Ambiguous Food

[azurelunatic]

thette -- given Hugo, you may want to give this entry a skip.

In the depths of my refrigerator, left over from at least February or even times before that, sat a large (unopened) plastic-wrapped block of medium cheddar cheese. I hauled it out today (well, Monday, but that counts as "today" because I haven't yet slept) and took a look at it.

There were no funny spots. The thing looked just the same plastic-yellow color, and I determined that well, it's cheese. And unless cheese starts hosting alien life-forms or dessicating beyond repair, given that it's been sitting in well-supervised cooling...

So I tried it.

Evidently, well-packaged, well-preserved medium cheddar cheese turns into extra-sharp cheddar after it's passed its sell-by date by a good five months.

My inner cheese fiend has been having a field day, and secretly plotting to hoard packages of unopened cheese at the bottom of the refrigerator. If I still had roommates, at some point I would have naturally been questioned on the topic of why, and I would have had to have affected an innocent face and answered, "I'm sharpening them!" (The innocent face when I'm saying something perfectly outrageous is one of my special talents.)

Comments

[kokuten.livejournal.com]

"I'm sharpening it!" would draw a manic grin and some cackling from me. Innocent and sharpening are NOT two great tastes.

[azurelunatic]

My innocent look frightens people. And it helps the puns sneak up a little better.

[sraun]

Well, that is the basic process that it goes through 'at the factory'. Makes perfect sense to me!

I've had a 10-year aged sharp cheddar. Wonderful stuff!

[azurelunatic]

Ooooo! Now I may have to start buying little packets of cheddar and leaving them. Though I doubt I'll get ten years out of them. But "leave it and forget about it" food preparation is something I've gotten very good at.

[thette.livejournal.com]

I can eat pasteurised cheese. Mmm... Cheese...

There are people who buy the most bland of Swedish cheeses and let it sharpen for a year. I hear it's high quality cheese afterwards.

[azurelunatic]

Mmmm.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Unopened, properly sealed cheddar can last for years in the fridge. Some cheeses I've found always dry out or mold no matter how well they /look/ like they're sealed - I've found that parmesan doesn't keep well at all beyond around a month, ditto many of the soft cheeses - but cheddar does just fine.

[azurelunatic]

... the voices in my head told me to stay home sharpening my cheese?

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

yumyumyumyum. I always use extra-sharp cheddar for a grilled cheese sandwich, with worcestershire. And in scrambled eggs, and ....

[azurelunatic]

I do my grilled cheese on sour rye, with the sharpest cheddar I can find, and a tomato sliced on top of that, with dill. Mmmm.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Also yum!

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

What brand, if you don't mind my asking? I adore extra-sharp cheddar cheese, but most places around here carry sharp at best.

[azurelunatic]

I tossed the wrapper, but I think it was Land O'Lakes, and originally Medium. But a good five months past the theoretical expiration date changed that!

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

*Figures out how to hide the cheese* I wonder if it has to be refrigerated.

[azurelunatic]

I refrigerated mine. I'd suspect that if you bought it refrigerated, it should stay refrigerated. And it was more of a passive "Oh, did I have cheese?" thing than deliberate. This time. Next time, I think I'll do it on purpose.

[kdorian.livejournal.com]

I might experiment. Two cheeses, one left out and one refrigerated... of course, it'll be months before I get an answer, but that's OK. It takes anywhere from 3 months to a year to make my cordials, and my usual response is to wonder why I made so little. :p