover it tight, and let stand three hours in warm place until twice the size. Tomato paste, three tablespoons olive oil, two large onions, sliced thin. One can Italian tomato paste, eight to ten anchovy fillets cut small, half a teaspoon of oregano, salt, crushed chilli pepper, two and a half cups water. In the oil fry onion tender but not too brown, stir in tomato paste and keep stirring three or four minutes. Season, pour water over and simmer slowly twenty-five to thirty minutes. Add anchovies when sauce is done. Cheese, half cup grated Italian parmesan, romano or pecorino, depending on your pocket book. Procure a low, wide and handsome tin pizza pan, or reasonable substitute, and grease well before spreading the well-raised dough half to three-quarters of an inch thick. Poke your fingertips haphazardly into the dough to make marks that will catch the sauce when you pour it on generously. Shake on parmesan or parmesan type cheese and bake in hot oven half an hour. Then quarter an hour more at lower heat until the pizza is golden brown. Cut in wedges like any other pie and serve. The proper pans come all tin and a yard wide down to regular apple pie size, but twelve inch pans are the most popular. Miniature pizzas Miniature pizzas are split English muffins rubbed with garlic or onion and brushed with olive oil. Cover with tomato sauce and a slice of mozzarella cheese, anchovy, oregano and grated parmesan, and heat eight minutes. Italian Swiss Gallopini One pound paper thin veal cutlets, half cup flour, half cup grated Swiss and parmesan mixed, one egg yolk lightly beaten with water, butter, salt, paprika. Then veal with egg and roll in flour mixed with cheese, quickly brown, lower flame and cook four to five minutes till tender, dust with paprika and salt, Neapolitan baked lasagna or stuffed noodles. One pound lasagna or other wide noodles, one and a half cups cooked thick tomato sauce with meat. Half a pound ricotta or cottage cheese, one pound mozzarella or American cheddar, quarter pound grated parmesan, romano or pecorino, salt, pepper, preferably crushed red pods, a shaker filled with grated parmesan or reasonable substitute. Cook wide or broad noodles fifteen to twenty minutes in rapidly boiling salted water, until tender but not soft, and drain. Pour half a cup of tomato sauce in baking dish or pan, cover with about half of the noodles, sprinkle with grated parmesan, a layer of sauce, a layer of mozzarella and dabs of ricotta. Continue in this fashion, alternating layers and seasoning each, ending with a final spread of sauce, parmesan and red pepper. Bake firm in moderate oven about fifteen minutes, and serve in wedges like pizza with canisters of grated parmesan, crushed red pepper pods and more of the sauce to taste. LITTLE HATS CAPELLETTI Freshly made and still moist capelletti, little hats, contrived out of tasty paste, may be had in any little Italy macaroni shop. These may be stuffed sensationally in four different flavours with only two cheeses. Browned slices of chicken and ham separately in butter. Mince each very fine and divide in half, to make four mixtures in equal amounts. Season these with salt, pepper and nutmeg and a binding of two parts egg yolk to one part egg white. With these meat mixtures you can make four different flavoured fillings. Ham and mozzarella chicken, and mozzarella ham and ricotta chicken, and ricotta. Fill the little hats alternately, so you'll have the same number of each different kind. Pinch edges tight together to keep the stuffings in, while boiling fast for five minutes in chicken broth, or salted water if you must. Since these capelletti are only a pleasing form and shape of ravioli, they are served in the same way, on hot plates, with plain tomato sauce and parmesan or reasonable substitute. If we count this final seasoning as an ingredient, this makes three cheeses, so that each of half a dozen taste buds can be getting individual sensations without letting the others know what it's doing. Dolfini ravioli. This French variant of the famous Italian pockets of pastry follows a capelletti pattern, with any fresh goat cheese and gruyere melted with butter and minced parsley, and boiled in chicken broth. Italian fritters. Quarter of a cup flour, two tablespoons sugar, quarter pound fresh ricotta, two eggs beaten, half cup shredded mozzarella, rind of half lemon grated, three tablespoons brandy, salt. Stir and mix well together in the order given, and let stand one hour or more to thicken the batter, so it will hold its shape while cooking. Shape batter like walnuts, and hold one at a time in the bowl of a long-handled spoon, dipped for ten seconds in boiling hot oil. Fritter the walnuts so, and serve at once with powdered sugar. To make fascinating cheese croquettes, mix several contrasting cheeses in this batter. Italian asparagus and cheese. This gives great scope for contrasting cheeses in one and the same dish. In a shallow baking pan, put a foundation layer of grated cheddar and a little butter. Cover with a layer of tender parts of asparagus, lightly salted. Next, a layer of grated gruyere with a bit of butter, and another of asparagus. From here you can go as far as you like, with varied layers of melting cheeses, alternating with asparagus, until you come to the top, where you add two more kinds of cheese, a mixture of powdered parmesan with sapsago, to give the new-mone hay scent. Garlic on cheese. For one sandwich, prepare thirty or forty garlic cloves by removing skins and frying out the fierce pungents in smoking olive oil. They skip in the hot pan like Mexican jumping beans. Toast one side of a thick slice of bread. Put this side down on a grilling pan, cover it with a slice of imported Swiss emmentaler or gruyere, of about the same size, shape and thickness. Take the cooked garlic cloves, while still blistering hot, in a close pattern into the cheese, and brown for a minute under the grill. Salt lightly, and dash with paprika for the colour. Recipe by Bob Brown in Merle Armitage's collection Fit for a King. Spaniards call garlic cloves teeth. Englishmen call them toes. It was cheese and garlic together that inspired Shakespeare to Hotspur's declaration in King Henry IV. I had rather live with cheese and garlic in a windmill far than feed on cakes, and have him talk to me in any summer house in Christendom. Some people can take a mere soup-son of the stuff, while others can down it by the soup spoon, so we feel it necessary in reprinting our recipe to point to the warning of another early English writer. Garlic is very dangerous to young children, fine women, and hot young men. Blinces. This snow-white member of the crepe-sousette sorority is the most popular deb in New York's fancy cheese dishes set. Just unknown here a decade or two ago, it has joined blinis, crepe-lac and cheeseburgers as a quick and sustaining lunch for office workers. Two eggs, one cup water, one cup sifted flour, salt, cooking oil, half-pound cottage cheese, two tablespoons butter, two cups sour cream. Eat one egg light, and make a batter with the water, flour, and salt to taste. Heat a well-greased small frying pan, and make little pancakes with two tablespoons of batter each. Cook the cake so below heat and on one side only. Slide each cake off on a white cloth, with the cooked side down. While these are cooling, make the blintz filling by beating together the second egg, cottage cheese and butter. Spread each pancake thickly with the mixture, and roll or make into little pockets or envelopes, with the end tucked in to hold the filling. Cook in foil till golden brown, and serve at once with sufficient sour cream to smother them. Vatruzhki. Russia seems to have been the cradle of all sorts of blinis and blinces, and perhaps the first of them to be made was Vatruzhki, a variant of the blinces above. The chief difference is that rounds of puff paste dough are used instead of the hot cakes. One teaspoon of sugar is added to the cottage cheese filling, and the sour cream, half a cup, is mixed into this instead of being served with it. Little cups filled with this mix are made by pinching the edges of the dough together. The tops are brushed with egg yolk and baked in a brisk oven. Cottage cheese pancakes. One cup prepared pancake. Four tablespoons top milk or light cream. One teaspoon salt. Four eggs, well beaten. One tablespoon sugar. Two cups cottage cheese put through riser. Mix batter and stir in cheese last until smooth. Two cups prepared waffle flour. Three egg yolks lightly beaten. Quarter cup melted butter. Three quarters cup grated sharp cheddar. Three egg whites beaten stiff. Stir up a smooth waffle batter of the first four ingredients and fold in egg whites last. Today you can get imported canned Holland cheese waffles to heat quickly and serve. Napkin dumpling. One pound cottage cheese. One eighth pound butter softened. Three eggs beaten. Three quarters of a cup farina. Half teaspoon salt. Cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix together all ingredients except the cinnamon and sugar to form a ball. Moisten a linen napkin with cold water and tie the ball of dough in it. Simmer 40 to 50 minutes in salted boiling water. Remove from napkin. Sprinkle well with cinnamon and brown sugar and serve. This