Welcome to the blog for Colgate University's interdisciplinary course on food. This is the place to keep up with what students in the course are experiencing in their work at Common Thread Community Farm and through their everyday encounters with food.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

What’s Cheese That’s Not Yours? Nacho Cheese

As random as it sounds, for my final blog post of the semester, I thought it would be fitting to talk about something I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts–my love for cheese. I love almost all types of cheese and when asked what my favorite food is, I’ll respond by saying “anything with cheese”. In spite of the not so pleasant smell as I walk past the cheese section in the supermarket, cheese tastes delicious and I believe a meal is not complete if there is not cheese. For example, I would not eat French Onion Soup if there were not cheese melted as a layer on top of the soup. I eat eggplant parmesans particularly because of the parmesan cheese that is on the top. With that being said, there is a wide variety of cheeses and each type seems to go well with a certain type of food or compliment certain foods that are prepared in particular ways. For instance, I believe cheddar cheese goes well in a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, as small cube-like chunks served with crackers served as h’orderves, and in macaroni and cheese. I suppose it depends on one’s acquired tastes and personal preferences, but these descriptions include the different ways I normally eat cheese. Personally, I became aware of different types of cheeses at different points in my lifetime–for example, I did not try provolone cheese until around the sixth grade and now I love to eat provolone. This brings me to provolone, which I love to eat on sandwiches and have always been fascinated with its circular shape.
One of my favorite types of cheese is mozzarella, which I love to eat in Mozzarella Sticks, with tomatoes served as an appetizer, or in a tomato, basil panini. I will eat fresh mozzarella in salads, with olives on New Year's Eve, or simply by itself. I am the type of person who would eat cheese by itself. I remember when I was young and naive I cut up sharp cheddar and heated it up in the microwave trying to make a “nacho” type of cheese and ended up burning my hand by the end. However, to this day, I do not regret my decision because it tasted terrific with some chips I had in the cabinet. Another one of my favorite cheeses is champagne cheese, which I first bought from Wegmans for a New Year's celebration and I ate it that evening with grapes and was pleasantly surprised at its wonderful taste. Then there is bleu cheese, which took me awhile to get used to. However, now I like to use it as salad dressing occasionally and use it in its traditional form–with hot wings. I have had cheese in many forms and prepared in various manners. I have had sharp jack cheese to add a “spicy kick” sensation, I have had melted cheese on pizza, in macaroni, on mozzarella sticks, in nachos, and many other forms. I have even had four cheese macaroni as well as pizza, which evidently incorporates a lot of cheeses. I have had brie cheese as well, which has taken me some time to get used to. Although I love most cheeses, there are cheeses that are not necessarily appealing to me. These include cottage cheese, feta cheese, ricotta cheese (which I usually would eat if it were in lasagna), the cream cheese often used on red velvet cupcakes (although I like cream cheese on bagels), and cheesecake. I could go on and on about different types of cheese, but there are cheese that I hope to try in the future such as gouda, asiago, and gorgonzola cheese.

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