Recipe - Even Cheddar Is Exotic

*** NON NE *****

A fine cheddar cheese is one that is made of whole, unpasteurized,
summermilk from cows which have drunk fresh, clean water and have fed on
green grasses, free from any flora that might taint the milk. A good cheese
should be aged slowly and lovingly until it is eighteen months to two years
old. It will then be full in flavor and sharp, without any bitterness.

This is the way the renowned cheese man of Jermyn street in London
described a large wheel of cheddar. He then asked me to taste a paperthin
slice of it. He was right. The moment it touched my tongue I could feeall
the penetrating quality of this perfect cheddar.

Alas! It is not, and cannot always be perfect, but it is rarely not good.
Most of us associate cheddar with Ontario. When I can find a good "Ontario"
mild from summer milk, I always have some. With an apple and a glass of
port wine, it is the perfect ending to a meal.

The art of cheese making was introduced to the early settlers of Eastern
Ontario by the United Empire Loyalists. By 1854, some 2,000,000 pounds of
domestic cheese were produced in Canada for home use, and for export to the
United States.

Of all the cheese produced in Canada today, 50% of all Cheddar and 75% of
the foreign and specialty cheeses are manufactured in Ontario.

Storing Cheese:

If it is improperly wrapped, cheese will lose moisture and take on "off"
flavors from other foods.

To store, wrap small pieces of cheese carefully in moisturevaporproof
foil or film.

Protect the cut surface of large pieces of cheese with a coating of
paraffin, or press a heavy piece of waxed paper to the cut surface with a
hot iron.

Keep cheese in a dry cool place.

Cooking with Cheese:

Don't cook cheese, just melt it. High heat, or overcooking makes cheese
stringy and leathery. Crumble it into a cream sauce. Melt it into an omelet
for breakfast. Toast it in a sandwich for lunch. Spread it on crackers for
snacks. Grate it over a casserole for a crispy topping. Pile it on a tray
with fresh fruit.

Use it as a lowcost meat substitute, with no waste factor to consider.
Engjoy it with an apple, watching TV.

To bring out the true flavor of any cheese, allow it to come to room
temperature before serving.

To melt cheese, place it over hot water, or add grated cheese to a hot
mixture.

When making a sauce, add the cut or sliced up or grated cheese after the sauce is
cooked; heat only until the cheese is melted. Overcooking may cause a
milkeggcheese sauce to curdle or separate.

To make a cheese omelet, add the cheese just before folding.

Recipe by: The Canadiana Cookbook/Mme Jehane Benoit/1970 Posted to TNT
Prodigy's Recipe Exchange Newsletter by Bill & Leilani Devries
devriesb@cyberbeach.net on Aug 26, 1997