is on the style of Hungarian potato and other succulent dumplings and may be served with goulash or as a meal in itself. Butter and cheese. Where fishes, scant and fruit of trees supply that want with butter and cheese. Thomas Tusser in The Last Remedy. Butter and cheese are mixed together in equal parts for cheese butter. Serbia has a cheese called butter that more or less matches Turkey's durrak of which butter is an indispensable ingredient and French con quayotte is based on sour milk simmered with butter. The English have a cheese called margarine made with the butter substitute. In Westphalia there are no two schools of thought about whether it is better to eat butter with cheese or not for in Westphalia sour milk cheese butter is mixed in as part of the process of making. The Arabs press curds and butter together to store in vats and the Scots have cruddy or cruddy butter. Butter milk cheese. The value of butter milk is stressed in an extravagant old Hindu proverb. A man may live without bread but without butter milk he dies. Cheese was made before butter being the earliest form of dairy manufacturing so butter milk cheese came well after plain milk cheese even after whey cheese. It is very tasty and a natural with potato salad. The curd is salted after draining and sold in small parchment packages. German leather cheese has butter milk mixed with the plain. The Danes make their apetitost with sour butter milk. Ricotta Romano for a novelty is made of sheep butter milk. Cottage cheese. In America cottage cheese is also called pot, dutch and smear case. It is the easiest and quickest to make of all cheeses by simply letting milk sour or adding butter milk to curdle it then stand a while on the back of the kitchen stove since it is homemade as a rule. It is drained in a bag of cheesecloth and may be eaten the same day usually salted. The pilgrims brought along the following two tried and true recipes from Old England and both are still in use and good repute. Cottage cheese number one. Let milk sour until clotted. Pour boiling water over and it will immediately curd. Stir well and pour into a colander. Pour a little cold water on the curd, salt it and break it up attractively for serving. Cottage cheese number two. A very rich and tasty variety is made of equal parts whole milk and butter milk heated together to just under the boiling point. Pour into a linen bag and let drain until next day. Then remove salt to taste and add a bit of butter or cream to make a smooth creamy consistency and pat into balls the size of a several orange. Cream cheese. In England there are three distinct manners of making cream cheese. One fresh milk strained and lightly drained. Two scalded cream dried and drained dry like Devonshire. Three rennet curd ripened with thin edible rind or none packaged in small blocks or miniature bricks by dairy companies as in the US Philadelphia cream cheese. American cream cheeses follow the English pattern being named from their region or established brands owned by Breakstone, Borden, Kraft, Shefford etc. Cream cheese such as the first listed above is easier to make than cottage cheese or any other. Technically in fact it is not a cheese but the dried curd of milk and is often called virginal. Fresh milk is simply strained through muslin in a perforated box through which the whey and extra moisture drains away for three or four days leaving a residue as firm as fresh butter. In America where we mix cream cheese with everything a popular assortment of twelve sold in New York bears these ingredients and names. Chives, cherry, garden, caviar, lax, pimiento, olive and pimiento, pineapple, relish, scallion, strawberry and triple decker of relish, pimiento and cream in layers. In Italy there is Strachino cream in Sweden chantilly. Finally to come to France, la foncé or fromage de peau a cream also known around the world as crème designée double crème, fromage à la crème de giens peau de crème Saint-Gervais etc etc. The French go even farther by eating thick fresh cream with chevrotons du bourgelet and fromage blanc in the style that adds à la crème to their already glorified names. The English came along with snow cream cheese which is more of a dessert similar to Italian cream cheese. We'd like to have a cheese ice cream to contrast with two sweet ones. Attempts at this have been made both here and in England. Scottish Caledonian cream came closest. We have frozen cheese with fruit to be sure but no true cheese ice cream as yet some cream cheeses seem especially suitable. The farmer's daughter has soft brown hair, butter and eggs and a pound of cheese and I met with a ballad I can't say where that wholly consisted of lines like these butter and eggs and a pound of cheese. In this parody by Calvally the farmer's daughter the ingredients suggest cheesecake dating back to 1381 in England. From that year Ketner in his book of the table quote this recipe Take cream of almonds or of cow milk and beat them well together and make small coffins that is cases of pastry and do it put it therein and do put there to sugar and good powders or take good fat cheese and eggs and make them of diverse colours green red or yellow and bake them or serve them forth. This primitive receipt grew up into Richmond maids of honour that caused Ketner to wax poetic with at Richmond we are permitted to touch with our lips a countless number of these maids light and airy as the airy fairy Lillian. What more can the finest poetry achieve in quickening the things of earth into tokens and foretastes of heaven with glimpses of higher life and ethereal worlds? Cheesecakes Coronation cheesecake The Oxford dictionary defines cheesecake as a tartlet filled with sweet curds etc. This shows that the cheese is the main thing and the and so forth just a matter of taste. We are delighted to record that the Lord Mayor of London picked traditional cheese tarts the maids of honour mentioned earlier in this section as the Coronation dessert with which to regale the second Queen Elizabeth at the city luncheon in Guildhall. This is most fitting since these tarts were named after the maids of honour at the court of the first Queen Elizabeth. The original recipe is said to have sold for a thousand pounds. These Richmond maids of honour had the usual cheesecake ingredients butter and eggs and pounds of cheese but what made the subtle flavour? Nutmeg, brandy, lemon, orange flower water or all four? More than two thousand years before this land of Coronation cheesecake the Greeks had a word for it several in fact Apecian cheesecake Aristoxenian and Philoxenian among them. Then the Romans took it over and we read from an epistle of the period 30 times in this one year, Carinas while you have been arranging to make your will have I sent you cheesecakes dripping with hyblion thyme celestial honey such as that of Mount Himetis we still get from Greece. Plato mentioned cheesecake and a town near Thebes was named for it before Christ was born at a time when cheesecakes were widely known as dainty food for mortal man. Today cheesecakes come in a half dozen popular styles and the ones flavoured with fresh pineapple are the most popular in New York but buyers delight in every sort including the 100% American type called cheese pies. Indeed there seems to be no dividing line between cheesecakes and cheese pies while most of them are sweet some are made pecan with pimientos and olives we offer a favourite of ours popcorn style pot cheese put through a sieve pineapple cheesecake two and a half pounds sieved pot cheese one inch piece vanilla bean quarter pound sweet butter melted half a small box graham crackers crushed fine four eggs two cups sugar one small can crushed pineapple drained two cups milk one third cup flour in a big bowl mix everything except the graham crackers and pineapple in the order given above butter a square pyrex pan and put in the graham cracker dust to make a crust cover this evenly with the pineapple and pour in the cheese custard mixture bake one hour in a quiet oven as the English used to say for a moderate one and when done set aside for 12 hours before eating because of the time and labour involved maybe you had better buy your cheesecakes even though some of the truly fine ones cost a dime a bite especially the pedigreed Jewish-American ones in Manhattan Rubens and Lindies are two leaders at about five dollars a cake some are fruited with cherries or strawberries cheese custard four eggs slightly beaten half a teaspoon salt one cup milk a dash of pepper or paprika three tablespoons melted butter a few drops of onion juice if desired four tablespoons grated Swiss imported mix all together set in moulds in pan of hot water and bake until brown open faced cheese pie three eggs one cup sugar two pounds soft smear case whip everything together and fill two pie crusts bake without any upper crust the apple pie affinity hot apple pie was always accompanied with cheese in New England even as every slice of apple pie in Wisconsin has cheese for a sidekick according to law Pioneer hot pies were baked in brick ovens and flavoured with nutmeg, cinnamon and rose geranium the cheese was cheddar but today all sorts of pie and cheese combinations are common such as banana pie and