Confessions of a Cheese Rebel

When I was relatively young, I took to ordering quarter pounders for lunch at a certain McDonald's drive through, because it was convenient and I could get right back to work. I would ask for a quarter pounder. The voice would always say, "Do you want cheese?" I would reply "I just want a quarter pounder." "But do you want cheese?" "I just want the quarter pounder." "Do you want cheese?" I absolutely refused to say it his way. He invariably put cheese on it. I don't think I was right in this situation, but he should have cut me some slack, since the customer is supposed to be always right.

Yep, the quarter pounder is the most confusingly named item on their menu and they are admitting it by having to ask about the cheese

A brief guide to American cheese.

Some think cheeses is the answer. Why? should be the question.

I was always curious as to why American cheese is yellow. Approaching orange, at times.

I like a good parmesan you grate yourself, for sauces and snacks, and brie as an addition to a fresh fig platter with grapes.

If I do have cheese on a beef burger, I want a full-flavoured cheddar, that I slice myself. I won't do those sliced cheeses of any description.

During the vegan days, I missed the cheese quite badly, so I found a seed cheese recipe, based on hulled sunflower seeds, liquified with a little water, then mixed with a measure of tamari shoyu (fermented soy), and drained and cured for a month in cheesecloth, left hanging in the shade.

Weird colour, but very tasty.

Who hasn't enjoyed a slice of cheddar on a peanut butter sandwich? Fried, ever so gently until the bread is a golden brown and both cheese and peanut butter start to ooze out...almost as divine as a butter and onion sandwich.

I would have to try that. Maybe with sliced banana under the PB.

I like parmesan, too, but for the daily use, a nuovo (lowest quality, only riped 12 months) is good enough for me.

And I like some of cheeses from the Cheese Rebels

For daily use, I like the grana padano Italian hard cheese.

Similar to parmesan, but not quite as pungent.

I recently did a thread on a study that concluded most American parmesan has lots of sawdust in it.

LOL. I only buy Italian parmesan.

We have some powdered stuff from Kraft foods on the shelves here.

It looks like sawdust. Smells like vomit.

In Europe (correctly: in the European Economic Area) , parmesan has to be a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

We have a store called Aldi (German origin) and they stock both Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano. The latter being slightly more expensive, but both come from Italian cheese makers.

Same here (the Australian Aldi is owned by the German "Aldi South" - we have "Aldi North" in my region, but they sell those two cheeses, too)

I really like that we get some brands from Europe that you don't find anywhere else in stores here. Love me some Aldi.

I frequent Asian specialty stores for the same reason. Something new.

I do just the opposite when scrambling eggs. I'll break the egg into the skillet, add a little salt and let it begin turning white before I break the yolk and mix it just a little bit, so that I have bits of yellow and bits of white, all slightly underdone.

...and all the stinky cheeses sounds awesome. I'll have to give the ginger beer a try.

My wife has a lot of stories about being forced to eat various foods as a child. (Her family was very poor and couldn't afford to waste food). She now loathes some very common foods because of those experiences. Do you think that's why you don't care for cheese?

My nearest store of that type is Lidl and our standard cheese is their own Roncero brand manchego.

A Spanish variety. Love to try it.

Some of our Tasmanian cheeses are to die for, but I'm not sure if they make it to European nations just yet.