The fine art of cheese

Question: Which of the following does not belong?
A) Clay
B) Crayon
C) Paint
D) Cheese

The answer is D) Cheese because it is not an commonly used art medium. But try telling that to the following artists who have managed to defy convention and integrated cheese into their work.

Sandy Skoglund is known for her installations, which are oftentimes surreal and vibrant in color. It doesn't get any more surreal than a room, not to mention the people in it, covered entirely in cheese puffs (the supermarket kind, not the pastries) in a piece entitled "The Cocktail Party," as shown to the left.

Sarah Kaufmann is the self-described "Cheese Lady," and for good reason. She has carved all sorts of things about of blocks of cheese, ranging from famous faces to animals, inanimate objects to college mascots. She is a Wisconsin native and had worked for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board before embarking on her career as a cheese sculptor, so it's safe to say that cheese and dairy are practically in her blood.

Champion cheese carver (who knew that there was such a title?) Troy Landwehr turned a 1,200 pound block of Cheddar cheese into an ersatz Statue of Liberty. That is patriotism at its best.

Mac and Cheese: One of life's simple pleasures

Photo credit: dalboz17

Macaroni and cheese is like the gateway drug into the world of pasta. Think about it. Most people fall in love with this savory dish as children long before they're really aware of what pasta is, and it's when they get older that their palates begin to develop a taste for more sophisticated fare such as fettucine alfredo, gnocci, and spaghetti bolognese. But that's not to say that mac and cheese is the Plain Jane of pasta dishes; the simple amalgamation of noodles and cheese can be utterly divine and oftentimes all you really need, which explains why macaroni and cheese is often thought of as comfort food. Here's the skinny on the classic dish:

• It has been rumored that President Thomas Jefferson created the dish that we today know as macaroni and cheese after he designed a macaroni machine. Jefferson biographer Jack MacLaughlin refutes this claim, stating that Jefferson merely duplicated a recipe he had enjoyed while in France. While it's hard to determine just how mac and cheese originated, this Jefferson story seems to be the most popular explanation.

• There's a restaurant in Manhattan's East Village named S'MAC that serves nothing but macaroni and cheese. Yes, they do deliver.

• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was first introduced in 1937, and its popularity at the time can partially be attributed to the rationing of milk and dairy during World War II. Kraft says that now they sell over one million boxes a day!

• There's a Mac and Cheese Love Flickr group! Talk about your food porn.

• Like with a lot of things, there's a science to making good mac and cheese. I'll let my man Alton Brown of Good Eats explain how to go about it.



Here's Part 2 of the episode.

Spinning our (cheese) wheels

I can probably guess what it is you're thinking: Why cheese? To be honest, the answer is rather dull. Cheese was thrown out there during a brainstorming session about potential blogging topics in the hopes of a few cheap laughs, nothing more. The question, on the other hand, is much more interesting: Why not cheese? It is after all a staple in most people's diets, and yet we have a tendency to take it for granted because it's always there. But try to imagine a world without cheese. This means no nachos, New York-style cheesecake, or fettuccine alfredo. Grilled cheese sandwiches would be nothing more than buttered toast. College students everywhere would have to find sustenance in something else besides pizza. (Trust me, I've tried vegan-friendly cheeseless pizza before, and it leaves a lot to be desired.) Let's face it, most meals just would not be the same without that rich, tangy, and often warm and gooey taste we all know and love.

That said, isn't it time that cheese got its day in the sun? This blog aims to make it so. But how? Myself and my fellow bloggers aren't cheese connoisseurs, nor foodies of any sort for that matter. What we have, however, is an appetite for uncommon knowledge, entertaining ephemera, and obscure facts that just might be useful to you in a future round of Trivial Pursuit, all of which (of the cheese variety, of course) we hope to deliver on a weekly basis. We also invite you to come along for the ride as we navigate through the sure to be intriguing world of cheese and tell you things that might catch you by surprise and make you say, "Whoa, that's weird, yet strangely cool!" You never know, such cheese trivia could prove to be a real icebreaker at parties.

For now, I'll leave you with this classic Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch aptly entitled "The Cheese Shop", and dream that someday I too will be as knowledgeable about cheese as John Cleese. (His surname, incidentally, was actually Cheese before his father changed it to Cleese in the early 20th century. See, this is the kind of stuff you can use to impress your friends!)