Parm, Meet Balsamic

Since my last post, several of you have written to me about the cheese that stars in my steamy Youtube video. Friends, it's no ordinary Parm. It's aged by Giorgio Cravero, a 5th-generation cheese man in Bra, Italy. Moist and sweet, Cravero's Parmigiano Reggiano is a classic pairing for aged balsamic, the other heart-stopper in the film.

When I started looking for a Parm to play the lead, I asked around at a number of cheese shops. Turns out, there are over 500 producers of Parmigiano-Reggiano in and around Parma and Bologna. Many are mass-produced, bur Cravero's is not. He selects the best wheels from a number of small family producers, then ages them himself, producing a grand total of about 9 wheels per day. "Miniscule," said Ezekial Ferguson, a knowledgeable South Philly cheesemonger.

When Zeke passed me a sliver, I knew Garbo had found her Astaire. This is a cheese with umami. My nibble was sweet, nutty, full of crispy amino acid crystals -- the sign of a well-aged cheese. Midway through the bite, Cravero released a faintly pickly taste, a thrilling twang.

I knew Zeke was right. This was a cheese that would pair well with a plummy aged balsamic.

This particular bottle of Balsamico Suite is my first grown-up bottle, I must admit. I sampled some cloying, syrupy versions in the $20-$30 range before I fell swooning to the floor over this one. I love its choclatey notes, its velvety feel. It tastes like a cross between port and pickled ginger. When you eat it with this Parm, your mouth goes from nutty-sweet to tangy-salty to bitter-dark chocolate in a wave.

Glorious. I can't think of better tub mates. I may get a mini fridge for the bathroom.

Madame Fromage: The Movie

So, Madame Fromage likes to eat cheese in the bath tub. Secret revealed. Reader, you can now watch a film starring yours truly and some excellent Parmesan in a steamy flick called Balsamic Boudoir.

No, I'm not making nude art films in my free time, I'm entering a contest to win a trip to Italy, and the contest required making a 3-minute film that involved balsamic vinegar.

If you are curious, if you like silent movies, if you want to see my bathroom...here you have it.

Many thanx to the spectacular producer, Aimee Knight.

Spring Cheese Tasting: An All Goat Flight

Saturday, April 17,  4 & 6 p.m.

Quince Fine Foods, 209 W. Girard Ave (at 2nd Street)

$12/person; email reservations appreciated (quince@quincefinefoods.com)
SOLD OUT

A few weeks ago, Nicole, Joan and I sampled a new series of goat cheeses produced in Elverson, PA at a small dairy called Amazing Acres. We loved their goat cheeses so much that we invited cheesemaker Debbie Mikaluk to join us for an introduction to her line. Debbie makes some unusual goat cheeses for this area, including a bloomy, ash-streaked cheese she calls Sea Smoke. 

Please join us for an all-goat-cheese flight. I'll be there to talk recipes and share pairing ideas, and Debbie will be on hand to wax poetic about Nubian goats. Quince is proud to be one of the only cheese counters in Philadelphia offering these gorgeous, handmade cheeses.

Note: due to increased demand, we are now hosting two tastings, one at 4 p.m., the other at 6 p.m. We start on time and serve our cheeses Slow Food style, one at time, so guests can savor. A complimentary glass of wine is included with the last pairing.

Montenebro

I’m into surface mold. I can’t explain it; maybe it’s because I was one of those kids who didn’t mind the crust on her sandwich bread. Or on pizza. When I see people carve out the gooey middle on brie and leave the rind behind, I secretly scoff at them. Silly wabbit, I think to myself, the rind is the best part. It’s where the flavor is.

That’s why I got so excited by a goat cheese pictured in Wednesday’s New York Times, Le Cendrillon. It was coated in ash and had a surface that looked like a bubbly chalkboard – thick, black, stippled. I emailed a cheesemonger with stretchers in his ears, hoping he could fix me up – I figured, if he likes big jewelry, he probably likes bold rind. Was that wrong?

