If You Think Cheese is Sexy

How about a Cheesy Centerfold, Culture Magazine Premiers

Feb 15, 2009 Jacqueline Church

Culture the new magazine - the word on cheese - is on the newstands now. Check a cheese monger near you, too for this quarterly review of all things cheese.

Culture, the brand new cheese quarterly, premiered in December 2008. With gorgeous photography and sharp prose this will quickly become required reading for any serious student of food. Each issue will have featured cheese makers, profiles of cheese to know, pairings (beer and wine), and cheese gear (cheese bling anyone?)

Cheese, Front and Center

Oh yes, about that centerfold. If you love cheese, you may have experienced cheese goosebumps before. Wait until you get a load of this - a true centerfold. The premier issue’s centerfold is a washed-rind cheese similar to Mont d’Or. Just like, ahem, other centerfolds, we see a double-page sexy shot of the featured cheese. We also learn about Winnimere’s “turn ons” (Belgian style ale) and “turn offs” (most red wines) and superstitions “I will do anything to avoid cling-wrap”.

Packed with useful information about where to buy it, how to store it, how it’s made, Culture is entertaining as well as educational. And there is no shortage of food porn shots in this magazine. It’s written and edited to be entertaining enough you just might forget how much you’re learning.

From First Class to Coach to World Class

Coach Farm is not a lesser category or class of cheese. It’s name comes from Coach Leather which Miles and Lillian Cahn owned before starting Coach Farm in 1985. According to their website, they moved upstate to “..enjoy a more “peaceful” life. Miles has often been quoted that they are being held hostages by 1000 goats at the farm.”

In fact, Coach Farm cheeses are winning National and International awards and recognition.

• 2008 WINNER NASFT “Outstanding Cheese or Dairy Product” - Triple Cream Wheel
• 2008 1st PLACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHEESE CONTEST - Triple Cream Wheel

What is a Bloomy Cheese?

Bloomy cheeses include soft cheeses whose rind is usually covered with a fine white mold. It’s perfectly edible though a little earthy for some tastes. This category of cheeses includes the triple creme like the Coach Farm Triple Creme and popular cheeses like Brie, Camembert and Brillat-Savarin. Bloomy cheeses are a perfect example of what people mean when they describe cheese as “a living thing.” The mold surrounding a bloomy cheese will take over more of the cheese as it ages. If the cheese is too young the texture is rubbery and the flavor is underdeveloped. If the cheese has been allowed to age too long you will smell ammonia and it will be a runny unpleasant mess. Perfectly aged it is a creamy, delicious masterpiece.

• Read about Boston's "Big Cheese" Ihsan Gurdal - awarded the coveted Chevalier du Mérite Agricole.
• Read about Spanish Cheeses, here.
• Can you figure out how this man is connected to this article? (answer in blog.)

The copyright of the article If You Think Cheese is Sexy in Gourmet Food is owned by Jacqueline Church. Permission to republish If You Think Cheese is Sexy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Brie Cheese