According to Food & Wines from France, cheese dates back to about 9000 B.C. when animals were first domesticated. Sumerians, Egyptians, Chaldeans and the ancient Greeks loved cheese. There is a story that Napoleon was so thrilled when he tasted his first Camembert that he jumped up and kissed the waitress. But we can go further than our Bries and Camemberts to find cheeses of great variety across the Mediterranean, which, in turn, add flavor and distinction to many dishes. These soft-ripened cheeses are of course integral in French gastronomy, but exploration will lead us to many as yet little-known but truly sumptuous cheeses all over the Mediterranean basin. Often cheeses are served as a separate course, as in France, but very often they serve as an appetizer, like tapas in Spain, or they can be integrated into savory sauces for pasta in Italy and Sicily.
Cheese-making, a rural undertaking, brings forth images of a rustic, pastoral, bucolic scene. Herbs drying from the rafters, coarse bread, thick stone walls that have lasted since the 12th century, combine with the aromas of the kitchen wafting through open windows, fields of tall grass dancing in the breeze, the lively chatter of the farmyard, the strong Mediterranean midday sun. The life of a shepherd is a solitary but peaceful one. You will find these herdsmen hidden among the craggy cliffs and olive groves and almond orchards, where the sun bears down on them, until the coolness of the night returns, and they may rest. In the crisp morning air, the jingle of sheep bells as the shepherd leads them to the fountain whets our appetite for the cheese they produce. Our journey will discover the cheeses of these three Mediterranean countries with oftentimes great historical similarities in the times of the ancient Greek and Roman Empires as well as the rugged individualism and distinctive cultural identities they possess today, particularly in the countryside where we will venture forth. Buon viaggio!
France
Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame?
The gastronomic innovation of the French is widely recognized, and one of the most important elements of the French meal is the cheese course, usually served toward the end. This depends on whether the extensive French meal should consist of six or seven or eight courses. Following the cheese course, one might be presented with fresh fruit, such as strawberries laced with Gran Marnier, and possibly dessert, a fresh fruit tart or sorbet in the summer months. On my last visit, Laurence Ruberte Gély of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence said to me, “Allison, j’ai acheté du fromage. Il faut aimer!” meaning in this case, “Allison, I bought a lot of cheese. You better like it!” Pas de problème!! My new discovery that time was Morbier, divided into its two layers, the morning and evening milkings separated by cinders.
One of the finest cheeses in France, Cantal, is a semi-hard cheese produced from cow’s milk in Auvergne, an agrarian region of central France where shepherds and their flocks roam the countryside. Food & Wines from France notes that Cantal was already a well-known cheese when Pliny the Elder spoke about it in ancient Rome. It is, in fact, thought to be France’s oldest cheese and one of the oldest in the world.
Toward the Swiss border, one will chance upon the wonderfully flavorful Emmenthal and Gruyère, a semi-hard cheese often used melted in fondue. Another welcome encounter of these cheeses in France is melted decadently into the tasty Croque Monsieur, a ham and cheese sandwich with a bit of béchamel or white cream sauce – with a French twist. That is, the bread is French toast. Sprinkled with a bit of black pepper, this innovation turns a sandwich into a delicacy. By adding a sunny-side-up egg on top — Croque Madame. Et voilà!
Croque Monsieur et Croque Madame!
(Per person)
For the béchamel, or white sauce:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon flour
- Salt
For the “French” toast batter:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the sandwich:
- 2 slices of bread
- 2 slices of ham
- 1 slice of Emmenthal or
- Gruyère cheese
- Ground black pepper
- (1 extra egg for Croque Madame)
Prepare béchamel or white sauce as follows. Place butter in skillet to melt at medium heat. Add milk and flour and a pinch of salt and stir. Allow to thicken into a white sauce and set aside. Assemble sandwiches with ham, cheese, ground pepper and béchamel, (white sauce). For Croque Madame, prepare sunny-side-up egg, and add to sandwich. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon of milk. Dip sandwich in egg mixture, coating evenly. Place sandwich in skillet and cook until golden brown and cheese melted. Enjoy!
Spain
Going Tapas!
The foremost cheese in Spain is the semi-hard Queso Manchego from the La Mancha region of Spain. Maybe even ‘the man’ himself ate this cheese. But even if Don Quixote was not so fortunate, we can savor the flavor of Queso Manchego, straight from Spain. Queso Manchego is often cut into cubes, lightly floured, optionally coated with egg and bread crumbs, and fried in Spanish olive oil, (Spain being one of the top producers of olive oil), and accompanied by coarse bread and a glass of Amontillado Sherry. Queso Manchego’s robust flavor lends itself to grating as well, or melting over dishes “au gratin.”
