Period foods in PA

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period foods in PA

I agree. I was curious if anyone knows the modern name for something that most closely resembles that generic cheese. Like if you want the equivalent of just "ham" in the period you need to ask for "country ham" at the store today.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

This is just a guess but I would expect that a generic aged white cheddar would probably work. It is fairly dry and not as hard as a Parmesan. It has the crumbly texture I've seen on the aged cheeses at historic sites but they tended to be a bit drier but not as dry and hard as
Parmesan.

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Period foods in PA

Mr. Natural's on Rte.15 is good, but under new management. If you decide to take rte.64 to rte.77 and pick up rte.15 at Thurmont, shorter than I 70 by about 25 minutes :), you will pass by Lewis's Market (who said the cherries were looking peeked) and Catoctin Mountain Orchard, both are excellent and currently offering cherries. ...And Discount Fabrics USA, in Thurmont, is having an inventory blowout sale.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Period foods in PA

Mr. Natural's on Rte.15 is good, but under new management. If you decide to take rte.64 to rte.77 and pick up rte.15 at Thurmont, shorter than I 70 by about 25 minutes :), you will pass by Lewis's Market (who said the cherries were looking peeked) and Catoctin Mountain Orchard, both are excellent and currently offering cherries. ...And Discount Fabrics USA, in Thurmont, is having an inventory blowout sale.

Thank you! They're right on the way, and the cherries won't have to endure a longer trip than necessary.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Tabbico]

Re: Period foods in PA

Krystin, you might try foraging at Spence's - especially the Amish cheese lady (a lot of her cheeses still have rinds) and a bit down from her, the stand with apple butter and other jams. I'll be going there for our supplies....

[bazoo]

Re: Period foods in PA

I agree with homemade cheeses that're differents from the moderns ones.
There's an other think to look at , it's the ethnic origin that oriented the way the food is made.
For exemple , in France, we don't stérilise the milk ( for authentic cheese), so there's a lot of difference in the look and taste between an english or deutch sheese and a French one
. There's to a difference with the molds ( there's difference in the dimensions if you live in south or north of france.

For the coating, I suppose that before Louis Pasteur who had find the bacteries and the yeast actions, nobody know why the beer or the scheese could have a bad taste.
So ,I suppose, it's could be later that the cheese where coated and the milk boiled.
It's only a supposition , I only know how the french cheese where made , I never eat a sterilised milk cheese.
Sorry for my poor english

[Hank Trent]

Re: Period foods in PA

For exemple , in France, we don't stérilise the milk ( for authentic cheese), so there's a lot of difference in the look and taste between an english or deutch sheese and a French one
. There's to a difference with the molds ( there's difference in the dimensions if you live in south or north of france.

Good point. It's my understanding that when milk is sterilized (pasteurized), lactic acid bacteria need added again before it can be made into traditional cheese. That's why milk can spoil today, rather than souring, because when you kill everything, you don't know whether random lactic acid bacteria or harmful bad-tasting bacteria captured from the air will reproduce the most.

Unpasteurized milk contains a variety of bacteria including the ones that make lactic acid, but as soon as the lactic acid ones start reproducing, the higher acidity of the milk makes the other ones unable to reproduce, preventing unhealthful spoiling, and preserving the cheese.

So yes, like variations in sourdough yeast, different strains of lactic acid bacteria create slightly different flavors. Historically, and today when cheese is unpasteurized, they can have regional variations. Or if the milk is pasteurized and the lactic acid bacteria is purchased and added, one can control it that way. Heating the curds also can encourage different bacteria, by killing off the ones that reproduce at lower temperatures, allowing the thermophilic ones (I think that's the word) to take over.

That's my layman's description of the process off the top of my head, but maybe someone with a food chemistry background can correct it and add further information.

For the coating, I suppose that before Louis Pasteur who had find the bacteries and the yeast actions, nobody know why the beer or the scheese could have a bad taste.

I wonder if the coating also was due to economical issues as well as sterilization. If cheese lost the outer half inch or so to rind, it was less valuable than cheese which was soft right up to the edge. The use of paraffin to seal jellies may have come in about the same time that it began to be used to coat cheese as well. Anyone know? Was there a promotion of 101 uses for paraffin or something that made it become popular post-war?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net