gorgonzola mints with Danish blue pumpkin with cream cheese peach pie with hable and even a green dusting of sapsago over raisin pie apple pie or grata thickly grated over with parmesan, cacio cavallo or sapsago is something special when served with black coffee cider too or applejack is a natural accompaniment to any dessert of apple with its cheese apple pie adorned apple pie is adorned with cream and cheese by pressing cream cheese through a riser and folding in plenty of double cream beaten thick and salted a little put the mixture in a pastry tube and decorate top of pie in fanciful fashion apple pie a la cheese lay a slice of melting cheese on top of apple or any fruit or berry pie and melt under broiler two to three minutes cheese crusty apple pie in making an apple pie roll out the top crust and sprinkle with sharp cheddar grated dot with butter and bake golden brown flan au fromage to make this franche quanté tart of crisp paste simply mix coarsely grated courier with beaten egg fill the tart cases and bake for any cheese pastry or fruit and custard pie crusts work in tasty shredded sharp cheddar in the ratio of one to four parts of flour Christmas cake sandwiches a traditional Christmas Carol begs for a little bit of spice cake, a little bit of cheese a glass of cold water, a penny if you please for a festive handout cut the spice cake or fruit cake in slices and sandwich them with slices of tasty cheese between to maintain traditional Christmas cheer for the elders serve apple pie with cheese and applejack angelic camembert one ripe camembert imported one cup en jus dry white wine half pound sweet butter softened two tablespoons finely grated toast crumbs lightly scrape all crusty skin from the camembert and when it's creamy interior stands revealed put it in a small round covered dish pour in the wine cover tightly so no bouquet or aroma can possibly escape and let stand overnight when ready to serve drain off and discard any wine left dry the cheese and mash with the sweet butter into an angelic paste reshape in original camembert form dust thickly with the crumbs and there you are such a delicate dessert is a favourite with the ladies since some of them find a prime camembert a bit too strong if taken straight although A. W. Fulton's observation in for men only is going out of date it is nonetheless amusing quote in the course of a somewhat varied career I have only met one woman who appreciated cheese this quality in her seemed to me so deserving of reward that I did not hesitate to acquire her hand in marriage end quote another writer has said that only gourmet among women seemed to like cheese except farm women and foreigners the association between gourmet and farm women is borne out by the following urgent plea from early Italian landowners ai contadini non far sapere quanta e buono il cacio con le pere don't let the peasants know how good are cheese and pears having found out for ourselves we suggest a golden slice of taleggio, strachino or pale gold bel paese to polish off a good dinner with a juicy lombardy pear or its American equivalent a Bartlett, let us say this celestial association of cheese and pears is further accented by the French entre la poire et le fromage between the pear and the cheese this places the cheese after the fruit as the last course in accordance with early English usage set down by John Clark in his paremiologia after cheese comes nothing but in his epigrams Ben Johnson serves them together digestive cheese and fruit their shore will be that brings us back to cheese and pippins I will make an end of my dinner there's pippins and cheese to come Shakespeare's merry wives of Windsor when should the cheese be served? in England it is served before or after the fruit with or without the port following the book of carving in modern spelling we note when it was published in 1431 the proper thing after meat was pears, nuts, strawberries, hurtleberries American huckleberries and hard cheese in modern practice we serve some suitable cheese like camembert directly on slices of apple and pears gorgonzola on sliced banana habley spread on pineapple and a cheese dessert tray to match the lazy lou with everything crunchy down to crackerjacks good too are figs both fresh and preserved stuffed with cream cheese kumquats avocados fruity dunking mixtures of pineapple cheese served in the scooped out cask of the cheese itself and apple or pear and provolone creamed and put back in the rind it came in pots of liquored and whined cheeses no end those of your own making being the best champagne rock for or gorgonzola half a pound mellow rock for quarter pound sweet butter softened a dash cayenne three quarters of a cup of champagne with a silver fork mix cheese and butter to a smooth paste moistening with champagne as you go along using a little more or less champagne according to consistency desired serve with a demi-tasse and cognac serving besides crackers guilt gingerbread in the style of holland-dutch cheese tasters or just plain bread after dinner cheeses suggested by Phil Alpert are from France por salut roblochon coulomier camembert brie rock for calvados try it with a spot of calvados apple brandy from the u.s. leader camps blue cheddar from sweden hablet creme chantilly from italy taleggio gorgonzola provoloni belpaisi from hungary cascaval from switzerland swiss courier from germany cumulquesa from norway ketost bondost from holland idam gouda from england stilton from poland borschowski sir end of chapter 8 chapter 9 of the complete book of cheese this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by jennifer sterns the complete book of cheese by robert carlton brown chapter 9 ogrotton soups salads and sauces he who says ogrotton says parmesan thomas gray the english poet sleuded it two centuries ago with parma the happy country where huge cheeses grow on september 4th 1666 recorded the bearing of his pet parmesan as well as my wine and some other things in a pit in sir debbie battens garden and on the self same 4th of september more than a century later in 1784 woodford in his diary of a country person wrote i sent mr. kustin's about three dozen more of apricots and he sent me back another large piece of fine parmesan cheese it was very kind of him the most popular cheese for ogrotton is italian romano and for an entirely different flavor swiss sapsago the french who gave us this cookery term use it in its original meaning for any dish with a browned topping usually a breadcrumbs or crumbs and cheese in america we think of ogrotton as grated cheese only although webster says with a browned covering often mixed with butter or cheese potatoes are grotton so let us begin with that potatoes are grotton two cups diced cooked potatoes two tablespoons grated onion half cup grated american cheddar cheese two tablespoons butter half cup milk one egg salt pepper more grated cheese for covering in a buttered baking dish put a layer of diced potatoes sprinkle with onion and bits of butter next scatter on a thin layer of cheese and alternate with potatoes onions and butter stir milk egg salt and pepper together and pour it on the mixture top everything with plenty of grated cheese to make it authentically american ogrotton bake until firm and moderate oven about half an hour eggs ogrotton make a white sauce flavored with minced onion desired number of eggs broken into a buttered baking dish begin by using half of the sauce and sprinkling on a lot of grated cheese after the eggs are in pour on the rest of the sauce cover it with grated cheese and breadcrumbs drop in bits of butter and cook until brown in oven or about 12 minutes tomatoes are grotton cover bottom of shallow baking pan with slices of tomato and sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs and grated cheese season with salt pepper and dots of butter add another layer of tomato slices season as before and continue this alternating with cheese until pan is full add a generous topping of crumbs cheese and butter bake 50 minutes in moderate oven onion soup ogrotton 4 or 5 onions sliced 4 or 5 tablespoons butter 1 quart stock or canned consomme 1 quart blaine made from dissolving 4 or 5 cubes rounds of toasted french bread 1 and a half cups grated parmesan cheese saute onions in butter and a roomy saucepan until light golden and pour the stock over when heated put in a larger casserole add the blaine season to taste and heat to boiling point let simmer 15 minutes and serve in deep well heated soup plates the bottom is covered with rounds of toasted french bread which have been heaped with freshly grated parmesan and browned under the boiler more cheese has served for guest to sprinkle on as desired at gala parties where wine flows a couple of glasses of champagne are often added to the bouillon in the famed onion soup ogrotton at le hall in paris grated gruyere is used in place of parmesan they are interchangeable in this recipe American cheese soups in this air of fine canned soups a quick cheese soup is made by heating cream of tomato soup ready made and adding finely grated Swiss parmesan to taste french bread toasted on top with more cheese and boiled golden makes the best space to pour this over as is done with the french onion soup above the same