The lovely and talented Maria “Recipe” Repice simply likes to slice it into slender triangles accompanied by either sliced baguettes or the crunchy bread known as Picos Sevillanos, and leisurely enjoy it in the afternoon as a tapa, or appetizer, in the sun-drenched region of Andalucía in the south of Spain. This land is scattered with olive groves and sultry, undulating mountains that she views from her irresistible poolside outdoor kitchen decorated with Spanish ceramic tiles, where the family enjoys dining al fresco, shaded by a café-style umbrella on the patio — and where she gave me my first lessons in Andalucían cooking. No one has yet to equal her gazpacho. One day, she really must open her poolside cooking school. People will be lining up. There could be no more delightful chef — and no more spectacular setting. Ahh! So delight in the Andalucían ambience and delicious Iberian fare – a la casa de María!
In this picturesque region, the scent of orange blossoms fills the air in the springtime. Its whitewashed stucco villages with terra cotta roofs and geranium-filled flower boxes contrast starkly with the mysterious Moorish Alcazabas of Grenada, such as the Alhambra, with intricate mosaics, arabesques, and fountains, and the grandiose palaces of the conquistadores in Sevilla. It is tempting to follow in Washington Irving’s footsteps and visit the Alhambra, where he so vividly wrote his memoirs, (and adventures!) Just allow the romantic Spanish music to transport you to rhythms of the flamencos and serenatas of Sevilla. Or venture to the Basque region for my two favorite flavorful, salty Spanish cheeses — Catalonian goat’s milk Garrotxa, aged in caves, and the sheep’s milk Idiazabal, often paired with quince jam, from high up in the Pyrenees. ¡Sabrosísimos!
Italy
Appenine Appetite
Along the spine of the Appenine mountains of Italy, the sheep and goats graze in the fields and produce, with the help of the shepherds, some of the finest and most flavorful cheeses in the world. One of these cheeses is Auricchio Provolone, which is delicious with wine biscuits and a glass of Grignolino or Barbera from Piemonte. You might also try the sharp Italian Asiago cheese, which is delicious with freshly-baked Italian bread. Milder cheeses, such as Buffalo Mozzarella, or any fresh mozzarella, combine for a refreshing summer appetizer with fresh basil leaves and slices of vine-ripened Roma tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.
Perhaps my favorite cheese is the Sicilian Pecorino Siciliano Pepato, produced from sheep’s milk with peppercorns interspersed throughout in small villages all over Sicily. While participating on an archaeological excavation in Morgantina, Sicily, I made the acquaintance of Ines Scopazzo Tuttobene, daughter of a Sicilian shepherd, and I returned to live with them (and their sheep) the following summer in Aidone in Central Sicily. These sheep would produce the freshest Ricotta I have ever tasted. Eaten fresh as fresh can be and actually still warm, in its own whey, ricotta is served for breakfast (at 6:00 a.m.) with long, slender, crunchy, baton-like bread
called Toscanini, after the famed conductor.
Papa Filippo was proud of his cheese. The lines on the face of this shepherd drew his existence in the hot Sicilian sun, tending his flock for decades, and producing the quality of cheese that can only come from the experience of a lifetime. I became acutely aware of the value of this cheese, not only the reverence for its flavor and utility, but its true importance in Sicilian society. We would wield a very large wheel of this cheese into town in the morning, and we would return with bread and lettuce and crates of fresh peaches — just for me. In essence, in rural Sicily, cheese is currency.
This cheese is similar to Pecorino Romano, or the more commonly found Locatelli Romano. Hard salty cheeses of this type (including the milder cousin Parmiggiano or Parmesan from the Parma region or Grana Padano from Piemonte) can be incorporated into all kinds of sauces for pasta — Alfredo and other creamy cheese sauces (invent your own) and the famous northern Italian Pesto Genovese, from Genoa, where Christopher Columbus, (né Cristoforo Colombo) was really from. You will find a statue of him in this ancient port city.
Virtually all of these cheeses can be found at Whole Foods in Vienna or McLean. This purveyor of fine gourmet items boasts an impressive array of cheeses from around the world, and the staff is very helpful and knowledgeable. This market is a great place to begin your exploration, especially the bit basket where you can acquire small quantities so as to make your own discoveries. So smile – and say cheese!
