Yearly Archives: 2008

Fromager des Clarines

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a hunk of fromage des clarines

Wedges of Fromage des Clarines

We all took it easy today, laying around in one form or another.  Matthew went into San Francisco for his Dignity service and we ate leftover pulled pork on rolls with roasted red pepper strips and sweet pickles for dinner. 

This might be a good time to report on a new, quite decent cheese that Costco is now carrying:  Fromager des Clarines.  Like brie on mild steroids – and a steal at about $15 for 10 ounces – this is a soft cow’s milk cheese from the French region of Franche-Comté.  It’s made by Jean Perrin of Vacherin Mont D’or fame, the raw milk taste explosion that is illegal here because of the dumb-asses who make these kinds of decision.  Think about it.  There is so much absolute crap sold in the US that passes for food — products that are science experiments, like Cool Whip, and cake frostings with no butter, for example — yet they are worried about raw milk cheeses from European companies whose practices most US outfits can only dream of.  Give me a break.  Anyway, Fromager des Clarines, which is milder than Vacherin Mont D’or, needs to be eaten very ripe, with the center like custard. 

I saw a whole array of ripeness represented in the Costco stock, from white and firm to yellow and collapsed – with and without mold on the rind, I might add.  I chose one that was off-white but starting to sink down; normally I get one that’s more far-gone, but I was dealing with guests who might not appreciate it that way.  You should choose one that is more questionable looking – more yellow and concave – and smells strong.  Don’t be afraid to open up 20 wooden boxes to get the perfect specimen!  Eat at room temperature.  Let me say this again:  Eat at room temperature.  If you serve this cold you might as well go buy cheap brie.  When warm and ripe, the texture is very smooth and creamy, and the buttery flavor a little acidic with musty tones and other funkiness that is the hallmark of a good cheese.  While the impact of this cheese on the palate is more limited than real Vacherin Mont D’or (meaning the original made with raw milk and not the versions produced for the American market, which are made with pasteurized milk), it is full-flavored with a great mouthfeel.  Serve with crusty bread – and spoons, if really ripe.  I kid you not.  You can even heat this in the oven; just follow the instructions on the box.

A box of fromage des clarines french cheese

Paul & Gino’s wedding

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paul and gino on their wedding day in 2008

Today is Paul & Gino’s wedding day.  We BARTed to the station closest to Martinez, where the Contra Costa County courthouse is, for the event.  Pouring rain.  Never was to Martinez before, nor to most of the places BART traveled through to get there, like Lafayette and Walnut Creek.  Paul picked us up from the station and carted us around for the day, keeping us from having to drive on unfamiliar freeways in the rain.  Nice of him, considering he was one of the grooms.  The ceremony was lovely – very personal and not at all perfunctory, which one might think would be the case.  We drove next – in terrific rain – to The San Franciscan Restaurant (1525 Main Street, Walnut Creek) for the wedding brunch.  They gave us a large, airy space in the back, where the group could really spread out and have a blast.  The service was excellent, and the food was fair to good, depending.  The fried calamari appetizer, served with tartar and cocktail sauces, was solid, and the crab dip  better than average, with chunks of crab rather than it being a pulverized mass.  I was the only one who had the tuna poki, a type of tuna tartare, and was glad of it.  It was slightly sweet and salty — really good and a generous portion.  My “Coit Tower Monte Cristo” was big and flavorful, but it arrived cold and limp, which was a shame since this sandwich garners its strength from melted cheese and a crispy exterior.  Matt ordered the “Fisherman’s Wharf Crab Sandwich,” which was the exact same crab dip on toast with melted cheese, which seemed a little lame to me at $15.  Steven went with the “Clams and Linguine in Bordelaise,” which was not very good because the clams were overcooked.  Again, a shame to ruin a dish by making an amateur’s mistake with the key ingredient.  This is a restaurant with a lovely space and great service.  The menu is extensive and varied – even the lunch menu, which is what we ordered from – and focuses on classic, simple preparations that rely on excellent ingredients and solid techniques.  The latter fell short at our meal, which is something that, if taken care of, would make all the difference.  That and losing that crab sandwich.  At the end of the meal the spouses danced and a cake was served.  What a joyful day!  It was so nice to see Paul and Gino take their vows.

Halloween 2008

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ross, anthony and chris in elaborate halloween costumes

It’s me birthday today.  Oh, yes, it’s also Halloween.  We had a little evening party planned, for which I procured a bunch of snacks from Trader Joe’s and decorated the house with candles, flameless and otherwise.  Things went south at about 4:00 p.m., when I heard from Paul.  His condo had flooded courtesy of some faulty plumbing in the vicinity of the kitchen sink, which sent Matthew and our wet vac with Paul to Antioch for a night of cleaning with Paul’s partner and fiancé, Gino.  Paul and Gino are scheduled to be married tomorrow, you see, which made this particular day a really, really bad one for a flood.  This also meant that guests associated with Matthew would not be coming this evening, so we were left with only the three of us and a lot of ripe Cambozola (rich hybrid, more or less, of Camembert and Gorgonzola) and Blue Castello (triple cream blue).  As luck would have it, three of Matt’s friends, Anthony, Chris and Ross — dressed to the teeth for the holiday — came by and saved us from complete lameness.  Matthew rolled in all wet after midnight and slunk upstairs to bed.

Fancy butter

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Speciality butter made from milk used for the production of parmigiano reggiano

The subject today is specialty butter.  If you go into a gourmet or specialty food shop and check out the butter section you’ll notice smaller, colored packages of pricey fancy butters, usually European or European-style, containing more butterfat and less water than standard American butter, lending them a richer taste.  Many are pasture-based and traditionally churned.  These butters generally have no preservatives or coloring, allowing natural factors to control the color, such as where and when the cows have been grazing.  You’ll see butter made from the milk of particular cows, or cows grazing in specific regions.  Some of this specialty butter is also cultured, meaning made from cream that has been allowed to ferment.  Now and again I’ll select one of these dear butters to eat on baguettes plain, only because they are so damned good and we’re worth it.  Today I brought home a cultured Italian produced by Delitia from the milk collected during the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  It has a deep and nutty flavor with a little acidity and all the denseness associated with more butterfat and less water.  My advice is to choose a good day-to-day Euro-style that won’t totally blow your budget, like Challenge or Strauss, and then work your way through the top-shelf butters when you are looking for something really special.  Count on never being able to going back to cheap butter once you’ve had something better.