cheese toasts on the basis of a simple milk cheese soup with heated milk poured over in a seasoning of salt pepper chopped chives or a dash of nutmeg chicken cheese soup heat together one cup milk one cup water in which two chicken bouillon cubes have been dissolved and one can of condensed cream of chicken soup stir in a quarter cup grated american cheddar cheese and season with salt pepper and plenty of paprika until cheese melts other popular american recipes simply add grated cheese to almond bean or split bean soup peanut butter soup or plain cheese soup with rice imported french marmites are durregurre for a real onion soup or gratin and an imported parmesan grinder might be used for freshly ground cheese in preparing it is well to remember that they are basically only melted cheese melted from the top down cheese salads when a frenchman reaches the salad he is resting and in no hurry he eats the salad to prepare himself for the cheese Henri Chappentier life a la Henri green cheese salad julienne take and dive watercress and as many different kinds of crisp lettuce as you can find and mix well with provolone cheese cut and thin julienne strips and marinated three to four hours of french dressing crumble over the salad some blue cheese and toss everything thoroughly with plenty of french dressing american cheese salad slice a sweet ripe pineapple thin and sprinkle with shredded american cheddar serve on lettuce dipped in french dressing nut and cheese salad mix america cheddar with an equal amount of nut meats and enough mayonnaise to make a paste roll these in little balls and serve with fruit salads dusting lightly with finely grated sapsago prepare a salad fill ripe pear or peach halves with creamy imported brie or camembert sprinkle with honey serve on lettuce drenched with french dressing and scatter shredded almonds over cream cheese will do in a pinch if the camembert isn't creamy enough mash it with some sweet cream three in one mold three quarters cup cream cheese half cup grated american cheddar cheese half cup roquefort cheese two tablespoons gelatin dissolved and stirred into half cup boiling water juice of one lemon salt, pepper two cups cream beaten stiff half cup minced chives mash the cheeses together season gelatin liquid with lemon salt and pepper and stir into cheese with the whipped cream add chives last put in ring mold or any mold you fancy chill well slice a table to serve on lettuce with little mayonnaise or plain swiss cheese salad dice half pound of cheese into half inch cubes slice one onion very thin mix well in a soup plate dash with German mustard olive oil, wine vinegar Worcestershire sauce salt lightly and grind in plenty of black pepper then stir preferably with a wooden spoon so you won't mash the cheese until every hole is drenched with the dressing rosy swiss breakfast cheese salad often emmentaler is cubed in a salad for breakfast relished specially by males on the morning after we quote the original recipe brought over by rosy from the swiss Tyrol to throw the writers and artists colony at fridgefield, New Jersey and her brother Emile's white house in first rosy cut a thick slice of prime coated emmentaler into half inch cubes then she mixed imported french olive oil German mustard and swiss white wine vinegar with salt and freshly ground pepper in a deep soup plate sprinkled on a few drops of pepper sauce scattered in the chunks of switzer and stirred the cubes with a light hand using a wooden fork and spoon to prevent bruising the salad was ready to eat only with each and every tiny shiny cell rosy swiss from the homeland have been washed, boiled and polished with a soothing mixture drink down the juice too when you have finished buying breakfast cheese salad rosy advice the customers it is the best cure in the world for the worst hangover gorgonzola and banana salad slice bananas lengthwise as for a banana split sprinkle with lemon juice and spread with creamy gorgonzola sluice with french dressing made with lemon juice add the tomato to help bring out the natural banana flavor of ripe gorgonzola cheese and peas salad cube half pound of American cheddar and mix with can of peas one cup of diced celery one cup of mayonnaise half cup of sour cream and two tablespoons each of minced pimentos and sweet pickles serve in lettuce cups with a sprinkling of parsley and chopped radishes apple and cheese salad half cup cream cheese one cup chopped pecans salt and pepper apples sliced half inch thick lettuce leaves creamy salad dressing make tiny seasoned cheese balls centered on the apple slices standing on lettuce leaves and sluice with creamy salad dressing roquefort cheese salad dressing no cheese sauce is easier to make than the American favorite of roquefort cheese mashed with a fork and mixed with french dressing it is often made in a pint mason jar and kept in the refrigerator to shake up on occasion and toss over lettuce or other salads unfortunately even when the roquefort is the french import complete with a pitcher of the sheep and red and garanti baritable the dressing is often ruined by bad vinegar and cottonseed oil of all things when bottled to salad stores all sorts of extraneous spice are used when nothing more is necessary than the manipulation of a fork fine olive oil and good vinegar white wine, tarragon, or malt some ardent amateurs must have their splash of Worcestershire sauce or lemon juice with salt and pepper this roquefort dressing is good on all green salads but on end diet is something special sauce mornay sauce mornay has been hailed internationally it is the greatest culinary achievement in cheese nothing is simpler to make all you do is prepare a white sauce this french sauce special mel and add grated parmesan to your liking stirring it in until melted and the sauce is creamy this can be snapped up with cayenne or minced parsley and when used with fish a little of the cooking broth is added plain cheese sauce one part of any grated cheese to four parts of white sauce this is a mild sauce that is nice with creamed or hard cooked eggs when the cheese content is doubled two parts of cheese to four of white sauce it is delicious on boiled cauliflower baked potatoes macaroni and crackers soaked in milk the sauce may be made richer by mixing melted butter with the flour in making the white sauce or by being egg yolk in with the cheese from thin to medium to thick it serves diverse purposes thin it may be used instead of milk to make tasty milk toast sometimes spiced with curry medium for baking by pouring over crackers soaked in milk thick serves as a sort of Welsh rabbit when poured generously over bread toasted on one side only with the untoasted side up to let the sauce sink in parsley cheese sauce this makes a mild pleasantly pungent sauce to enliven the cabbage family cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and brusse sprouts croutons help when sprinkled over cornucopia of cheese recipes since this is the complete book of cheese we will fill about just cornucopia here with more or less essential if not indispensable recipes and dishes not so easy to classify or overlooked or crowded out of the main sections devoted to the classic fondues rabbits, souffles, etc stuffed celery and dive, anise and other suitable stocks use any soft cheese you like or firm cheese softened by pressing through a sieve at room temperature of course with any seasoning or relish suggestions cream cheese and chopped chives pimentos, olives or all three with or without a touch of Worcestershire cottage cheese and pic a lily or chili sauce sharp cheddar mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, cream minced capers, pickles or minced ham roquefort and other blues are excellent fillings for your favorite vegetable stock or scooped out dill pickle this last especially nice when filled with snappy cheese creamed with sweet butter all canapé butters are ideally suited to stuffing stocks pineapple cheese, especially that part close to the pineapple flavored rind is perfect when creamed cut the leafy tops off an entire head of celery and dive, anise or anything similarly suitable wash and separate stocks but keep them in order to resemble in the head after ages stuffed with a different mixture using any of the above or a tangy mix of your own concoction after all stocks are filled beginning with the baby center ones press them together in the form of the original head tie tight and chill slice and roll about 8 inch thick and arrange as a salad on a bed of watercress or lettuce moistened with french dressing cold dunking besides hot dunking in swiss fondue cold dunking may be had by moistening plenty of cream cheese with cream or lemon in a dunking bowl when the cheese is sufficiently liquefied it is liberally seasoned with chopped parsley chives, onions, pimento and or other relish let a couple of tins of anchovies are macerated and stirred in oil and all cheese charlotte line a baking dish from bottom to top with de-crusted slices of bread dipped in milk cream 1 tablespoon of sweet butter with 2 eggs and season before stirring in 2 cups of grated cheese bake until golden brown and slow oven straws roll pastry dough thin and cover with grated cheddar fold and roll at least twice more sprinkling