Say 'fromage'!!

Warning: this - is a posting on this type of 'food prepared from the pressed curd of milk, often seasoned and aged' (dry dictionary definition. My words would be more along the lines of:
'the best thing ever created by man since the beginning of times, so good in fact that it might be the only and ultimate evidence that there is a good-natured supreme being above us. And she is female'. But then again I am not paid to write entries in the American Heritage® Dictionary, or any other one for that matter...).

So....beware if you are lactose intolerant. Or if the faint stinkiness of aged cheddar is already too much to handle for you and make you faint in your slippers.

When I step back from my life and think a bit about what-the-hell-I-want-to-do-when-I-grow-up (which roughly happens 5.43 times a week), or when I am so jaded by our capitalistic society which merciless crushes every single one of us with the high heels of its Manolo Blahnik red patent leather stilettos (yeah, I fancy it as a bitchy high maintenance fashion victim) I jokingly say that I want to retreat somewhere wild and beautiful, herd goats and sheep and make cheese out of their milk.
Woodstock without the beads and the bell-bottom jeans.

And I have to say that, most often than not, it sounds damn tempting. And interesting. Appetizing. Drool-inducing. And probably too much to handle for someone who is on a good pace to lose a fraction of the pounds she gained over the last 3 years of couple food debauchery.
(The cover of the RedEye read a few months ago read: "My boyfriend makes me fat". I wanted to kiss that girl for sharing my misery.)

Truth is - I absolutely adore cheese. All of them. At all temperatures, with anything, any day of the year, any meal of the day. It took me a little while to become an addict but once I started there was no going back. I even learned to master - at the venerable age of 8 - the redoubtable Munster of my home region (which has nothing to do with its American homophone) by eating it while plugging my nose.
Patented technique that I would recommend to anyone planning a trip to the Vosges region in Northeastern France.

Anyway - cheese has been the longest love story of my life. Well - with chocolate and pasta. Imagine the desolation that washed over me the first time I stopped in front of the cheese aisle in a supermarket lost in the middle of the Connecticut forest. Big Y, Mansfield Road. My heart must have skipped a few beats, and color leave my face.
And I probably lost a few ounces of Frenchness.

"How can one rule a country that counts more than 360 cheeses?" the General de Gaulle supposedly said one day. I don't know, and I don't really care either. I just know that I was damn lucky to be born there, and have the privilege to discover one after the other. Comte, Morbier, Mont d'Or, Raclette, Gruyere, Emmenthal, Camembert, Pont L'Eveque, Epoisses, Bleu d'Auvergne, Livarot, Puant de Lille, Roquefort, Port-Salut, Crottin de Chavignolles, Cantal, Boursault and even the Babybel from my childhood....the days before I became serious....you know....blandness was all I could muster as a baby. I didn't come out of my crib armed with a piece of Stilton. Oh - and Reblochon!! How can I forget it!
The variety makes your head spin.

Again it's only over time - and once I started living in the US - that I expended my horizons. What need would I have had to explore over fields and turfs when my local cows, ewes and kids' moms were giving me all I needed, and even more? Here - I learned all about talaggio, manchego, Garrotxa, Gorgonzola, Humboldt Fog, Monterey and the Wisconsin producers. And to my chauvinistic surprise, I liked what I saw, smelled and tasted. I occasionally splurge on some big chunks of milky bacteria from home, for sure, but most of the time I am happy to trust a cheery (cheeky?!) cheese-monger and let him/her guide me through more wonders. I dream of a day where the FDA (no bird names here, I am trying to make friends) will lift its (umm, stupid, retarded and senseless, umm) ban on raw unpasteurized milk cheeses (under 60 days) because, guys, that IS the real deal. Since it has been in effect since 1949, I don't think it's going to happen tomorrow. But honestly. If you have ever tasted a raw milk brie, you know what I mean. This angel-breath you find in most supermarkets has nothing, NOTHING to do with it.
Sigh.

Want to see something incredible?!?!? Check out the cheese TABLE put up by Cibo Matto the latest Yelp Chicago Elite Event: now isn't that totally nuts?!
There was a stinky cheese on there that nobody liked but me...hehehe.... Kudos to the incredible team of the Wit Hotel and the Yelp CMs of Chicagoland!!!

If you are generally interested in cheese:
- this is a good start to know more about it: www.cheese.com/
- but be sure to also have a look at: http://www.cheesesociety.org/

If you live in Chicago and want to really experience cheese in all its glory, check out this places:
- http://zhmarketcafe.com
Located on 47th street this is a GEM. Sam, one of the owner, is simply wonderful and Alex, who works the cheese station more often that not, is a walking encyclopedia. They don't hesitate to make you taste everything, and the prices are good. GO.

- http://www.pastoralartisan.com
With three locations these guys know their cheese, and know them well. They are passionate with food and offer classes (around $45) to help you explore this fantastic universe. You can also buy their products on-line. Doesn't get any better than that.

- restaurants/bars that have a good cheese program and to which I like to give my business:
Rootstock, Bin 36, Bluebird, Eno and in Oak Park, IL, Marion Street Cheese Market.
Don't hesitate to add yours!!!