Feta cheese is perhaps Greece's most spectacular contribution to the culinary world. Traditionally feta is made from sheep or goat's milk. However, many producers today make it with cow's milk. It's a brined curd cheese that's commonly aged in blocks. Feta is white with a salty, tangy flavor that ranges from mild to sharp.
Depending on how long it ages, feta is soft to semihard in texture. Usually it comes in the form of a square cake that's packed in brine. Feta dries out quickly once removed from the brine. The crumbly cheese is scrumptious in salads, nachos, and flaky pastries like spanakopita. To check out my favorite way to enjoy feta, read more
For months now the US and France have been engaged in a stinky war over taxes on Roquefort, the pungent blue cheese from the south of France. The 300 percent import duty, which President George W. Bush enacted right before he left office, was scheduled to take effect March 23. But in the riff over Roquefort, might Presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy be able to smooth things over? Federal trade agency officials, hoping to strike middle ground with France, have postponed the tariff; it is now scheduled to take effect April 23. A duty on the cheese was first proposed in 1999 in response to a European Union ban on hormone-treated American beef. Said agency spokesperson Nefeterius McPherson: "The Obama administration is continuing the long-standing US policy of trying to reach a negotiated settlement that offers real benefits to the US beef industry."
France has also continued to lobby for the cheese in the States, since a tax would have drastic consequences on the availability of Roquefort. Martin Malvy, president of the cheese's home region, even sent President Obama a special package of the blue cheese for his inauguration. The delay shows hope that the two nations may find middle ground. Are you taking this as a good sign, or do you think the trade on this famed, blue-veined cheese is destined to crumble?
Sometimes it's nice to have a satisfying salad for dinner.
This spinach variation is full of colorful beets, sweet carrots, crunchy pecans, and hard boiled eggs. To cut back the calories, the recipe discards the majority of the egg yolks.
Although a store-bought dressing is delicious, if you have time, make the creamy blue cheese dressing that accompanies the salad recipe. For this quick vegetarian meal, read more
Ah, the joys of melted cheese. There are few things in life that are so pleasurable. Yet why do certain cheeses melt uniformly, while others don't? How come a few won't melt at all?
Several factors play a part in the melting process. One is fat content: the more fat a cheese contains, the more a cheese's casein molecules are able to separate, and the better it will melt. For this reason, lowfat and fat-free cheeses tend to melt into a rubbery consistency. The water level in a cheese also determines how it will melt. A cheese such as Parmesan is hard due to its low moisture level. Its dense molecular makeup means its molecules, even when melted, have relatively little room to flow — which is why Parmesan, unlike brie, will never get runny when it's melted.
A handful of cheeses — among them, fresh goat cheese, paneer, queso blanco, and ricotta — will never melt at all. Unlike most cheeses, which are curdled with rennet, these are curdled with acid. Cheese made with rennet retains a malleable structure, while acid alters cheese proteins by causing them to clump together.
Although it's a dirty job, someone has to clean out the refrigerator. Especially if you cook at home often, it's best to get rid of old milk before it spoils. I clean my fridge out once a week, but if you haven't checked the contents of the cheese drawer in a while, I suggest you start your Spring cleaning now. Here's what you should do to maintain a pristine, fresh-smelling fridge.
Feta cheese is perhaps Greece's most spectacular contribution to the culinary world. Traditionally feta is made from sheep or goat's milk. However, many producers today make it with cow's milk. It's a brined curd cheese that's commonly aged in blocks. Feta is white with a salty, tangy flavor that ranges from mild to sharp. 
Chevignon
Miu Miu
Jil Sander