This just in: In retaliation for the European Union’s refusal to lift its ban on stinky old US hormone treated beef, the Bushies (don’t let the door hit you on the way out, guys) have put in place a 300% tariff on the bliss that is Roquefort. While there are reportedly 60 or so European products on the US hit list, Roquefort has been singled out, apparently because of its symbolic value, for a much higher rate.
Roquefort producers, including the anti-globalization vigilante José Bové, who made headlines nearly 10 years ago by attacking a McDonalds in the town of Millau, are threatening to suspend imports into the US altogether. Alas, Roquefort (even without the 300% tariff) is not in my budget these days, but I do have very fond memories of it from my former life as a jetsetting trade attaché. (I’ve got a tear in my eye and water in my mouth as I write this.) Especially delicious with Sauternes or a red Burgundy, as I recall. Also have a nice memory of a very simple endive and Roquefort salad Christian and I had at our friend Jacky’s flat in Paris one winter afternoon a few years ago.
This back and forth over hormone treated beef has been going on for years now. I used to follow it pretty closely while working for the French government in the early 2000’s. Am decidedly out of the loop now. But I’m definitely backing Brussels on this one. I mean really, now, who the hell wants to eat hormone treated beef? I certainly don’t and will keep doing my best to stay away from it (though it’s difficult and expensive for an American mean-eater to avoid it entirely). Makes one want to go out and drive a tractor into a McDonalds. If only I could tear myself away from the heater…
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Cheese — it's grosser than you thought
Behind the taste lie bacteria, stomach lining, pesticides and pure fa
Cheese makes some foodies jump up and down like little kids, but behind that heavenly taste and texture lies bacteria, mammal stomach lining and pure fat.
To ripen cheese and add flavor, bacterial strains are freely injected and smeared into the substance. But not all have been accounted for, a new study finds.
Researchers at Newcastle University in England have now identified eight previously undiscovered microbes on the French, brie-like cheese called Reblochon. The potential benefits of these new microbes are still unknown.
The study is detailed in the December issue of the journal International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Flourishing microbes are consumed with every bite of cheese (though the cooling temperatures in refrigerators do slow down bacterial growth, they do not kill them in cheese or in any other food). Bacteria (either naturally swimming around the milk or manually injected) and enzymes derived from the inner stomach linings of any slaughtered milk-producing mammal (called rennet) are added to coagulate the milk into curds.
Two proteins arise from curdled milk and manufacturers capitalize on them: The first is whey, which is essentially leftover liquid from curdled milk (and is increasingly being used as an ingredient in producing other foods). The second is casein, which makes up the bulk of the solid part of cheese, along with fat.
Fat is what gives cheese its taste, and 70 to 80 percent of the calories in cheese come from pure fat.
Factories are adding more bacterial groups into cheese to achieve enhanced flavors.
Cheese might be a hot commodity, but like other dairy products, it can have some unhealthy aspects. Other ways to get your calcium fix include eating the following foods: fortified grains, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage, kelp, seaweed, watercress, chickpeas, broccoli, red beans, soybeans, tofu, seeds and raw nuts. With all that variety, there's hope for any cheese addict. Only it won't taste, or smell, the same.
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