with cheese each time chill dough in the refrigerator and cut into straw size strips stiffly salt a beaten egg yolk and glaze with that to give a salty taste bake for 7 minutes until crisp supo secchia note from cheese cookery by helmet rippager and note this is the famous cheese soup the recipe is for each plate but there is no reason why the old fashioned terrine could not be used and the quantity simply increased put a slice of stale French bread toasted or not into a soup plate and cover it with 4 tablespoons of grated or shredded Swiss cheese place another slice of bread on top of each plate and cover it with 4 tablespoons of grated or shredded Swiss cheese place another slice of bread on top of this and pour over it some boiling milk cover the plate and let it stand for several minutes season with salt pepper and nutmeg serve top with browned hot butter use whole nutmeg and grate it freshly with a cheese shaker on the table Italians are so independent on cheese to enrich all the dishes from soups to spaghetti then a shaker of grated parmesan romano or reasonable substitute stands ready at every table or is served freshly grated on a side dish thus any Italian soup might be called cheese soup but we know of only one, the great minestrone in which cheese is listed as an indispensable ingredient along with the pasta, peas, onion tomatoes, kidney beans celery, olive oil garlic, oregano, potatoes carrots, and so forth likewise a chunk of melting or toasting cheese is essential in the Frito Misto the finest mixed grill we know and it served up as a separate tidbit with the meats Italians grate on more cheese for seasoning than any other people as the French are want to use more wine in cooking fennel and caraway the gingerly little pepper nuts pepper noose imported from Germany in barrels of Christmas time make one of the best accompaniments to almost any kind of cheese for contrast, try a dish of caraway diablottons small rounds of buttered bread or toast heaped with amount of grated cheese and browned in the oven is a French contribution cheese omelettes cheddar omelette make plain omelette your own way when it has just begun to cook dust over it evenly half cup grated cheddar use young cheddar if you want a mild bland omelette use sharp aged cheddar for a full flavored one sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce to make what might be called a wild omelette fold and serve Parmesan omelette mild cook as above but use a quarter cup grated fine in place of the half cup cheddar Parmesan omelette full flavored as above but use half cup Parmesan finely grated as follows sift a quarter cup of the Parmesan into your egg mixture at the beginning and dust on the second quarter cup evenly just as the omelette begins to set a meal in one omelette fry half dozen bacon slices crisp and keep hot while frying a cup of diced boiled potatoes to make it fat to equal crispness meanwhile make your omelette mixture of three eggs beaten and one and a half tablespoons of shredded amantella or domestic Swiss with one tablespoon of chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste tomato and make plain omelette covered with thin rounds of fresh tomato and dust well with any grated cheese you like put under broiler until cheese melts to a golden brown cheese sauce make a plain french fluffy or puffy omelette and when finished cover with a hot seasoned reinforced white sauce in which a quarter pound of shredded cheese has been melted and mixed well with half cup cooked diced celery and one tablespoon of pimento minced the French used grated gruyere for this with all sorts of sauces such as the Savoyard de Savoy with potatoes chevrel, tarragon and cream a delicious appearance and added flavor can be had by browning with a salamander spinach, flan castillo for the caramel half cup sugar four tablespoons water for the flan four eggs beaten separately two cups hot milk half cup sugar brown sugar and mix with water to make the caramel pour it into a baking mold and mix together all the ingredients add to caramel mold and bake in pan of water in moderate oven about 3 quarter hour Italian Frito Misto the distinctive Italian mixed fry Frito Misto is made with whatever fish sweetbreads, brains, kidneys or tidbits of meat are at hand say a half dozen different cubes of meat and giblets with as many hearts of artichokes finacchi frito and different vegetables as you can find but always with a hunk of melting cheese to fork out and golden threads with each mouthful of the mixture polish parrots a pocket full of cheese make noodle dough with two eggs and two cups of flour roll out very thin and cut into two inch squares cream a cup full of cottage cheese with a tablespoon of melted butter flavor with cinnamon and toss in a handful of seedless currants fill pastry squares with this and pinch edges tight together to make little pockets drop into a lot of fast boiling water lightly salted and boil steadily 30 minutes lowering the heat so the pockets won't burst open drain and serve on a piping hot platter with melted butter and a sprinkling of breadcrumbs this is a cross between ravioli and flinces cheese mashed potatoes whip into a steaming hot dish creamly mashed potatoes some old cheddar with melted butter and a crumbling of crisp cooked bacon if there's a shaving dish handy a first rate nightcap can be made via a sauteed swiss sandwich take a slice of swiss cheese between two pieces of thickly buttered bread trim crust cut sandwich in two surround it with one well beaten egg slide it into sizzling butter and fry on both sides the New York Athletic Club once improved on this by first sandwiching the swiss between a slice of ham and a slice of chicken breast then beating up a brace of eggs with a jigger of heavy sweet cream and soaking his sandwich in this until it's soft up every drop a final frying in sweet butter made strong men cry for it End of Chapter 9 Recording by Jennifer Stearns Concord, New Hampshire Section 12, which is Chapter 10 of the Complete Book of Cheese This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org The Complete Book of Cheese by Robert Carlton Brown Chapter 10 Appetizers Crackers Sandwiches Savories Snacks Spreads and Toasts In America Cheese got its start in country stores in our cracker barrel days when every man felt free to saunter in pick up the cheese knife and cut himself a wedge from the big bellied rat trap cheese standing under its glass bell or wire mesh hood to get the flies off but not the free lunchers cheese by itself being none too palatable the taster would saunter over to the cracker barrel shoot the cat off and help himself to the old time crackers that can't be beat today At that time Wisconsin still belonged to the Indians and Vermont was our leading cheese state and cheddar and Vermont country store crackers as V. Rest Orton of Weston Vermont calls them when Orton heard we were writing this book he sent samples from the store his father started in 1897 which is still going strong together with the Vermont good old fashion natural cheese and the sage came a handy handmade cracker basket all wicker ten crackers long and just one double cracker wide a snug little casket for those puffy old time two in one soda biscuits that have no salt to spoil the taste of the accompanying cheese each does double duty because it's made to split in the middle on one half and another on tether or sandwich them in between some pied piper took the country cheese and crackers to the corner saloon and led a free lunch procession that never faltered till prohibition came the same old store cheese was soon pepped up as saloon cheese with a saucer of caraway seeds bowls of pickles peppers, pickled peppers and rye bread with plenty of mustard pretzels or cheese straws smear case and Schwartzbrot beer and cheese forever together as in the free lunch ditty of that great day I am an Irish hunter I am I ain't I do not hunt for deer beer oh Otto ring the bar rag I do not hunt for fleas but cheese oh Adolf bring the free lunch it was there and then that cheese came of age from coast to coast in every bar there was a choice of Swiss cottage, Limburger manly cheeses walkie-talkie oldsters that sit up and beg golden yellow tangy mellow always cut in cubes cheese takes the cube form as naturally as eggs take the oval and honeycombs the hexagon on the more elegant handout buffets besides the shapely cubes free Welsh rabbit started at four every afternoon to lead the tired businessman in by the nose or a smear of Canadian snappy out of a pure white porcelain pot in the classy places on a Benz water biscuit sandwiches and savory snacks next to nibbling cheese with crackers and appetizers of which there is no end in sight cheese sandwiches help us consume most of our country's enormous output of brick cheddar and Swiss to attempt to classify and describe all of these would be impossible so we will content ourselves by picking a few of the cold and hot the plain and the fancy the familiar and the exotic let's use the alphabet to sum up the situation a alpine club sandwich spread toast with mayonnaise and fill with a thick slice of imported airment tower well mustarded and seasoned and the usual club sandwich toppings of thin slices of chicken or turkey