# Lets learn about cheese **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240 "2002-10-28T13:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/41 "2002-10-29T21:28:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Yeah; rennet - so what? Do you know what they use to clarify beer? \*\* Okay, I’ll bite 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/42 "2002-10-29T23:20:05Z")
Isinglass; made from fish guts. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/43 "2002-10-29T23:22:16Z")
It’s something to do with fish, isn’t it? Yes, it’s [isinglass](http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/wine/index.ssf?DEF_ID=1504&ISWINE=T). Mmmm, fish bladder beer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/44 "2002-10-29T23:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*Re Halloumi: I’ve had it cooked (grilled?) and melted, and possibly cold/raw but I’m not sure, **mangetout** , and I just hate it hate it HATE it. > > What is it made from? Why do I find it so nasty? > > There’s something mildly sweetly sickly off-milkly cloying about it or something. \*\* It’s made from a blend of milks from any or all of Buffalo, sheep, goat and cow; I love the stuff, but it is a rather strange raw, but cooked I love it (it makes a squeaky shound against your teeth when you chew it). I have no idea why you don’t like it - everybody is different I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/45 "2002-10-30T04:27:17Z")
Huerta, if you slice it paper thin and pile it on well-buttered Wasabread, Gjetost is very tasty. My Swedish pal’s mom eats it for breakfast like that, along with toothpaste tubes of blue cheese and fish eggs. Skip the blue cheese and fish eggs and stick with the Gjetost. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/46 "2002-10-30T06:18:30Z")
Well, I’m a big fan of **St. André**. It’s a triple-creme cheese with approximately 80% butterfat. Yes, it’s _really_ bad for you, but then again, isn’t all cheese? Almost the consistency of butter, it’s unbelievable when spread on hunks of French bread. My favorite cheese (barely) is Stilton, but that’s already been mentioned. Suffice to say, they don’t call it “the king of cheeses” for nothing. Mmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/47 "2002-10-30T07:06:41Z")
Mmmm…[taleggio](http://www.allrecipes.com/encyc/terms/T/8822.asp). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/48 "2002-10-30T09:13:02Z")
I adore Halloumi. The thing about it is, it doesn’t melt - so maybe it wasn’t melted halloumi you had, **istara**. In Cyprus they serve it in a toasted panini with picallilli. Divine. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/49 "2002-10-30T09:19:29Z")
I’m not sure how widely available it is, but there’s a soft blue cheese called Castello (a completely inadequate comaprison to brie with blue veins could be made); split a fresh croissant, lay on a slice or two of Castello and gently toast it under the grill… mmmmm! ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/50 "2002-10-30T10:45:06Z")
Well it wasn’t melted, sorta warm and soft and wobbly. But not wobbly like jelly. Grilled in fact. One time I woke in the middle of the night _craving_ cheese and crackers. The oddest thing, because I’ve never had much of a savoury tooth, let alone for salty things. (And no, I wasn’t pregnant!) The next morning I bought whole packet of crackers and some Jarlsberg on my way to work, and at the whole lot in the office. It was heaven. I’ve never had the same craving before or since. Most weird. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/51 "2002-10-30T11:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*My kidneys seem to do a decent job of clarifying beer :), but you don’t often see it on the vegetarians’ banned list do you? I recall reading an article in which someone was talking to an Inuit man and expressing disgust at the idea of eating seal blubber. The guy’s response was along the lines of “well, what d’they make cheese out of?” and he had a point. \*\* Well there is vegetarian “rennet” … Isinglass is used in the production of beer, but isn’t in the final product. AFAIK, the active ingredient in rennet is an enzyme used to curdle the milk. The actual calves’ stomachs aren’t added, so I guess it depends on your reasons for being veggie. Given my choice of cheese right now, I’d go for [Dorset Blue Vinney](http://www.foodloversbritain.com/organisations/organisation-435.html). A medium fat blue cheese that’s less sharp than Stilton. A good blue for first timers, I think. [www.cheese.com](http://www.cheese.com/) has plenty of info about cheese, with useful categories. Plenty there I’d neve heard of. Mare’s milk cheese, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/52 "2002-10-30T13:04:42Z")
Personally, I like Stilton, Halloumi, and Havarti… don’t go much for Gjetost, though - too pungent for my taste. I’ve got a fondness for Cheshire (semi-hard cheese with a lovely crumbly texture) and Shropshire Blue (same rind and veins as Stilton, but much redder in colour, with a milder flavour). And I’m not going to worry too much about the holes in Emmental, while I can still get Jarlsberg - similar texture, but I think it tastes better. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/53 "2002-10-30T14:45:29Z")
For this you must come to Wisconsin. You must go to a local cheese factory. You will get cheese curds straight out of the tank. There is nothing like it. You must chow it down in the parking lot (an easy task), because once you take it hours and miles away, it’s just… cheese. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Isinglass; made from fish guts. \*\* Oh, and beer can be also be clarified with Irish moss (seaweedy type stuff), Bentonite (a type of clay), or Gelatin (from cow hooves). Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240/54 "2002-10-30T17:16:43Z")
Thanks. Not only am I starving right now but due to this thread I forsee myself stopping at the store on the way home (not for another 5 hours–sob!) and bankrupting myself buying cheese. I love cheese. It should be a food group all its own. Since I’ve been on a leek kick lately, I made a leek tart the other day with leeks, heavy cream, and shredded Gruyere. Good Lord. I highly recommend trying it. I also make a dip with artichoke, spinach, garlic (lots of garlic) Gruyere, and a little Swiss and serve warm with toasted baguette slices or tortilla chips. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-learn-about-cheese/134240.md?page=2)