cheese diary
a comment reminded me about my cheese diary and I think I should post about it because it is a really great thing to have and I think some of you might want to start one after you read more about it. it is not a joke and this is not a novelty post because I take my cheese diary very seriously.
it is pretty simple actually. get a classy book. mine is actually not that sweet, it is just a black hardcover notebook, but it is okay for now. mila drew a picture of a mouse and some cheese on the cover so it is at least personalized. if I were to do it again I would probably go for something in leather. now I understand that you might want to go for an exotic leather because cheese is that exciting, but do not go crazy and get python or something because you will have your cheese diary for ever and you need durability here.
now you need to create some sections in your book. I have two. the first is cheeses I would like to try. if someone tells me about a sweet cheese I will write it here. but sometimes people tell me about a sweet cheese and I do not write it here, because that sweet cheese is smoked marbled cheddar or something equally nauseating. the second section is cheeses I have tasted. here you will record the date of the tasting, some basic cheese facts, and your tasting notes. also you should rate the cheese. it took me a while to come up with a rating system but I am very happy with my system now and I would very much recommend it. it is the basic 3 star michelin system. 0 stars is "would not enjoy eating"; 1 star is "would eat if available"; 2 stars is "enjoyable. would buy"; and for the best of the best, 3 stars is "delicious. worth a journey to buy". as a matter of policy I will not award 3 stars on an initial tasting. one has to be conservative with the 3 star cheeses. I find this system provides enough scores for me to choose from while maintaining a tangible difference between the various scores.
for example:
toscanello (0 stars)
tasted july 16, 2005
sheep's milk, firm, italy
dull, muted taste. oily yet dry. inoffensive but unexciting.
if you have any questions about cheese diaries please ask me. also I just realize I ate some cheeses in may that I meant to record but I forgot. that is too bad. I cannot go make entries now because I forget the tasting experience and my scores and tasting notes would be inaccurate. do not taint your cheese diary with unscrupulous entries, you will only regret it. for instance, do not score any cheeses before they are released on the market. that is a killer michelin joke by the way. french michelin once awarded stars to a restaurant that was not even open when the guide was published because the chef bribed them or something. EXTRA FUNNY BECAUSE I EXPLAINED THE JOKE!
9 comments:
I hate cheese. This is not a joke.
-Anonymous Cheese Hater
An excellent post! In my less successful (because it is less frequently updated) wine diary the rating system is also three stars, but the explanations are as follows:
0 - Would not drink again, unless paid to do so.
1 - Unexceptional. Would serve to guests for whom I have little respect.
2 - A good wine, even great. Would travel some distance to procure and drink again.
3 - An exceptional blockbuster. Would break laws or customs regulations to import.
Unfortunately, I started out rating wines on a more traditional wine-rating scale a la Parker (80-100, etc.) but got wound up by its asininity. What really distinguishes an 87 from an 88? I have no idea. I had to go back and rerate my wines but I felt cheap doing so, as I did not remember the qualities of all of them. I'm thinking of starting from scratch.
Anyhow, this reply wasn't supposed to be about me but about your cheese rating system. It sounds like from your example that 0 stars can be awarded to a cheese that is okay but completely unexceptional. Whereas in my system 0 goes to a wine that is downright unpleasant. What happens to cheeses that are decidedly subpar? (I'm not talking about the white zin of cheeses here, simply the Europlonk of cheeses or other similar...)
Please advise.
ah, see, you are getting caught up in the robert parker style over differentiation. there is no need to differentiate between a completely unremarkable cheese and a cheese that is downright unpleasant, for my 0 star rating clearly states I would buy neither. you really need to focus on the practical meaning of each rating when creating a system.
Aldous are you posting from work again?
Simon:
I was wondering if your cheese diary included "cheese products"? Because, if it does, I would suggest adding Boursin of the Garlic and Herb variety to your list. It is fabulous!
Also, I might have an inkling into who the anonymous cheese hater is...and I would like to clarify that she isn't a complete hater as she eats cheese on nachos and pizza.
what is with this string of anonymity?
p.s. mila is craving boursin
p.p.s. simon enjoys it but no, it does not qualify for my cheese diary. sorry.
Now Simon,
Seeing as you lack the ability to capitalize or punctuate properly throughout your postings, let alone indent, I fear you might not have the requisite verbal skills for properly describing cheeses. One must remember that even the most effusive of verbal subtleties cannot but be a shadow to the fine flavours of that mould of the gods that is a properly aged cheese.
Furthermore, your sample entry is disturbingly glib. Toscanello, yes, but where was it skimmed, and more importantly, where was it aged? In the hills of Grosetto, where the stiff april winds tend to lend the product a certain sprezzatura, or closer to Maremma, where the nearby sea spray adds a salty touch? What is the producer's cognomen, and, above all, do you know him personally or not? All such things will taint the gustatory verdict.
You might also want to note the geographic circumstances of your tasting, remaining aware of the fact that location can either heighten or worsen your tasting experience. Sampling some Saint Nectaire in St. Nectaire, Gruyère in Gruyères, or Brie in Brie, I can attest, adds a certain je sais quoi to the tasting, transforming it from merely routine to marvelously ritual.
In closing, I urge you to reconsider the Toscanello. Giuseppe, an ancestral artichoke farmer from Anciano, once has me sample a decidedly choice morsel of the cheese when I stumbled upon his homestead whilst searching for a lost Simone Martini among the vineyards in the lower Chianti. He had aged the cheese from easter sunday to the feast of San Giovanni Battista in his tufa cellar that was constructed by an ancestor of his upon returning from the fourth crusade. I highly recommend the experience.
Distinti Saluti,
Nick Sfumato
don't you have your own blog to write?
Just to jump on the bandwagon (and I'm picturing this wagon built with wheels of cheese), have you tried saint andre? Its delicious...
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