tomato, bacon and a lettuce leaf b Boston beanie lightly butter a slice of Boston brown bread cover it generously with hot baked beans and a thick layer of shredded cheddar top with bacon and put under a slow broiler until cheese melts and the bacon crisps see cheeseburgers pat out some small seasoned hamburgers exceedingly thin and using them instead of slices of bread sandwich in a nice slice of American cheddar well covered with mustard crimp edges of the hamburgers all around to hold in the cheese when it melts and begins to run toast under a brisk broiler and serve on soft toasted sandwich buns D. deviled rye butter flat Swedish rye bread and heat quickly in hot oven cool until crisp again then spread thickly with cream cheese be deviled with ketchup paprika or pimiento E. egg open faced saute minced small onion and small green pepper in two tablespoons of butter and make a sauce by cooking with a cup of canned tomatoes season and reduce it to about half fry four eggs and put one in the center of each of four pieces of hot toast spread with the red sauce sprinkle each generously with grated cheddar broil until melted and serve with crisp bacon F. french fried swiss simply make a sandwich with a noble slice of imported gruyere soak it in beaten egg and milk and fry slowly till cheese melts and the sandwich is nicely browned this is a specialty of Franche Comté G. grilled chicken ham cheddar cut crust from two slices of white bread butter them on both sides make a sandwich of these with one sliced cooked chicken one half slice sharp cheddar cheese and a sprinkling of minced ham facentite with toothpicks cut it half and dip thoroughly in a mixture of egg and milk grill golden on both sides and serve with lengthwise slices of dill pickle H. He-Man sandwich open faced butter a thick slice of dark rye bread cover with a layer of mashed cold baked beans and a slice of ham then one of swiss cheese and a wheel of Bermuda onion topped with mustard and a sewing of capers I. International sandwich split English muffins and toast on the hard outsides cover soft, untoasted insides with swiss cheese spread lightly with mustard top that with a wheel of Bermuda onion and one or two slices of Italian type tomato season with cayenne and salt dot with butter cover with Brazil nuts and brown under broiler J. geracians or crout con toise soak slices of stale buns in milk cover with a mixture of onion browned and chopped lean bacon and mixed with grated Gruyere simmer until cheese melts and serve K. If you like caraway flavor this is your sandwich on well buttered but lightly mustarded rye lay a thickish slab of Milwaukee kumakas which translates caraway cheese for good measure sprinkle caraway seeds on top or serve them in a saucer on the side then dash on a splash of cumul the caraway liqueur that's best when imported L. Limburger onion or Limburger ketchup marinate slices of Bermuda onion in a peppery French dressing for one half hour then butter slices of rye spread well with soft Limburger topped with onion and you will have something super duper if you like Limburger. When ketchup is substituted for marinated onion which has quite another character and flavor so true Limburger addicts make one of each and take alternate bites for the thrill of contrast M. meringue open faced from the browns 10,000 snacks allow one egg and four tablespoons of grated cheese to one slice of bread spread on one side only spread butter on on toasted side put two tablespoons grated cheese over butter and the yolk of an egg in the center beat egg white stiff with a few grains of salt and pile lightly on top sprinkle the other two tablespoons of grated cheese over that and bake in a moderate oven until the egg white is firm and the cheese has melted to a golden brown N. Nuff Chateau and Honey we know no sandwich more ethereal than one made with thin de-crusted white bread spread with sweet butter then with Nuff Chateau topped with some fine honey Mount Hymedus if possible any creamy sweet will do as well as the Nuff Chateau but nothing will take the place of the honey to make this heavenly sandwich that must have been the original ambrosia oh Oscars Ham Cam Oscar Davidson of Copenhagen whose 5 foot menu lists 186 superb sandwiches and snacks each with a character of its own perfected the ham cam base for a flock of fancy ham sandwiches open faced on rye or white soft or crisp sweet or sour almost any one way slice you desire he uses as many contrasting kinds of bread as possible and his butter varies from salt to fresh and whipped the base involves a juicy tender slice of freshly boiled mild cured ham with imported camembert spread on the ham as thick as velvet the ham cam is built up with such splendors as goose liver paste and Madeira wine jelly fried calves kidney and rumelade curry salad bird's liver and fried egg a slice of red roast beef and more of that red Madeira jelly with anything else you say just as long as it does credit to camembert on ham pea pickled camembert butter a thin slice of rye or premmpernickel and spread with ripe imported camembert when in season which isn't summer make a mixture of sweet sour and dill pickles finely chopped and spread it on top top this with a thin slice of white bread for pleasing contrast with the black Kew keijo da sera sandwich on generous rounds of french flute or other crunchy white bread place thick portions of any good portuguese cheese made of sheep's milk in the mountains this last translates back into keijo da sera the fattest, finest cheese in the world on a par with fine greek feta bead the open faced creamy cheese lightly with imported capers and you'll say it's r rogerford nut butter hot toast and cover with a thick slice of genuine rogerford cheese sprinkle thickly with genuine Hungarian paprika put in moderate oven for about six minutes finish it off with chopped pine nuts, almonds or a mixture thereof s smoky sandwich and sturgeon sandwich skin some juicy little jolly little sprouts lay on thin rye or a slice of miniature loaf rye studded with caraway spread with sweet butter and cover with a slice of smoked cheese hickory is preferred for most of the smoking in america in new york the best smoked cheese whether from canada or nearer home is cured in the same room with sturgeon since this king of smoked fish imparts some of its regal flavor to the cheddar there is a natural affinity peculiarly suited to sandwiching as above smoked salmon eel white fish or any other is also good with cheese smoked with hickory or anything with a salubrious a sandwich of smoked turkey with smoked cheese is out of this world we accompany it with a cup of smoky lapsang sucong china tea tea tangy sandwich on buttered rye spread cream cheese and on this bed lay thinly sliced dried beef in place of mustard dot the beef with horseradish raw onions or those reliable old chopped chives and by the way if you must use mustard on every cheese sandwich try different kinds for a change sharp english freshly mixed by your own hand out of the ten of powder or Dijon for a french touch you unusual sandwich of flowers, hay and clover on a sweet buttered slice of french white bread lay a layer of equally sweet english flower cheese made with petals of rose, marigold violet etc and top that with french fromage de foin this french hay cheese gets its name from being ripened on hay and holds its new moan scent sprinkle on a few imported capers the smaller they are the better with a little of the luscious lime and dust lightly with subsogo fee vegetarian sandwich roll your own of alternate leaves of lettuce slices of store cheese avocados cream cheese sprinkled heavily with chopped chives and anything else in the vegetable or cassius kingdoms that suits your fancy W which is sandwich butter two slices of sandwich bread cover one with a thin slice of imported emmentaler dash with cayenne and a dropper two of tabasco slap on a sizzling hot slice of grilled ham and press it together with the cheese between the two bread slices put in a hot oven and serve piping hot with a handful of moonstones those outsize pearl onions X chochomico sandwich in spite of the milco in chochomico there isn't a drop to be had that's native to the festive floating gardens near mexico city for there instead of the cow a sort of century plant gives milky white pulque the fermented juice of this cactus like desert plant with this goes a vegetable cheese curded by its own vegetable rennet it's called tuna cheese made from the milky juice of the prickly pear that grows on yet another cactus like plant of the drylands tuna cheese sometimes teams up in arid lands with the juicy thick cactus leaf sliced into a tortilla sandwich the milky pulque of chochomico goes as well with it as beer with a swiss cheese sandwich yoke picnic sandwich hard-cooked egg yolk worked into a yellow paste with cream cheese mustard olive oil lemon juice celery salt and a touch of tabasco spread on thick slices of whole wheat bread z zebra take a tip from oscar over in copenhagen and design your own zebra sandwich as decoratively as one of those oft-photod skins in el moraco just alternate stripes of black bread with various white cheeses in between to follow the black and white zebra pattern for good measure we will toss