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Monday 28 March 2011

Don't Buy Cheese. Acquire Bloody Great Cheese

This is an article written by a great Brisbane food writer Natasha Mirosch. http://blogs.news.com.au/couriermail/food/

If you bought a stereo system from Big W you wouldn’t expect it to perform like a Bose. Yet, when it comes to food, we seem to want an awful lot of bang for our buck and balk at paying ‘high’ prices. But like the Bose stereo, if you pay extra for craftsmanship you get better results.

As I learn more about food production, I’m overcome with admiration at some of the people in an industry where it must be very tempting to sell out to mass production, but who choose a different path.

I recently had lunch with Herve Bourgeois who is the export director of Papillon, one of the bigger Roquefort producers in France. Roquefort, as cheese lovers will know, was only allowed back into this country in 2005, following a blanket ban on the importation of unpasturised cheeses in this country.

I knew nothing about how it was made, apart from a vague notion it was aged in caves.

That’s only a small bit of a fascinating story as told to me my M. Bourgeois.

Roquefort is made from ewes milk. Specifically red Lacaune ewes. Papillon have their farmers whose sheep are pastured at at altitudes of 750 and 1100 metres where the best grass is. The milk, which is not pasturised is delivered within hours of milking and it processed to curd. It’s not a pressed curd cheesbe but the curds are allowed to remain loose and aerated which allows the mould to grow. It is turned frequently to get rid of the moisture.

Then the mould Penicillium Roqueforti that gives the cheese it’s blue hue and bitey flavour is introduced.

Incredibly, this is caught wild in the following way according to M. Bourgeois; Papillon have their own bakery, the purpose of which is to bake the bread with which to catch the penicillium. It’s not just a matter of throwing together some dough though-the bread is made from organic rye flour, made from grains grown grown on acidic terrain at 1000 metres altitude where all chemical fertilisers are prohibited.

The bread is baked, M. Bourgeois tells me when there is the ‘moon of a mushroom’. ie a full moon at which time mushrooms and other funghi are said to come up. Once baked, the bread is put into empty caves where it stays for 70 days. By which time, M. Bourgeois says  it is ‘like a piece of graphite’.  This is sprinkled on top of the cheese which is then salted with organic rock salt and pierced with needles 24 times to allow airflow and presumably for the penicillin to penetrate.

The caves, which are laval and have natural faultlines which admit air are a steady 7 degrees with 100% humidity. The cheese stays in the caves for between 17and 31 days for the mould to ‘bloom’ and reach all the way from the centre to the edges of the cheese. It’s then wrapped in tin foil to stop a rind forming and put into a second cave for between 5-8 months.

All processes of the production are organic says M. Bourgeois and has been so since 1976, when ‘’hippies’’ moved into the Roquefort and started producing milk without the use of any chemicals.

Roquefort is was given an appellation d’origine contrôlée’ label in 1925 and among other stipulations can only be made from the milk of sheep that graze in a designated area centered around the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, and must be aged in the natural caves near the village.  All Roquefort has a ``red ewe’ symbol on it to indicate its authenticity.

So, next time you go to the deli and have a little whinge to yourself about the price of cheese, just think about exactly what’s gone into it. Or else go get some cheap Woolies brie and be done with it. 


Crusty Old Wine.

Modern winemaking techniques and economic pressures normally mean that most wines we see in the local bottlo tend to be out of balance.

Horror! Most wine makers will seriously get cranky with me but give some of these over tannic monsters time to settle will show a soft and delicate pussy cat. And so why do we put up with this situation?

Alas it is pure economics with most winemakers and retailers looking for cash, turning over stock. For those with the patients and good cellars will know the joy of balanced elegant wines.

Today I had the pleasure of tasting 3 great old Hunter reds from the icons; Tyrells and MtPleasant. Not the big fruit bombs of the Barossa, just fine elegance.


Sunday 27 March 2011

Food & Wine - The Newish Frontier

Regional food heroes are latest new thing! Yes I know of course they aren't, but the increasing ability to communicate with new international audiences means your star has the chance to shine very bright indeed.

One of the brightest stars is Rick Bakas. A US blogger, tweeter and online doco producer. Rick is in Australia for the next 2 weeks and has set a furious pace to pack in as many Australian wine destinations as possible.
                                          This is Rick pictured with MtPleasant winemaker Scott McWilliam
I had the pleasure of having lunch with Rick today and he is delightful company, as well as a foodie with enormous experience. Check out his blog at http://rickbakas.com/

This is my current favourite article which I am likely to less eloquently convert to a Hunter related article.
http://rickbakas.com/7-things-to-look-for-in-wine

Sunday 13 March 2011

Pancake Day

Pancake Day was on Tuesday and Lent continues through to Easter. My sacrifice? Alcohol Consumption. Mmmm - help me.

http://victas.pancakeday.com.au/