He didn’t have any Le Crendrillon, but he had something similar. When I paid him a visit, he held up a chalky log with thick surface mold the same color and texture as a pussy willow. Montenebro. I’d read about it – a Spanish goat cheese with one maker. I liked that. It’s not like a cheddar, say, where you have lots of makers and umpteen variations. When you order Montenebro, you get the one made by Rafael Baez and his daughter, Paloma, in Avila, Spain.

This is a young goat cheese, aged two months, and it has a magnificent texture -- an oozy rim and a dense center that spreads like frosting. What a treat, I love a multi-textured cheese. The flavor is bold, sweet, lemony with a faint bluesy tail from the Penicillium roqueforti (the same mold that’s used in making Roquefort) that’s rubbed onto its surface, along with the ash. So there is just a twinge of blue taste. Ahhh, amazing.

With a Pinot Noir or Vouvray, this tangy lover is going to make for a perfect picnic some chilly dusk. I can’t wait to serve it up to my rind-mindful friends.

Testun al Borolo

I thought I'd seen it all, from cheese packed in espresso grounds (Beehive) to cheese rubbed down with cocoa (Cocoa Cardona). Then my friend Scott yanked open his fridge, pulled out a brown paper package, and unwrapped a wedge of cheese that looked like it was encased in gizzards. No, it wasn't gizzards, but it looked like a bloody mess. Instead, it was Testun al Borolo, a mixed milk cheese that is packed in grape skins. And grape seeds.

Eating Testun al Borolo is a little bit like eating trail mix, because those grape seeds are crispy -- and yet, the grape skins are damp. Faintly. They made me think of tobacco, dry and yet moist. All in all a perplexing, delightful experience. I can't think of a cheese that tastes, smells, and feels more rustic. Break out the camping equipment; here is a cheese that is best eaten under the stars next to a musty tent.

The grapes that encase Testun come from the Nebbiolo grape, used in making Borolo wine. Mano Vino, a wine and travel blog, described pairing this cheese with a "Super Umbrian" wine, Sportoletti's 2006 Assisi Rosso -- an earthy red with flavors of tobacco and cherries. Sounds marvy. Others recommend a Lambic. Could be a little sweet, although me thinks that a bottle of New Glarus' Belgian Red, made with Door County Cherries, could be a sickeningly good match.

Scary-intense as this cheese might appear, it's actually pretty mild. Complex, yes, but subtle. The texture is very dry, not quite like a Parm, but it crumbles nicely. Scott had it on a salad at a fabu-dabu neighborhood restaurant, Modo Mi, and he said it was all he could think about for the rest of his meal. It's certainly arresting. If I ever go on one of those Jersey Devil tours in the Pine Barrens, I'm definitely taking a baguette and some Testun. I think it could scare off a Yeti.

Tasting Notes: Cheese'n Ale

Last night's tasting at Quince was full of drama. The basement flooded, the power snapped off, and some of our guests got stranded in the rain. But with a few candles and some deep breathing, we prevailed. One of the brewers from Philadelphia Brewing Company, Dean Browne, still managed to traipse over to join us, and so did David April, leader of the Fishtown Beer Runners. And so we drank beer and ate cheese, and we learned a few things about hops and estrogen -- like that IPAs are good for the ladeez. More on that later.

Here are our three pairings, for those of you who stayed home and nibbled brie in bed:

Cheese: Ossau-Iraty
Ale: Rowhouse Red
This sheep's milk cheese from the Basque region is mild and fruity with an aroma of freshly milled wheat. Traditionally, it's served with cherry preserves, so we gave a nod to that sweet, tart pairing by pouring a red ale along side it. With a few olives and Marcona almonds, it made for a mellow, well-rounded combo.

Cheese: Humboldt Fog
Ale: Walt Wit
Our favorite pairing: the citrusy notes in this unfiltered Belgian wheat ale cozied up so nicely to this slightly acidic, perfectly balanced goat cheese, easily recognized by its layer of ash (the ash is supposed to represent the coastal fog near Cypress Grove in Humboldt County, CA where this cheese is made). Joan and Nicole served each plate with a shard of Rosales torta, an olive oil cracker that tastes faintly of anise and burnt sugar.

