"Cheese is at once a testament to the Creator's ingenuity in providing enzymes and bacteria that will do fearful and wonderful things for milk and to man's audacity in the face of some pretty forbidding stuff. The blander varieties, of course, are hardly more alarming than milk itself; but the farther reaches of the subject put even brave men to the test. There are cow's-milk cheeses that will convince you that someone has dragged the whole barnyard indoors, and goat's milk cheeses which taste as if the goat sat in them . . . The first man is of the earth, earthy. If I had only a single temporal blessing to wish you, I would not hesitate a moment: May you be spared long enough to know at least one long evening of old friends, dark bread, good wine, and strong cheese. If even exile be so full, what must not our fullness be?" (Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb, p. 148).
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Gorgonzola for Earth Dwellers!
"Cheese is at once a testament to the Creator's ingenuity in providing enzymes and bacteria that will do fearful and wonderful things for milk and to man's audacity in the face of some pretty forbidding stuff. The blander varieties, of course, are hardly more alarming than milk itself; but the farther reaches of the subject put even brave men to the test. There are cow's-milk cheeses that will convince you that someone has dragged the whole barnyard indoors, and goat's milk cheeses which taste as if the goat sat in them . . . The first man is of the earth, earthy. If I had only a single temporal blessing to wish you, I would not hesitate a moment: May you be spared long enough to know at least one long evening of old friends, dark bread, good wine, and strong cheese. If even exile be so full, what must not our fullness be?" (Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb, p. 148).
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5 comments:
Nice quote from Capon, Chris! We're studying his book, "Kingdom, Grace and Judgment" in our (Long's) small group. Makes for some lively discussion.
I can remember walking into a cheese seller in Calais, France, and being nearly knocked over by the smell! Alongside the piles and piles of hundreds of cheeses were crates of fresh eggs, local milk (unpasteurized, of course), and large tubs of fresh butter which could be scooped out and bought by weight. Selecting a few pungent morsels of cheese, their names I did not recognize and could not even pronounce, I then retreated to a nearby church yard to sample them with a fresh baguette. It is at once strange and wonderful, the very intense flavors! Some produced large smiles of delight, while others made me nearly gag and wonder why ANYONE would ever put such a thing in their mouth (the barnyard analogy was spot-on)! I highly recommend the adventure, but bring along something equally strong in flavor to wash it down with if you get one you can't handle!
-Jen
I love the blessing!
Hmmm. . . Is this now the "Blog at Brie!?"
-Jen
Cheese, glorious chees!
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