Di Bruno's Fermentation Dinner

I hope you have already eaten. If not, pull up a chair. Grab a napkin. You just might drool. This is the story of a fermentation dinner in celebration of two Philadelphia-area food artisans -- a cheesemaking pioneer named Sue, and a brewer savant named Jean. I want you to meet them.

Sue Miller, a.k.a. Lady Birchrun, makes some of the tastiest washed-rind cheese in the hills of nearby Chester County. She uses raw milk and salt brine to produce two fine specimen, Fat Cat and Red Cat. The first is bacony, the latter mushroomy. If you taste them, you will purr.

Jean Broillet IV is not the king of a small country, but he could be. He is a twenty-something saison superstar who started brewing beer as a high-schooler in his parents' garage (you know how those rural science projects get started). Brewer Broillet put himself through college by working at Weyerbacher and Iron Hill. Now, he plans to open his own brew cafe, Tired Hands, in the 'burb of Ardmore. Beer geeks, revv your engines.

Together, Miller and Broillet have made fermentation magic by washing Red Cat cheese with Tired Hands beer to create a lucky little star they call "Proto-Cat" -- soon to be christened "Tired Cat." Cat lovers, you may start yourrr motors.

Here's what happened when Chef Rob Sidor of Di Bruno's catering department decided to create a special pairing using local ingredients involved in this fermentation project. Hint: it involves crumbs of calf tongue.

You're looking at a wedge of Tired Cat with fried tomatillo ice cream, rolled in calf tongue crumbs and malt. Jean Broillet served this course with a glass of Vulpine, a "super saison" with hints of cedar, lemon, coconut, vanilla, and honey. I nearly wept. This might be the best saison and the best/weirdest/wildest cheese pairing I have ever eaten.

See aren't you glad I told you to get a napkin?

I love when cheese sparks creativity. I'm not talking about the invention of the Cheez-It. I'm talking about collaborations and pairings that make people experience flavors and textures that have never existed before. Here's another one. Ready?

You're looking at fava bean gazpacho, served with a raw clam and crumbled Birchrun Blue Cheese. "I like to subvert people's expecations," Chef Rob told me. "Most people expect blue cheese as a final course. That's why I served it first."

Chef Rob served the gazpacho in wee tuna cans -- they looked a little bit like, uhm, cat food cans, but then...this was a Fat Cat dinner, right?

For dessert: home-spun marshmallows made with D-2 syrup (it's used in brewing), alongside graham cakes, apple, and Equinox. The latter is Sue Miller's most approachable cheese, a baby Gruyere with a nutty halo.

Oh, Philadelphia, oh people of Pennsylavania, we are lucky to have so much culinary talent in our midst. Look for Birchun cheeses at local farmers' markets. Prepare yourself for a new microbrew king. Ready yourself the next time cheesemonger Rich Morillo brainstorms a pairing dinner.

This kind of culinary skill and appreciation for the land -- its plants and animals -- are rare. Chef Rob Sidor deserves a standing ovation. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful evening. May there be many more pairings to come.

Tasting Notes

Birchrun Hills Farm Cheeses

Proto Cat/Tired Cat: gutsy, robust, meaty, beautifully balanced

Fat Cat: big and bacony, creamy, great stuffed into a morel mushroom

Birchrun Blue: peppery, buttery, briny, with a hint of hops

Equinox: sweet, nutty, musical, like a Gruyere understudy

Tired Hands Brew

Farm Hands: a light, mellow Belgian with a golden glow

Hop Hands: a glorious American Pale Ale; a floral-citrus see-saw

Vulpine: a "super saison" w/ sublime honey roundness, vanilla-cedar-lemon afterglow

Guillemot: dark, chocolaty porter-purr

Full disclosure: I have a freelance relationship with Di Bruno Bros. and was invited to attend this meal as a blogger-in-residence.

Cheese'n Shmooz Calendar

Honestly, there are so many opportunities coming up to talk cheese, eat cheese, and meet cheese lovers that my calendar is beginning to look as scribbled upon as a 7th-grade Trapper Keeper. Here are some dates for dairy entanglements in the Philadelphia area:

October 3, Slow Food “Dig In”, noon-3 p.m., World Café Live

The Philadelphia chapter of this artisanal food alliance hosts an afternoon of culinary demos and tastings by local food producers and chefs. Tickets are a mere $10. Dock Street provides the brew, and live music is on the menu, too. I will be there with Debbie Mikulak of Amazing Acres Dairy. Join us for some goat cheese’n chat.

October 16, Cherry Grove Cheese Tour

Check out one of the area’s most interesting sustainable dairies, Cherry Grove – makers of Maidenhead. The Fair Food Farmstand leads this excursion. Lunch is included, and so is a tour of Griggstown Quail Farm – yup, you can reserve your Heritage breed turkey. The whole shebang is only $20 – you’ve got to get yourself to Princeton, NJ, but then you’re golden. For more info, contact Christina@fairfoodphilly.org, or call 215-386-5211, ext. 106

October 28, The Big Cheeses of 2010, Tria

This is just one of two cheese classes that Tria has on offer in October. Cheesemonger Rich Morillo highlights the best cheeses in America, showcasing recent winners of the American Cheese Society Awards. Don’t forget that Tria has a “Sunday School” menu every Sunday to feature a great cheese, wine, and beer pairing – all at a deep discount. Alas, this class is sold out, but you can still get on the waiting list: (215) 972-7076

Beer’n Cheese Happy Hour, Di Bruno Bros. (South Philly)

It happens every Wednesday, from 5-8 p.m. – where have you been? Free brew, free cheese, and if you ask nicely, you just might get to see some skin (meaning: cheese tattoos). These pairings are often exquisite – stop in for a minor revelation. I’m usually there, moaning audibly near the olive bins.

Ohhh, and I almost forgot to mention...the list of tastings I co-host at Quince, my neighborhood cheese shop, is posted on the store's website. On October 23, we'll be baking with cheese. Join us for hot cheese appetizers and conversation. More on this later.