Artisanal Premium Cheese E-Newsletter
-02/06/08-

February Is Fondue Month!

Fondue is back big time, it's simple to make, elegant and fun to serve and delicious to consume whether you're hosting an intimate dinner (Valentine's day, hint, hint) for two or a downright party. We recommend cozying up to a delicious blue such as Fourme d'Ambert this time of year, and exploring your inner blues - in a good way! Need a little guidance…that's what we're here for. We've got fondue accessories, kits, recipes, cheeses and even a hands-on class All About Fondue! coming up so we can walk you through an evening of great fondues step by step!

Fourme d'Ambert

Blue de Laqueuille

Bleu De Basques

Stilton, Colston Bassett

All About Fondue February 26 6:30PM - 8:30PM With Waldemar Albrecht Roll up your sleeves and be ready to explore this versatile dish, as Waldemar Albrecht guides you through this hands-on making and tasting extravaganza of 4 different fondues, from classic Swiss, to luscious and sweet stilton fondue. Great wines will be at hand to make the experience all the more fulfilling and festive! Limited enrollment. All classes are held at the Artisanal Premium Cheese Center. Other Great Cheese Classes: Great Gifts of the Basques, Sexy Cheese!, Master Class Intensive, Cheese Basics, and The Robust Red Wines of Winter. Don't live in NYC but someone you love does? Classes make a wonderful Valentine's Day gift!

Fourme d'Ambert Fondue Recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients:
12 oz. Fourme d'Ambert, crumbled
2 Tblsp + 2 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic
1 cup white wine
2 tsp heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Rub the clove of garlic over the entire inside surface of a fondue pot or a 2-quart saucepan. Discard garlic. Add the white wine and bring to a boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, toss the Fourme d'Ambert with the cornstarch to combine. Once the wine has come to a boil slowly add the cheese and cornstarch, in batches, whisking constantly. Make sure each addition is completely melted and incorporated before adding the next addition. Once all of the Fourme d'Ambert has been added, cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Whisk in heavy cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve Fourme d'Ambert fondue with cubed bread, apple slices, boiled fingerling potatoes, beef tips or cornichons.

Wine Suggestions:
Red: Beaujolais/fruity Cote du Rhone
White: Macon/Gerwurstraminer

Valentine's Day Blues…we've got the cure!

Skip the flowers, chocolates AND the mind numbing task of coming up with the ''perfect gift'' this Valentine's Day…Artisanal has done it for you! We've got two great collections to choose from - both of which work wonderfully for her OR for HIM.

Valentine's Day Heart Box Collection
This box of love contains a sexy little trio of French cheeses, Chaource, Chabichou and Laquiole along with cracker thins and a delicate Tea Rose Jam. Planning to stay in this Valentine's Day and ''entertain'' at home – this collection can start you and yours on the road to love and /or double as the perfect late night snack.

Sweet Honey Blue
Artisanal says it's OK to give your honey the blues this Valentine's day…in fact we recommend it! This exquisite sheep's milk cheese is made in the Pyrenées mountains, a region of the French Basque country where the verdant hills of wildflowers and fresh grass infuse the milk with complexity, subtlety, and lightness. We've paired this bleu with a divine honey to balance it's savory earthiness.

Question: When my leftover cheese becomes moldy has it gone ''bad'' and should it be thrown out?
Find out in the next Artisanal e-newsletter!

Last Time We Asked: How does cheese have ''seasons''?

Answer: Cheeses have "seasons" and like wines, they can have vintages too. Many cheeses are not available at certain times of the year or they may be in some way superior at other times of the year. Nowadays many dairies purposely stagger the breeding of their animals to insure that there will be a steady and consistent milk supply. There are several reasons that might make this practice desirable but the primary ones would be to insure that there would be a steady income from the sale of fresh milk, or if it is a dairy farm that also produces cheese, that there would be fresh milk available with which to produce it.

By "consistent" we mean that the milk profile will change over the course of the lactation cycles, especially with regard to the butterfats and protein ratios. So, to keep those levels somewhat more constant, having the herd begin and end their individual cycles on a staggered basis will help to make those fluctuations more level.

However in many situations the staggering is not such a good idea. The lactation cycles would naturally tend to follow the growing seasons of the vegetation upon which the animals graze. If the cycles are skewed away from what would be "ideal" we would expect that the milk profile would be compromised and the finished cheese would have diminished or possibly undesirable flavors. After taking into consideration the length of time that a cheese must age to reach its optimal flavor and texture this would mean that some cheeses would be at their "peaks" in February while others would be prime other months of the year.

As for vintage, every dairy region will be affected by weather. The climate effects on dairy-farming should not be discounted. Additionally, cheese makers sometimes alter their recipes and methods of making. A new vat or other change in equipment can have a profound difference on the quality of a cheese. The variables that can alter the character of the more artisanal of cheeses are many.

By the way, the winter months we're in now are generally well-suited for some of the bolder-flavored cheeses, like most of the Blues for example.

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