Le Temps du Perdu et Fromage

all apologies to Mssr. Proust and excusing my execrable French: I am placing this HERE, but mods please move it, remove it at will

So, since moving to New York with my partner nearly four years ago we have succumbed to that New Yorkian tic of ordering in a lot. We still cook a bunch, I still insatiably read cookbooks alongside everything else I read. Cooking is mainly reserved for the weekends where our InstantPot! Churns out the curried sweet potatoes, curry goat, and curried curry. Perhaps a curry cheesecake is in our future? I jest, sometimes there's a Kalua Pork in the mix. But, the places we order from are a typical rotation of the one decent Ameri-thai place, the one decent pizza place, the one decent Dominican place, the one decent Chinese place, and diner food. Inwood, our hood(in the borough of Manhattan), is not known for a diversity of food offerings. If you want Caribbean eats in all their glory, go no further. Of course, we eat further south on the island readily. Latest two amazing meals were had at the high end restaurant within the store where I work. PM me if you want details.

Which brings me to wanting to be more active once again on Chicago's LTHforum. To which end I intend to begin crossposting from FB anecdotes and observations from my work as a cheesemonger to the Master Fromager in one of the more prestigious cheese departments in the city(if not the country), no boast, New York, being, um, New York. We also provide the most thorough cheese course in the city to the restaurant.

And, also, because my last post about customer sampling abuses landed so perfectly

Here we go:

Could've sworn I posted this, but nah. So, my boss brought in Isle of Mull yesterday and vivisected it with aplomb. If I trace my obsession with cheese, I find T and I in the cheese dept. of the Chicago Clybourne Corridor Whole Foods easily nearly twenty years ago. An acquaintance, Danny, boyfriend of the owner of the Chicago vintage clothing Ragstock empire, was cheesemonger. He happily displayed his new Neal's Yard order. Towers of regal, patinaed, bandaged-wrapped cheddars. He offered us tastes of all and the one that totally blew my mind was Scots Isle of Mull. A warm, fleshy handshake, how you doin'? Ya cunt. Of a cheese. Popped the cherry of this Cracker Barrel sharp white punk(ugh um you get the double entendre). Thank you, Danny. You narrowed my focus. You passed years ago, never knowing the influence you have upon my life. Happy Pride. Make it motherfucking phenomenal. I am working, slinging cheese, I can't imagine being in a better place. And, some Neal's Yard boys knicked in today to say hullo. There is no end to the cheeses Neal's affinages. This one, Rollright, meaty, buttery, marigold yellow sticky they left with us, my oh my.
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I changed my mind. Ever since I started working at my newish place there is this one couple who comes in every Sunday in the late afternoon. They
are both ancient, he drives the wheelchair in which she is barely responsive, sickly, and supine. Only he can understand her, I have never even heard her speak. Before you go all awww: When I first encountered the two, he would stand way too close to me(I have personal space issues), basically hover over me until I finally asked him to stand back while I worked to get their samples ready. They would always try the same three samples. In my world, if you have sampled something once or twice, you know what it tastes like, this is for the customer, not how a cheesemonger should approach things. Same three "samples" every time. And, then I began to think there might be a sadistic aspect at work. Because after he feeds her, sometimes she would choke. And, I find it difficult to watch him feed her, anyway. I turn to my work. I know she's close to death, and I know they have had this routine for many years. I can't imagine what it must do to him to have this special time with her. I imagine he checks her out of one of the many nursing facilities in the neighborhood and this is their Sunday together. Does he return to their apartment alone? Or, maybe they have home care, but then, I think there would be one of the many caregivers/nurses we get in the store presiding alongside their elderly clients. Today, I said fuck it. Today he asked do you have Blue Castello or Saga Blue(we are not that kind of cheese shop). Coddled his wife, "remember, you used to like Castello?" "He says this is kind of like that." About broke my heart. Nothing wrong with either of those cheeses, mind you. I offered the closest analog we carry is St. Agur. So I gave them a taste of that and Delice, and Brebirousse. And she "chose" the breb. As they left, the closing cheesemonger turned to me and whispered, "that is the first time she has ever asked for a blue!"