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General De Gaulle
once quipped that it was difficult, if not impossible, to govern a country where
there were over 360 different kinds of cheese, but in the end, he succeeded…
continue
…In Italy, where there are over 500 varieties of cheese, no one has yet
succeeded.
Whenever someone comments that Chinese cooking is the richest and most refined
in the world, everyone, myself included, usually nods in agreement. However,
a little devil inevitably whispers in my ear: and what about cheese, and what
about cheese? Excellent question.
Cheese, one of the national glories of Italy, was for many years kept in a
sort of limbo (the result of which was ultimately positive) and not highly
considered, with the exception of the great ones, parmesan, fontina, pecorino,
etc. In recent years, however, there has been a reawakening, both in private
homes and in restaurants. The hundreds of villages of Regional Italy have
realized that they possessed a treasure; cheese.
In the wake of that recovered tradition, there exists no city, village or
hamlet which does not boast of its own DOC production (inevitably of ancient
and noble origin), cult object for ever increasing numbers and celebrated
in endless television transmissions and as many cooking columns in newspapers
and magazines (not to mention the books).
Rediscovering an ancient cheese has become the easy road to fame for isolated
places, but has also revealed how much there is still to be discovered in
Italy, and how often the capacity to promote these treasures is lacking. Italy
is famous for the creative capacity of shepherds and cheese producers who
have always served small communities used to a given product, and who were
and are compelled to continue producing top quality.
Some great cheeses, still unknown internationally (often, even in Italy),
will be among some of the first proposals of Eat Eat Hurrah's basketful of
specialties. Therefore, you will pardon our reluctance for the moment to reveal
too many names and details. We shall begin, instead, by getting used to cooking
with cheese. It will probably be surprising for the beginner and a source
of new "creations" for the more expert cook.
