I sometimes, ok a lot of times, put my foot in it. I’m good at saying the wrong thing. I think I offended the cheese guy at our local grocery store yesterday. I was looking at the cheeses, most of them generic and mass produced, and he asked me if I was finding what I was looking for. I said yes though I lamented the fact it is so hard to find a large variety of cheeses. I mean go to Europe and they all have personality and variety. Of course he said we have lots of cheeses. I paused and said yes for America I suppose we do. He got huffy and said well we’re in America. Yes, yes we are. I quickly moved on.
I was able to find a few good cheeses for our PTA meeting of the officers to go with the wine we had. Had a lovely bottle of Cotes de Rhone. There were a few tomatoes in the garden ready to be picked so I grabbed a few with some basil to balance it all out. Pleased to say the meeting went well and the cheeses were left with huge dents! 🙂
Yeah…no point in expecting American dairy, meat and bread to meet European standards. I came back from England a changed woman–especially in the area of yogurt!
I don’t know if it’s the history of the various cheeses or if the regulation over here. This is a country built on immigrants who brought over their food but a lot of it lost it’s story along the way.
Such a good point!! I think Americans like fast and efficient and it is not fast or efficient to allow food to acquire flavor and beauty. :/
Which is such a shame!
Poor cheese guy! Looks like you found some good ones
To be fair the cheese guy also works in produce, the meat section, cashier. 🙂 I was able to find some good stuff though!
I guess it really does depend on where in America you live. My sis lives in a small central California town and we couldn’t find a brick of Manchego for the life of us! Here is Seattle we are very fortunate to have countless cheesemongers who pride themselves in their fine selections. Once you’ve come to love good cheese there is no going back! Your selection looks great. So well presented. 🙂
Thanks. Yes, if you live in a city that has connections for imports then you are in good shape. Unfortunately we don’t!
– Yes, I know the subject is on cheese… but it seems like whereever we go, they have some things and not the other. 🙁
– Your cheese platter sure looks good! 😛
Thanks! 🙂 I do think if more variety was available it would sell. Most people I know love cheese!
We have two pretty big cheese stores that are nearby. When relatives come here, we must always make a trip to the cheese store. I’m kind of glad it’s a little bit away or I would be there all the time!
That is the down side of being near good cheese. I’d eat it all.
Back when I used to live in Houston I was shocked that the selection of cheese and prosciutto was so limited. I have to say that grocery shopping is way more fun in Europe because we have a wider range of products available.
Oh don’t get me started on the lack of lovely smoked and/or cured meats! What I like about the European shopping is there is a lot more food that hasn’t been processed.
One of the lovely things about living in New England has been the rise of local cheese in the last decade or so…we have lots of small producers, and even here in Little Rhody, outlets where they can sell to the public without the customer having to trek to the farm. Smoked/cured meats are the latest addition to the mix…
It might not be France, but it’s a start!
I live in NE. :). We do have artisan cheeses. A couple are decent and coming along nicely. Hopefully that will continue!
Ugh. I live in a cheeseless town. Thank god for the Internet, and for fromages.com and Igourmet.com !
I’ll have to check out those websites. 🙂