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Ron
Wood of Rolling Stones fame
was waving his slender Armani
clad arms in the air to get
my attention. I dashed over
to see what I could do and leaned
down to inquire. Mr. Wood held
up a butter knife laden with
some softening English Stilton
and said in a thick English
accent, "Hey Mate…ya
think ya can spot me some crack-ers?"
His fellow guests, Charlie Watts
and their respective wives looked
at me with equally imploring
eyes. "You bet", I
said, "on the way!"
The
Cheese trolley or cheese cart
has been getting more mileage
on its very own "Steel
Wheels Tour" in American
restaurants more than ever before.
By some estimation the number
of artisanal cheese-makers in
the United States has grown
to over 300 since the early
1990's. If American wines are
any indicator, this is going
to seem like a drop in the milk
bucket in another ten years.
Subject to the elements of time,
terroir, craftsmanship and passion,
the transformation from milk
to cheese should be no different
than that of grape juice to
vino. Most importantly, the
veil has been lifted…and
this one is made of cheesecloth.
Many Americans are no longer
willing to settle for the same
old mass produced European Swiss,
Munster, Brie, and Cheddar that
hoodwinked us back in the whiskey
'a go go' 1950's and '60's,
along with mediocre Chablis,
Burgundy and Champagne.
Time
and truth have come together
in delicious new ways. I was
cooking with my friend Charlie
Trotter in Chicago not too long
ago, along with a host of visiting
chefs. After our duties were
fulfilled, wine glasses and
giant platters of cheese appeared
to bridge the gap created by
12 hours of continuous prep
and cooking. The talk led to
who was buying what cheese from
whom. Small producers from out
of the way places were scribbled
on torn scraps of menu paper.
Within a week surprised cheese
makers were getting calls from
chefs they'd only read about.
When
I offered some of this fine
American cheese to the Stones,
they smiled and dug back into
the English Stilton. Old habits
die hard.
I'm
Norman Van Aken and that's my
"Word on Food".
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