Cheese: PA Noble
Ale: Newbold IPA
Bitter beer calls for sharp cheese, so we played on this pairing rule by selecting a local cheddar-style cheese made from raw, grass-fed milk right here in Pennsylvania. We think this local cheese from Green Valley Dairy is stellar, and we were excited to pair it with a local brew. This cheese pulled honey notes out of the IPA, and it was terrific served with mango chutney from Stonewall Kitchen.

All of these cheeses are currently available at Quince Fine Foods, and you can find PBC beers at most distributors around Philadelphia or buy it directly from the brewery, which is open for free tours and tastings every Saturday, noon-3 p.m. I visited back in January, and I have never been the same. I'm drinking those hoppy beers all the time now, ever since brewer Dean Browne told me that the estrogen in hops are good for women's bones.

Ladeez, maybe I'll see you at the bar. I'll be the one with the cheddar and chutney.

Cheese Fixes on Girard Ave.

I’m keyed up about tomorrow’s cheese’n ale tasting. We got such terrific press that we had to set up two tastings at Quince. And we still had to turn people away!

I owe a special thanks to the folks at uwishunu and City Paper's Meal Ticket blog for spreading the word. I’m so grateful, too, to Joan and Nicole at Quince, who came up with the idea of teaming up to host monthly cheese tastings. Their little Spanish imports shop is the crown jewel of 2^nd Street and Girard Ave., an area that used to be mostly check-cashing stores and bootie-jeans joints – not that I don’t like bootie jeans, okay?

Let me just wax poetic about Girard Ave., if I may. I know it’s riddled with Funyuns wrappers and cigarette butts, I know there’s a lot of graffiti covering the Girard El stop, but there’s a gaggle of business owners who are working hard to make Girard lovable, and I want to give them a little shred of cheddar.

So, if you’re coming up to the tasting or you find yourself living la vida loca up here some scattered aftynoon, here are 15 of my fave things to do along Girard Ave., most of which involve cheese:

1.     Stop into Johnny Brenda’s for a whisky doughnut on a Sunday morning. Their bagels and lox platter with cream cheese ain’t bad either.

2.     Eat a samosa and a dish of saag paneer at Ekta.

3.     Pick up a guitar strap at DiPinto’s Guitar Shop.

4.     Eat a blue cheese burger at Sketch and color on the chalkboards.

5.     Stop into Murph’s for local beer and crab fries with cheese sauce. You may even hear someone spinning old-timey gospel music on Sunday afternoons.

6.     Try on vintage boots and rhinestones at Reverie, a consignment store next to Quince.

7.     Get an espresso and talk smack with Derrick at The Coffee House – be sure to sit in the garden, which is tricked out like a gypsy caravan.

8.     Take up a bar stool at Paradise and eat a $3 grilled cheese, the best deal in town. Don’t let Club Ozz, the girlie bar next door, scare you.

9.     Head down 2nd Street to the Piazza, just off Girard, for their Saturday Farmers’ Market, where there is goat cheese aplenty. Shellbark Farms, anyone?

10. Get your chi aligned at Barefoot Acupuncture. Their sliding scale makes sweet needles affordable. The atmosphere is dreamy.

11. Kiss the statue of Don Quixote for good luck (2^nd and Girard). Then get a rose/cheese tattoo at Poison Apple.

12. Buy some vinyl at Milk Crate or Tequila Sunrise. They’re within walking distance of each other.

13. Hell, as long as you’ve come all this way, head to Philadelphia Brewing Company or Yards, and slug back some local beer.  

14. Don't forget to eat the best meal of your life at Modo Mio.

15. If you can't afford Modo Mio, hit up its sister joint, Paesano's, for the Gustaio sandwich: lamb  sausage with sun-dried cherry mustarda, fennel, and Gorgonzola.