Monday, May 18, 2009
Letter #4-2009
OPEN
808 Terrace Street
Downtown Muskegon
Tues - Fri 10 - 6
Saturday 9 - 4
or call 231-728-3000
Muskegon Farmer's Market
is open.
We will be there
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
William John Riegler. Elle Kemp Riegler.
Life is busy and full!
CHEESE * CHEESE * CHEESE
Most of our cheeses are European,
and have been made for thousands of years.
One cheese at a time, let's look at them.
CANTALET
Auvergne is a French region known for a thousand volcanoes;
blessed by mountain storms, summer sun
and pasture lands that are extremely fertile.
Cantalet cheese captures all the richness of these pasture lands.
A wonderful, semi-hard cheese from the central mountainous region of Auvergne,
Cantalet is a cheddar-like cheese cured with salt, which brings out its full flavor.
Heavy and moist, young Cantalet has a sweet, milk flavor;
well-aged, it has a sharper flavor.
Cantalet is a smaller version of a cheese known as Cantal;
both pair wonderfully with reds from Merlot to Pinot Noir
and whites from Sauvignon Blanc to Gewurztraminer.
This is an AOC protected cheese.
Remember AOC?
AOC - guarantee for best quality
Only 40 of the over 500 French cheese varieties
are allowed to have the controlled term of origin AOC
"Appellation d'Origine Controlee".
The controlled term of origin guarantees the following product criteria:
* The milk must be from a geographical fixed area,
also the production and part of the maturity process must be done in this area.
* The production conditions influence the characteristics of a cheese dramatically.
To ensure the same high quality, the AOC-cheese will be produced
according to methods which are centuries old.
* Typical characteristics of a cheese such as size, rind,
consistency or minimum fat content take part in determining the taste
of a cheese and therefore must be kept in strict accordance.
* Production is subject to strict guidelines that must be followed
and are supervised by a control commission which represents the AOC.
By following these guidelines, AOC can be guaranteed by the state.
So for example, the Camembert of the Normandy can only be produced
in the area of Calvados, Eure, La Manche, Orne and Seine-Maritime.
The milk is not allowed to heat more than 37 degree centigrade,
and from the date of production,
the Camembert de Normandy matures for exactly 21 days,
16 of which days are from the place of production.
Its fat content has to be at least 45 percent fat in the dry mass ,
and it has to have a diameter from 10,5 to 11 centimeters.
The history of the controlled term of origin leads back to the 15th century.
A decree of the parliament from Toulouse
out of the year 1666 counts as the first legal text,
which is based on a specific cheese, the Roquefort.
On the basis of this regulation, the whole administration of justice developed,
which the AOC-cheeses are subject to today.
Laws from the years 1955 and 1973 determine
that the placing of an AOC-seal is only possible through regulation.
Since 1990 this is incumbent upon the INAO
(Institut National des Appellations d Origine -
National French Institute for Terms of Origin).
A similiar system is in place for each countries
in the EU.
Take care.
See you soon.
Kathleen