Roses are red, Roquefort is blue; Serve me this cheese, And I'll always be true.
Who said a gourmet wasn't sentimental? It was great news when the first shipment of Roquefort cheese since 1940, a total of 500,000 pounds, came from France in December, and now a second shipment of 300,000 pounds is scheduled for arrival this month.
Roquefort-making was continued right through the war, hitting lowest production in 1945 at 55 per cent of normal. This year the makers expect to produce 13,500,000 pounds, or about 60 per cent of their prewar output.
Laws protect the name Roquefort. Only the cheese which is matured in the caves of Mount Combalou, above the little town of Roquefort, can wear the red sheep label and bear the Roquefort title. All other cheeses of similar appearance and flavor must find names for themselves. Italy's Gorgonzola, England's Stilton, the Danish and American blues are Roquefort types, that is, all are produced by the ripening action of penicillium mold which manifests itself in the blue-green veining throughout the body of the cheese. They all have that certain sharpness of flavor. But these are not Roqueforts, they haven't been cured in the Roquefort caves. One other difference, they are made of cow's milk; Roquefort is cheese from the milk of the ewe.
The Roquefort country of Aveyron is composed of some 200 square miles where 15,000 farmers raise sheep bred especially for their milk. The raw product is sold to twenty-two producers who own the Roquefort caves, which were formed centuries ago when one side of the mountain collapsed into a tunneled mass of stone. Winds sweep the passageways, the warm moist winds of the Mediterranean blow in at evening, the cold winds of the north chase them back in the morning. This everchanging temperature during the curing is said to give the cheese its inimitable flavor.
In New York City Roquefort is selling at Charles and Company, 340 Madison Avenue, Reuben's, 212 West 57th Street, and Alan Berry, Ltd., 676 Madison Avenue.
Imported olive oil is easier to find, and one to admire is the Spanish oil imported by Victori's, 164 Pearl Street, selling for ＄10.75 a gallon when shipped out of town or ＄10 over the counter.
Other imports on the Victori shelves are the manzanilla olives stuffed with anchovies. The Turron is there, left over from Christmas. Of two types of these Spanish nougats available, one is called the Alicante made with egg white, honey, and almonds, the nuts broken into large pieces. The other is the Jijona in which the egg white is mixed with blended, toasted ground almonds, a product which crumbles easily and is slightly greasy to the touch as the toasting expels a part of the oil of the nut.
Guinea broilers, the White African, can be ordered freshly killed and dressed, shipped direct to your kitchen from Shadowbrook Farm, located high in the Berkshires outside Williamstown, Massachusetts. The birds weigh two to two and one fourth pounds, so young that even the legs are tender, one bird serving two. These broilers are handpicked, aged five days in a cooling chamber; then the backbone is removed and the final dressing touch added. Two strips of salt pork are laid over the bird's breast to provide the rich fat which guineas lack. The giblets are cleaned and wrapped separately and tucked into the cavity. Private New York City clubs have been receiving these broilers for several seasons now. This year, with the flock increased, the business is extended to include mail orders for home kitchens. A small folder of recipes accompanies the dressed birds, telling how to prepare them in various ways with directions for sauces.
Pinterest
