Before the “Foodies”

There were people that loved to cook, share meals, explore combinations, recipes, and community that gathered, of course, around food

Would a Foodie know what this is, immediately, and from what region of Europe it originated? Prolly not, but if you were an OG Fontina nut you’d be like “oh yah, that’s the OG Fontina” (maybe it’s the mold injection into the wheel, but brown juice oozed out of it and something occurred to me that we talk a lot about in New England. Don’t import firewood! Maybe I’ll die tomorrow, or maybe it’s just a normal cheese goo thing customs is cool with. The Dutch didn’t mean to kill off the elm in North America…)

I’ve been referred to as a foodie (by those with simpler taste, I neither agree nor disagree, it’s a matter of perspective and need to label for a sense of comfort) but I was reading about mac&cheese, Italian style, three cheeses were mentioned that I knew little about.

Amazon can kiss my butt, eBay on the other hand, can fondle it gently while I give it my money!

The Fontina in question is purported to be the OG, and was an experience to work with. The variation in texture and smell based on location in the wheel, definitely convinced me it was alive! (it’s similar to Swiss, not hard and good melty, good flavor but not too dank.)

Grana Padano is practically a “Parmesan” cheese but not as hard, or salty. The Provola is a smoked semi-soft, somewhere between provolone and mozzarella. All of them cow milk, and in this/my case, from Italy.

I shared a wedge of the Fontina with my electrician helpers last weekend and needed to process the stuff. There are three 1:1:1 jars in the chest freezer and one in the fridge for the coming holiday experiment with Deedles. I’m eager to whoop up some serious M&C, I nibbled on the parts and my hands stink (the Fontina rind was getting funky, why do people put cheese in a body bag, IT AINT DEAD!!!)

Am I a Foodie? I ain’t no Foodist, but I love tinkering in the kitchen. I’m not even going to get into how I cooked the salmon and what an epic food moment it was, I guess unless you ask…