in a couple of toasted cheese sandwiches toasted cheese sandwich butter both sides of two thick slices of white bread and sandwich between them a seasoned mixture of toasted, sharp cheese egg yolk mustard and chopped chives together with stiffly beaten egg white folded in last to make a light filling fry the buttered sandwich and more butter until well melted and nicely gilded this toasted cheese is so good it's positively sinful the French who do us in both cooking and sin make one of their own in the form of fried fingers of stale bread doused in an arf and arf well shrabbit and fondue melting of gruyere that serves as a liaison to further sandwich the two garlic is often used in place of chopped chives and in contrast to this wild one there's a mild one made of Dutch cream cheese by the equally Dutch Pennsylvanians England of course together with Wales holds all time honors with such celebrated regional toasting cheeses as Deventure and Dunlop even British Newfoundland is known for its simple version that's quite as pleasing as its rich Prince Edward island oysters too Newfoundland toasted cheese sandwich one pound grated cheddar one egg well beaten one half cup milk one tablespoon butter heat together and pour over well buttered toast end of section 12 which is chapter 10 of the complete book of cheeses read by Dennis Sayers and I'll escort you for LibriVox this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by David Lawrence the complete book of cheese by Robert Carlton Brown chapter 11 fit for drink a country without a fit drink for cheese has no cheese but a fit for drink Greece was the first country to approve its Epicurean fitness according to the old saying above for it had wine to tipple and sheep's milk cheese to nibble the classical Greek cheese has always been feta and no doubt this was the kind that Cersei combined most suitably with wine to make a farewell drink for her lovers she put further sweetness and body into the stirrup cup and a barley meal into it today we might whip this up in an electric mixer to toast her memory while a land flowing with milk and honey is the ideal of many France, Italy, Spain or Portugal flowing with wine and honey suit a lot of gourmets better indeed in such vinaus caseas places cheese is on the house at all wine sales for prospective customers to snack upon and thus bring out the full flavor of the cellared vintages but professional wine tasters are forbidden any cheese between sips they may clear their palates with plain bread but nary a crumb of roguerford or cube of Gruyere in working hours lest it give the wine a spurious nobility and, speaking of roguerford Romanais has the closest affinity for it such affinities are also found in Pont Levec and Bougelet Brie and Red Champagne cum l'amié and any other good vintrosé heavenly marriages are made in burgundy between red and white wines of both Côte, Dounouy and de Bonheur and burgundy and cheeses such as Époix, Sommaterin and Saint-Floentin Pomenard and Poir-Salut seem to be made for each other as de Chateau Margaux and Camembert a great cheese for a great wine is the rule that brings together in the neighboring provinces such notables as Saint-Moir, Balancé, Badem and the Loire wines Fouvret, Saint-Mour and Angeau Gruyere mates with Chablis Camembert with Saint-Emilion and any dry red wine most commonly Chorette is a fit drink for the hundreds of other fine French cheeses the country has such happy marriages an Italian standard being Provolone and Chianté then there is a most unusual pair French Nuchâtel cheese and Swiss Nuchâtel wine from just across the border Switzerland also has another cheese favorite at home Tabin, Grape cheese named from the Nuchâtel wine in which it is aged one kind of French Nuchâtel cheese Vendant is also uniquely suited to the company of any good wine because it is made in the exact shape and size of a wine barrel bung a similar relation is found in Bryndzaz or Bryndzaz that are packed in miniature wine barrels strongly suggesting what should be drunk with such excellent cheeses Hungarian Touquet other foreign cheeses go to market wrapped in vine leaves the affinity has clearly been laid down in heaven only the English seem to have a fortissimo taste in the go-with wines according to these matches registered by André Simon in the art of good living Red Cheshire with like Tony Port White Cheshire with Oloroso Cherry Blue Lester with Old Vintage Port Green Rocaford with New Vintage Port To these we might add brittle chips of Greek Césaire with Nips of a Montelado and a Calcant Appetizer the English also pour Port into Stilton and sundry other wines and liquors into Cheters and such this doctoring leads to fraudulent imitation however for either Port or Stout is put into counterfeit Cheshire cheese to make up for the richness it lacks while some combinations of cheeses and wines may turn out palatable we prefer taking ours straight when something more fiery is needed we can twirl the flecks of pure gold in a chalice of eau de vie de Danzig and nibble unlegitimate Danzig cheese unadulterated Gold Lasser or eau de vie was the favorite liqueur of cheese-loving Franklin Roosevelt and we can be sure he took the two separately another perfect combination if you can take it is imported Camel with any caraway seeded cheese or cream cheese with a handy saucer or caraway seeds in the section of France devoted to gin the juniper berries that flavor the drink also go into a local cheese Formage Port this is further fortified with brandy, white wine, and pepper one regional tiple with such brutally strong cheese is black coffee laced with gin French Lajanger is another potted thriller with not only coffee and rum mixed in during the making then there is La Petrofina made with brandy and absinthe Haysbrook with brandy alone and La Cachar with white wine and brandy in Italy white gorgonzola is also put up in crocs with brandy in Oporto the sharp cheese of that name is enlivened by Port Cider and the greatest of applejacks Cavendose seem made to go with the regional cheese this is also true of our native jersey lightening and hard cider with their accompanying New York state cheese in the Ogue Valley of France farmers also drink homemade cider with their own oglot, a pequen kind of Pont Levec the English sip pear cider with almost any British cheese milk would seem to be redundant but sage cheese and buttermilk do go well together and cheese have other things in common some wines and some cheeses are aged in caves and there are vintage cheeses no less in vintage wines as in the case with Stilton End of Chapter XI Recording by David Lawrence in Brampton, Ontario August 2009 Chapter XII of the complete book of cheese this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Ruth Golding the complete book of cheese by Robert Carlton Brown Chapter XII Lazy Lou once so goes the sad story there was a cheese monger unworthy of his heritage he exported a ship load of inferior Swiss made somewhere in the USA bad to begin with it had worsened on the voyage rejected by the health authorities on the other side it was shipped back reaching home in the unhappy condition known as cracked to cut his losses the rascally cheese monger had his cargo ground up and its flavour disguised with hot peppers and chilli sauce thus there came into being the abortion known as the cheese spread the cheese spread or food and its cousin the processed cheese are handy, cheap and nasty they are available everywhere and some people even like them so any cheese book is bound to take formal notice of their existence I have done so and now an unfond farewell to them my academic cheese education began at the University of Wisconsin in 1904 I grew up with our great midwest industry I have read with profit hundreds of pamphlets put out by the learned aggies of my alma mater mostly they treat of honest natural cheeses the making, keeping and enjoying of authentic longhorn chedders short bricks and naturalised Limburgers at the School of Agriculture the students still I am told keep their hand in by studying the classical layout on a cheeseboard one booklet recommends the following for freshman contemplation caraway brick select brick edam, Wisconsin Swiss, longhorn American effort these six sturdy samples of Wisconsin's best will stimulate any amount of classroom discussion does the edam go better with German American black bread or with Swedish rye crisp to butter or not to butter and if to butter with which cheese salt or sweet how close do we come to the excellence of the genuine alpine swiss primary school stuff but not unworthy of thought pass on down the years you are now ready to graduate your cheeseboard can stand a more sophisticated set up try two boards play the teams against each other the all-american champs New York Coon Philadelphia Cream Vermont Sage Kentucky Trappist Wisconsin Limburger California Jack Pineapple Minnesota Blue Tilamook Versus the European Giants Portuguese Trazosh Montesh Dutch Gouda Italian Parmesan Yugoslavian Kakavai French Rock Four Swiss Emmentaler English Stilton Danish Blue German Münster Greek Feta Hable the postgraduate may play the game using as counters the great and distinctive cheeses of more than 50 countries your Scandinavian board