I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve. (Yes, Publix is the best we have
here, before we start the gourmet debate.) I asked the deli clerk what the
best melting Swiss cheese was because some I've gotten in the recent past
turned to oil and glob. She looked at me and said, "I don't know, I've
never melted cheese." Mouth agape, I questioned her response. "You mean to
tell me, you've never melted cheese and had the oil separate from the
solids?" There were 3 deli clerks at the counter and they were all looking
at ME like *I* was nuts.

"Okay", I explained, "I just need a good quality swiss cheese to make
fondue. Can you recommend one?"

"Fondue? Are you sure it's made with swiss? Don't you need a really,
really soft cheese for that?"

Again, it was my turn to be stunned. "Um, no, my family and I have been
making Swiss cheese fondue for years. I've just been having trouble finding
a decent cheese that doesn't separate. Can you recommend one?"

So, the clerk attending me buzzed another clerk, who promptly showed up and
the question was posed: "She's looking for a cheese for fondue. She's
asking about Swiss. Can you use Swiss for fondue?"

The man looked at me and said, "Swiss? We have packets already prepared for
fondue. I don't know what kind of cheese they are, but the stuff is all in
there." He scurried off to get the prepared food while I called after him,
"But, but, but, wait!"

If I wanted prepared food, would I be asking for cheese?

In any case, the clerk brought back two frozen packages of Velveeta-like
'fondue' cheese. Heat in the microwave. Granted, Velveeta may have it's
purposes, but in my opinion, fondue isn't one of them. I tried to explain
that that defeats the whole purpose of gathering together in front of the
pot, with cubes of bread, adding extra wine, if needed, etc. He just gave
me a blank stare and said, "You use bread with fondue?"

At that point, I sighed and said, "Just give me a pound of Boar's Head Royal
Swiss, please."

The attendant smiled and declared, "That one *is* the best!"

Duh! Isn't that what I was asking in the first place?

Sigh.

kili

kilikini wrote:
> I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve. (Yes, Publix is the best we have
> here, before we start the gourmet debate.) I asked the deli clerk what the
> best melting Swiss cheese was because some I've gotten in the recent past
> turned to oil and glob. She looked at me and said, "I don't know, I've
> never melted cheese." Mouth agape, I questioned her response. "You mean to
> tell me, you've never melted cheese and had the oil separate from the
> solids?" There were 3 deli clerks at the counter and they were all looking
> at ME like *I* was nuts.
>
> "Okay", I explained, "I just need a good quality swiss cheese to make
> fondue. Can you recommend one?"
>
> "Fondue? Are you sure it's made with swiss? Don't you need a really,
> really soft cheese for that?"
>
> Again, it was my turn to be stunned. "Um, no, my family and I have been
> making Swiss cheese fondue for years. I've just been having trouble finding
> a decent cheese that doesn't separate. Can you recommend one?"
>
> So, the clerk attending me buzzed another clerk, who promptly showed up and
> the question was posed: "She's looking for a cheese for fondue. She's
> asking about Swiss. Can you use Swiss for fondue?"
>
> The man looked at me and said, "Swiss? We have packets already prepared for
> fondue. I don't know what kind of cheese they are, but the stuff is all in
> there." He scurried off to get the prepared food while I called after him,
> "But, but, but, wait!"
>
> If I wanted prepared food, would I be asking for cheese?
>
> In any case, the clerk brought back two frozen packages of Velveeta-like
> 'fondue' cheese. Heat in the microwave. Granted, Velveeta may have it's
> purposes, but in my opinion, fondue isn't one of them. I tried to explain
> that that defeats the whole purpose of gathering together in front of the
> pot, with cubes of bread, adding extra wine, if needed, etc. He just gave
> me a blank stare and said, "You use bread with fondue?"
>
> At that point, I sighed and said, "Just give me a pound of Boar's Head Royal
> Swiss, please."
>
> The attendant smiled and declared, "That one *is* the best!"
>
> Duh! Isn't that what I was asking in the first place?
>
> Sigh.

I think a Jarlsberg is better

kilikini wrote:
> I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve. [snips]

> At that point, I sighed and said, "Just give me a pound of Boar's Head Royal
> Swiss, please."
>
That's a good brand, but what you're looking for is the right kind of
Swiss, the subspecies, so to speak. We've had very good results from
Emmenthaler, a Swiss cheese that melts well, mixed with Gruyere. -aem

In article >, kilikini1
@NOSPAMhotmail.com says...
> I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve. (Yes, Publix is the best we have
> here, before we start the gourmet debate.) I asked the deli clerk what the
> best melting Swiss cheese was because some I've gotten in the recent past
> turned to oil and glob. She looked at me and said, "I don't know, I've
> never melted cheese." Mouth agape, I questioned her response. "You mean to
> tell me, you've never melted cheese and had the oil separate from the
> solids?" There were 3 deli clerks at the counter and they were all looking
> at ME like *I* was nuts.
>
>

Welcome to minimum wage hell. But then, I don't think that is it. When I
was a kid I worked for NHD (National Hardgoods Distributors) in what was
ostensibly a hardware store.

I learned a great deal working in that store. That's why I'm not afraid
to do electrical, plumbing, painting etc. today. Of course NHD was a bit
progressive back in the early 80's - they actually trained employees.
Imagine that.

kilikini wrote:
> I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve.

>Horror story snipped>

Not long ago, I had this exchange with a young person working behind
the meat counter at what is generally considered to be a reasonably
good supermarket (Sun Harvest, for those in the neighborhood.) There
were chunks of pork in the case, but I didn't see any label on the
tray.

