Source: Wikimedia
So there I am buying lunch in the supermarket. Already in my trolley are the makings of a delicious endive and avocado salad (my current salad favourite du jour), and a fabulous loaf of crusty artisanal bread.
All I need is a triangle of ripe smells-like-old socks, oozing, melt -in-the-mouth, profoundly savoury unpasteurised Brie de Meaux. Instead all there is the fat, flabby, bland and tasteless pasteurised stuff, which is as much like the real thing as Anna Nicole Smith was to Marilyn Monroe.
What sort of crazy country is this where any kid can play with guns, but you can’t buy unpasteurised cheese for love nor money? And how sorry do I feel for Americans who have to go to Europe to be able to taste proper Brie? And just how sorry am I feeling for myself at the moment? Because this craving just isn’t going away.
There was actually a fascinating article on the underground unpasteurized movement. It was written with a focus on the northeast and how buyers in Brooklyn and around NYC have a secret network of bringing in products by local dairy farmers & distributing them via word of mouth & email. Apparently it’s illegal to sell/distribute unpasteurized products over state lines, hence the secrecy.
I wonder if this is why I don’t like cheese?
Oooooooh, I didn’t know there was an underground unpasteurized network! Can anyone who knows how I can get hold of unpasteurised Brie contact me via email *taps nose*? (If you never hear from me again – it’s because Internet access is limited in Guantanamo Bay).
Ambika, if you don’t like ANY cheese that’s probably not the reason. Most hard cheese is pasteurised and you can get a pretty good selection over here.