cheeseapocalypse

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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You can thank the French for teaching you how to make decent cheese

We shan't be thanking the French for something they never did. Just as we make better sparkling wines than them, we also make better cheeses than them.

Britain has been making fine cheeses for centuries. Cheddar cheese dates from around 1500. Britain also has more varieties of cheese than France has. Britain has 700 varieties of cheese whereas France has just 400 varieties. Italy also has just 400 varieties, which means Britain has almost as many cheeses as France and Italy put together.

My favourite variety of cheese as the moment is Wensleydale. Absolutely delicous, especially the one being sold at my local supermarket at the moment which has cranberries in it.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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So, you have been here, have you? Canadian Cheddar is second to none. We actually have a lot of very good cheeses here. Velveeta is a Yanky invention and is a cheese like substance that does not resemble real cheese at all.



We were in NY, and hubby was looking at a menu. The burger selection came with 'swiss, cheddar, or American cheese'. Hubby asked 'what's American cheese'. I said 'processed'. He didn't believe me. He thought I was just being a jerk. lol.


As for processed cheese being North America's pervue, I wouldn't count on it. 'Laughing Cow' and other processed cheeses, are just as common in Europe as they are here. They're just sold in smaller more expensive formats, and have managed to escape the public's awareness of them being processed.


Personally, I don't eat processed cheese, I eat a lot of awesome Canadian cheeses. Oka is one of my faves.
 

captain morgan

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 28, 2009
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We shan't be thanking the French for something they never did.

They did and you should.... You can also thank them for helping keep the Germans out of Britain during the WWs

Just as we make better sparkling wines than them

Now, that is hilarious.

PS - grape flavored soda pop doesn't qualify as a sparkling wine

Britain has been making fine cheeses for centuries. Britain also has more varieties of cheese than France has. Britain has 700 varieties of cheese whereas France has just 400 varieties. Italy also has just 400 varieties, which means Britain has almost as many cheeses as France and Italy put together.

Making it for centuries and 700 varieties?... You'd think that after all that time that one of those cheeses might be half way acceptable

My favourite variety of cheese as the moment is Wensleydale. Absolutely delicous, especially the one being sold at my local supermarket at the moment which has cranberries in it.

Never heard of it, although that is no surprise
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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They did and you should....

Can you give me an example of when the French taught the British how to make cheese?

Probably not, because we have been making cheeses for centuries and have more varieties than the Frogs do (and less smelly ones at that).

You can also thank them for helping keep the Germans out of Britain during the WWs

No. They can thank the British for helping to liberate them in 1945.

PS - grape flavored soda pop doesn't qualify as a sparkling wine

2003 Nyetimber Classic Cuvee. Best in the world. And we invented champagne.
 

EagleSmack

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 16, 2005
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Britian has a paltry 3 cheeses in the top whilst Italy and France each top the list at 11.

The Fifty Best Cheese

Did you read the whole list?

US- 14!

I didn't even know that.

I am surprised that Velveeta and this stuff (image below) wasn't in the list though.



 

captain morgan

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 28, 2009
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Did you read the whole list?

US- 14!

Man, did I ever screw up.

The US tops the list at 14... Wonder how Blackie feels that despite his wee Isle having centuries of cheese-making experience can't compare with the US that is clearly head-and-shoulders above them in yet another category.

On the lighter side, I suppose that he is used to the USA being superior to his nation in almost everything by now.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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Seriously guys people have been processing cheese for as long as cheese has existed. It's only since we've had refrigeration that we can keep it stable enough to keep, and not have to use it up right away as 'con queso dip', 'cheese sauce' for pasta, etc. While I don't buy either, how is aerosolized cheese worse than aerosolized whipped cream? We end up with some funny food snobbery notions in our heads.
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
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London, Ontario
Seriously guys people have been processing cheese for as long as cheese has existed. It's only since we've had refrigeration that we can keep it stable enough to keep, and not have to use it up right away as 'con queso dip', 'cheese sauce' for pasta, etc. While I don't buy either, how is aerosolized cheese worse than aerosolized whipped cream? We end up with some funny food snobbery notions in our heads.


I don't use aerosolized whip cream either, I make it from scratch, lol.

But I wasn't being a food snob, it says cheese snack right on the can. I was always told they did that because they couldn't actually call it cheese.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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I don't use aerosolized whip cream either, I make it from scratch, lol.

But I wasn't being a food snob, it says cheese snack right on the can. I was always told they did that because they couldn't actually call it cheese.

Yeah, once you add milk and stuff to smooth it out, it's 'processed' or 'snack', etc.

And I wasn't saying YOU were being a food snob, in particular. I was just commenting about our general attitudes.
 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
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Yeah, once you add milk and stuff to smooth it out, it's 'processed' or 'snack', etc.

It's not the milk that bothers me, more the "and stuff", lol.

And I wasn't saying YOU were being a food snob, in particular. I was just commenting about our general attitudes.

I kind of am, I don't like prepared, processed foods and thus turn my nose up at them in a snob-like manner. ;)
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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It's not the milk that bothers me, more the "and stuff", lol.



I kind of am, I don't like prepared, processed foods and thus turn my nose up at them in a snob-like manner. ;)



Well, when it comes to the 'and stuff', I have to say, I've become actually a lot less scathing about ingredient lists since I got access to wiki and can just find out what all 'that stuff' is.
 

eh1eh

Blah Blah Blah
Aug 31, 2006
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Well, when it comes to the 'and stuff', I have to say, I've become actually a lot less scathing about ingredient lists since I got access to wiki and can just find out what all 'that stuff' is.

The trouble with process cheese and most other processed foods is the 'salt' and 'fat'. The cheese is not a problem in of itself.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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Britian has a paltry 3 cheeses in the top whilst Italy and France each top the list at 11.

The Fifty Best Cheese


According to what? The "Fifty Best" website? Are they experts on cheese, are they?

I'm not taking any list seriously that puts 14 US cheeses in the Top 50.

British (more specifically, English) cheeses are the best in the world. Give me a decent slice of Wensleydale - a cheese which, just last month, was given EU protected status, just like Mowbray pork pies, which means that real Wensleydale can only be produced in the Yorkshire dale of Wenseydale - than any of those God awful fake "cheeses" that they have in the US that they (rather horrifyingly) squeeze onto hamburgers.

 
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