I’ve been working on my pesto recipe for a few decades but I’ve never been 100 percent satisfied. Sometimes I make it in a mortar, like you’re supposed to, but it seems to discolor more with that method. Sometimes I blanch the basil leaves for a few seconds to keep the color, a trick I learned from Michael Chiarello, who also adds a pinch of ascorbic acid for the same reason. But that always seems a bit like cheating. Recently, perusing a new Italian cookbook, I saw another approach that intrigued me.
Read moreCheese Takes a Beating
Travel woes: (clockwise from upper left) Camembert au Calvados; Clochette; Burrata; French ashed cheeses
Maybe cheese wasn’t the first thing you thought about when President Trump announced a 30-day ban on flights from Europe last week. But cheese is, indeed, a victim. It won’t be getting on planes, either. All those lovely soft spring goat cheeses from the Loire Valley…fresh mozzarella and burrata from Campania…delicate robiolas from Piemonte…these cheeses and many others have effectively had their passports revoked. “Trump said it’s not going to affect cargo, but it doesn’t work that way,” says Stephanie Ciano of World’s Best Cheese, a major importer.
Read moreShe’s Gotta Have It
When I posted about cacio e pepe recently, I didn’t realize I was headed down a rabbit hole. I like this dish—pasta with pecorino romano and black pepper—but I’m not obsessed with it. Then I discovered someone who is. Her Instagram, cacioepepelove, has 6,600 followers and climbing. I took one look and couldn’t stop looking. Every day, a new cacio e pepe. Who was behind this funny, mouthwatering, passionate love letter to a pasta dish?
Read moreFour-Star Cacio e Pepe
The classic Roman dish, spaghetti cacio e pepe, seems to be having a moment. I have no idea why. Americans tend to prefer pasta with more stuff on it. This sauce is about as simple as it gets, although it’s easy to screw up. With Valentine’s Day on the brain, I bought a truffled pecorino recently and started to wonder if it would work in cacio e pepe. Genius, I must say.
Read moreAlways Something New
Recently, a young man in one of my classes asked me how many cheeses there were. Like…how many in ALL? Who could know? Thousands, surely. All I know is that I keep stumbling on new ones, or at least new to me, like this totally loveable goat cheese from northern Italy. I’m crazy for it on its own, but I intend to drape slices on hot polenta at the next opportunity.
Read moreSurprise Ending
If you cook at home on Valentine’s Day, I have the dessert for you. Silky, sexy, surprising. What more do you want? I tasted it at a party at the Cheese School of San Francisco, where chef Jocelyn VanLandingham dreams up all sorts of creative ways to slip cheese into recipes. Crème brulée infused with Parmigiano-Reggiano and topped with black cherry jam…no, I never would have thought that up, but man, is it good.
Read moreSuperstar Cheeses of 2018
Every week, merchants restock their counters with the cheeses they think you want. And then You the People get to choose. Often, you’re predictable (you do love those triple-creams), but sometimes you surprise retailers with your willingness to embrace the new. I’ve been showcasing my discoveries all year in Planet Cheese so thought I would ask some leading merchants what you have liked best. From coast to coast, here are some of your favorites, the breakout stars of 2018. Great choices, People!
Read moreBlockbuster Cheese
You’re not imagining it. Burrata is everywhere. A cheese that almost nobody knew 20 years ago (even in Italy) is now summer’s blockbuster. Retailers struggle to keep it in stock, and chefs have taken it well beyond the predictable insalata caprese. What else can you do with this dreamy dairy queen?
Read moreNow Here’s a Fresh Idea
From Turin to San Francisco is 9,500 miles, a long journey if you’re a cheese. Fresh cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella have to travel by air, which makes the cost spike. Inspections or missing paperwork can delay entry, further shortening the precious selling time. So here’s one Italian creamery’s solution to the fresh-cheese challenge: produce it in California. Northern Italian know-how meets West Coast milk.
Read moreBuffalo Stampede
You’re not imagining it. Buffalo are roaming all over American cheese counters these days. Buffalo ricotta, mozzarella, Camembert, blue. I haven’t spotted a buffalo Cheddar yet, but surely any day now. From a curiosity to (almost) mainstream in a decade, cheese made with rich water-buffalo milk is having its moment. Many are good; a few are great.
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