ME: How much is that pork shoulder?

YOUNG PERSON: It's not shoulder, sir, it's from the butt.

Tried to stifle a chuckle, but couldn't.

David

Sheldon wrote:

> I think a Jarlsberg is better
>
I like Emmenthal myself. Yet any off the shelf Swiss cheese works well
too. Publix near me has a nice selection of cheeses.

Goomba38 wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
>
> > I think a Jarlsberg is better
> >
> I like Emmenthal myself.

Emmenthal is good too, as is Gruyère. The thing is to choose a very
young cheese for melting, the aged versions are too dry and will form
strings, coagulate, or separate... plus quality aged table cheeses are
far too good to be melted as fondue or otherwise used for cooking.
Fondue developed as a way to use up left over cheese that typically
will contain a mixture of various cheese scraps melted with wine and
herbs... fondue has other culinary meanings as well.

That said I don't like fondue (equates with mystery meat burgers), if
I'm going to pig out on cheese I'd much rather ingest all those
calories from high quality unadulterated table cheeses properly
presented... it's pretty sad to melt a quality cheese, as sad as the
velveeta imbeciles who hack off the rind from $10-$20lb cheeses and
toss it in the trash, like the typical ignorant UKers who toss out
bread crusts, probably because they have such rotten teeth. Fondue is
okay if kept in perspective... fondue equates to my grapefruit juice
laced with crappy vodka.

Sheldon

Try . bread crumbs corn starch , powdered cashews ..
as last resort flour ( but gives raw flour flavor )
Must be powdered to absorb oil .....

also .....
. Egg yolks have lecithin , it emulsifies some

proteins ... look in your recipe books maybe they'll devulge

a secret about keeping cheese together with lecithin .

Emulsifying P' may lock in the oil ......






BTW
My interest is not recipes , but how stuff works , how to get
flavors ,
I found many people have the wrong idea about HFCS .

They think sweet is flavor . Its not , maltose is 20% as sweet

as Fructose , and everyone LOVES maltose .


Flavor is king .....

Thats why i dont touch vinegar , i sub citric acid ....
lemon juice .

I just read makin sourdough is :
mix flour with water pinch of sugar , wait 2 days .... Thats it !!!
No starter , no yeast , no anything !

In article >,
"kilikini" > wrote:

> At that point, I sighed and said, "Just give me a pound of Boar's Head Royal
> Swiss, please."
>
> The attendant smiled and declared, "That one *is* the best!"
>
> Duh! Isn't that what I was asking in the first place?
>
> Sigh.

I wish you had a central market where you are... :-)
I read stuff like this and I feel so blessed.

Thanks for sharing that!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article . com>,
"dtwright37" > wrote:

> kilikini wrote:
> > I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> > Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve.
>
> >Horror story snipped>
>
> Not long ago, I had this exchange with a young person working behind
> the meat counter at what is generally considered to be a reasonably
> good supermarket (Sun Harvest, for those in the neighborhood.) There
> were chunks of pork in the case, but I didn't see any label on the
> tray.
>
> ME: How much is that pork shoulder?
>
> YOUNG PERSON: It's not shoulder, sir, it's from the butt.
>
> Tried to stifle a chuckle, but couldn't.
>
> David

<cough>

That's a good one but it's amazing how many people make that mistake.

;-)

I recently had to explain about "pork butt" to my dad.

My mom taught me that stuff.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:38:50 -0500, "kilikini"
> wrote:
>At that point, I sighed and said, "Just give me a pound of Boar's Head Royal
>Swiss, please."
>
>The attendant smiled and declared, "That one *is* the best!"
>
>Duh! Isn't that what I was asking in the first place?
>
>Sigh.

:-)

Next time ask for the cheeses "by name". "Swiss" doesn't mean
anything, there are literally dozens of Swiss cheeses. The favorite
mixture for fondue where I live is half Gruyère and half Vacherin
Fribourgeois.

Nathalie in Switzerland

kilikini wrote:
> I went to Publix Market today to get a good quality cheese so I can make
> Swiss cheese fondue for Christmas Eve. (Yes, Publix is the best we have
> here, before we start the gourmet debate.) I asked the deli clerk what the
> best melting Swiss cheese was because some I've gotten in the recent past
> turned to oil and glob. She looked at me and said, "I don't know, I've
> never melted cheese." > kili

That is sad. But I sacked in a supermarket in the 50's when there was
only one
line of cheeses, Kraft. And the store received a huge wheel of cheddar
which a
dairyman cut with a wire device, wrapped and priced. Can't remember
how good
it was; I doubt it was a Tillamook or Cabot, certainly not English
farmhouse. The
point is that's all we had. So bring on the young clerks who don't
know what they're
stacking in the deli cases. I'll take my chances with the selection.

Sheldon said:

>as sad as the velveeta imbeciles who hack off the rind from $10-$20lb cheeses . . .

I just bought a pound of parigiano reggiano for my eggplant parmesan.
I don't care for the rind. I will sometimes throw it into pasta e
fagioli or escarole and beans, but other than that, I wouldn't know
what to do with it.

On 23 Dec 2006 08:42:46 -0800, wrote:

>I just bought a pound of parigiano reggiano for my eggplant parmesan.
>I don't care for the rind. I will sometimes throw it into pasta e
>fagioli or escarole and beans, but other than that, I wouldn't know
>what to do with it.

If you make a soup like minestrone put it in there.

Christine