alone just to give an idea of the riches available will shine with blues, yellows, whites browns and chocolates representing Sweden, Norway Denmark, Finland Iceland and Lapland for the Britisher, only blue veined Stilton is worthy to crown the banquet the Frenchman defends Rock Four the Dane his own regal blue the Swiss sticks to Emmentaler before during and after all three meals you may prefer to finish with a delicate brie a smoky slice of provolone a bit of baby gouda or some liktar garniette about which more later we load them all on Lazy Lou Lazy Susan's big twin brother a giant roulette wheel of cheese every number a winner a second Lazy Lou will bear the savories and go-wits for these tip bits the English have a divine genius think of the deviled shrimps smoked oysters herring-row on toast snips of broiled sausage but we will make do with some olives and radishes a few pickles, nuts, capers with our two trusty Lazy Lou's on hand plus wine or beer we can easily dispense with the mere dinner itself perhaps it is an Italian night then Lazy Lou is happily burdened with imported latticini incanestrato still bearing the imprint of its wicker basket peppato, which is but incanestrato peppered melfina deep yellow buttery scanno with its slightly burned flavour tangy asiago cacio cavallo so called because the two cheeses tied in pairs and hung over a pole look as though they were sitting in a saddle cheese on horseback or cacio a cavallo then we ring in Lazy Lou's first assistant an old silver-plated revolving Florentine magnum holder it's designed to spin a gigantic flask of chianti the flick of a finger and the bottle is before you gently pull it down and hold your glass to the spout true imported wines and cheeses are expensive but native American products and reasonably edible imitations of the real thing are available as substitutes anyway protein for protein a cheese party will cost less than a steak barbecue and it can be more fun encourage your guests to contribute their own latest discoveries one may bring along as his ticket of admission a primavera from Brazil another some cubes of an Andean specialty just flown in from Columbia's mountain city Merida and still wrapped in its aromatic leaves of frelejon la noodle another a few wedges of savoury sweet English flower cheese some flavoured with rose petals others with marigolds another a tube of South American coitacasa provide your own assortment of breads and try to include some of those fat, flaky old-fashioned crackers that country stores in New England can still supply mustard sure if you like it if you want to be fancy use a tricky little gadget put out by the my condiment makers in France and available here in the food specialty shops it's a miniature painter's palette holding five mustards of different shades and flavours and two mustard paddles the mustards in proper chromatic order are John Quilliello Strong Dijon Green Herbs Danish Tarragon Golden Aura Crimson Tomato Flavoured and just to keep things moving we have restored an antique whirling Cruit Holder to deliver Worcestershire Sauce Soy Sauce A1 Tap Sauce and Major Grey's Chutney Salt shakers and pepper mills are handy with a big-hold tin canister filled with crushed red pepper pods chili powder Hungarian paprika and such small matters butter, both sweet and salt is on hand together with sauces or bowls of curry capers, chives sliced, not chopped minced onion fresh mint leaves chopped pimientos caraway, quartered lemons parsley fresh tarragon and white radishes green and black olives pearl onions and assorted nut meats some years ago when I was collaborating with my mother Cora and my wife Rose in writing Ten Thousand Snacks which by the way devotes nearly forty pages to cheeses we staged a rather elaborate tasting party just for the three of us it took a two-tiered easy-loo to twirl the load the eight wedges on the top round were English and French samples and the lower one carried the rest as follows English cheddar Cheshire English Stilton Canadian cheddar rum-flavored French Munster French Brie French Camembert French Rockfort Saigo Swiss Coyer Swiss Edam Dutch Garder Italian Provoloni Czech Ostiepki Italian Gorgonzola Norwegian Getost Hungarian Lip-Tar the tasting began with familiar English chedders, cheshires and stiltons from the top row we had cheese knives, scoops, graters, scrapers and a few more but for this line of crumbly Britishers fingers were best the cheddar was a light lemony yellow, almost white, like our best domestic bar cheese of old the cheshire was mouldy and milky with a slightly fermented flavour that brought up the musty dining-room of Fleet Street's Cheshire cheese and called for draughts of beer the stilton was strong but mellow, as high in flavour as in price only the rum flavoured Canadian cheddar from Montreal by courtesy English letters down it was done up as fancy as a bridegroom in waxed white paper and looked as smooth and glossy as a gardenia but there its beauty ended either the rum that flavoured it wasn't up to much or the mixture hadn't been allowed to ripen naturally the French Munster however was hearty, cheery and better made than most German Munster which at that time wasn't being exported much by the Nazis the brie was melting prime the camembert was so perfectly matured we ate every scrap of the crust which can't be done with many American camembert more indeed with the dead dry French ones sold out of season then came the rock four a regal cheese we voted the best buy of the lot even though it was the most expensive a plump piece pleasantly unctuous but not greasy sharp in scent stimulatingly bittersweet in taste, unbeatable there is no American pretender to the rock four throne ours is invariably chalky and tasteless that doesn't mean we have no good blues we have but they are not rock four the sapsago or coitre caeser from Switzerland it has been made in the canton of Glaus for over 500 years was the least expensive of the lot well cured and dry it lent itself to grating and tasted fine on an old fashioned buttered soda cracker sapsago has its own seduction derived from the clover leaf powder with which the curd is mixed and which gives it its haunting flavour and spring like sage green colour next came some truly great Swiss gruyere delicately rich and nutty enough to make us think of the sharp white wines to be drunk with it at the source as for the provoloni notable for the water buffalo milk that makes it there's an example of really grown up milk perfumed as spring flowers drenched with a char of Anjou having a bouquet all its own and a trace of a wine like kick it made us vow never to taste another American imitation only a smooth cheap thick slab cut from a pedigreed Italian provoloni of medium girth all in one piece and with no sign of a crack satisfy the gourmet the second Italian classic was gorgonzola gorgeous gorgonzola as fructious apples peaches and pears sliced together it smells so much like a ripe banana we often eat them together plain or with the crumbly formaggio lightly forked into the fruit split lengthwise after that the edam tasted too lipsticky like the red paint job on its rind and the garter seemed only half hearted both too obviously ready made for commerce with nothing individual or custom made about them rolled or bounced over from Holland by the boat load the ostiapki from Czechoslovakia might have been a link of smoked ostrich sausage put up in the skin of its own red neck in spite of its pleasing lemon yellow interior we couldn't think of any use for it except maybe crumbling 30 cents worth into a 10 cent bowl of bean soup so we set it aside to try in tiny chunks on crackers as an appetizer some other day when it might be more appetizing we felt much the same about the chocolate brown norwegian getdost that looked like a slab of boarding school fudge and which had the same clawing cling to the tongue we were told by a native that our piece was entirely too young that's what made it so insipid, undeveloped in texture and flavor but the next piece we got turned out to be too old and decrepit and so strong it would have taken a poor bunion to stand up under it when we complained to our expert about the shock to our palates he only laughed pointing to the nail on his little finger you should take just a little bit like that a pill no bigger than a couple of aspirins or an alka-seltzer it's only in the morning you take it when it's old and strong like this for a pick-me-up a cure for a hangover, you know like a prairie oyster well sourced in Worcestershire that made us think we might use it up to flavor a Welsh rabbit instead of the Worcestershire sauce and melt it with anything less than a blowtorch to bring the party to a happy end we went to town on the Hungarian Lip Tower garnishing that fine granulating buttery base after mixing it well with some cream cheese we mixed the mixed cheese with sardine and tuna mashed together in a little of the oil from the can we juiced it with lemon mixed with bottled sauces worked in the leftovers some tarragon mint, spicy seeds parsley, capers and chives we peppered it and paprikaed it salted and spiced it then spread it thicker than butter on pumpernickel and went to it that's lipped our garnit end of chapter 12