Cheese is an absolutely miraculous
food. The varieties are endless; there
are probably more than 100 varieties of Cheddar cheese, alone. We eat it as an appetizer, dip, dessert,
topping, side-dish, and even as an entree, yet it seems to violate every rule
we hold true when it comes to food preparation!
I mean, you can’t even make
cheese unless you introduce a cocktail of bacteria into the mix. Things have to “curdle”, mold is encouraged
to breed in it, and sometimes it has to sit on a shelf in a dark closet for years
before it’s even considered “edible.” Yes,
we do some strange things to milk to make the finest cheese! Those rules don’t apply to other foods; I
found some Chinese rice in my refrigerator the other day that was only in there
for a couple of weeks. There was nothing
“edible” about it…
To some, the more “fragrant” a cheese
is; the better. To that end, there are
some cheeses out there that are so “funky” that the smell of ammonia and fungus
almost overwhelms you to the point of passing out! I took in the aroma of some cheese in Denmark
once that, quite honestly, reeked of old sweaty gym socks. I watched as a customer took a sample and
held it right to his nose. He inhaled
deeply, pondered the odor, smiled, and gratefully paid the cheese monger a
small fortune to take it home. To each
his own, I suppose.
I remember driving through the Ozark
Mountains of Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri sixteen long years ago as
I drove from Texas to Minneapolis.
Occasionally, I would see a sign on a local shop for “Hillbilly Cheese.” I didn’t think much about it at the time and
I don’t crave many cheese snacks in the middle of hot summer days. Recently though, I’ve seen “Hillbilly Cheese”
come up in some searching I’ve been doing regarding regional foods. It looks interesting!
I needed a few tips from some kin I have
who still live there in the Ozarks, but I found the recipe I was looking
for. Surprisingly enough, Hillbilly
cheese (more of a cheese spread than a “hard” cheese) is made with many of the
same steps as some fine aged French cheeses!
You start simply with a basic soft cheese that is very similar to fresh
Mozzarella. Then, just like the French,
you bury it in the soft earth in a controlled environment before introducing
some fine mold to the mix.
Here’s the twist, the “Controlled
environments” chosen by the Ozark Mountain folks are caves in the Ozarks that
are infested with bats! The bat guano
(bat poop) drops down to the earth from above, and the microbes, fungus, and
ammonia help to impart the required elements to the cheese that help break it
down and to give it more flavor and spread-ability.
The cheese sits, buried in the earth and
guano, for a period of five years before being harvested. The outside rind is then peeled away and what
you’re left with (as you can see in the picture) is a protein rich, fiercely
aromatic cheese that is dynamite on nachos, or melted down and used as a focal
dip for fresh vegetables in a fine fondue (or so I hear). Make no mistake, it has a strong
odor! The locals say that once you get
it in your mouth, let it melt a bit around your tongue, and feel the little
crunchy bits in the mix, that you’ll really enjoy it!
EXTRA: If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel,
hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a “Tweet” on his twitter account.
You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!
