Food 18 Apr 2005 06:30 pm

Seattle Cheese Festival, May 14-15

Some of you may be excited to learn that there is a Seattle Cheese Festival coming up in a few weeks. Samples galore! Educational seminars! The intriguing “cheese maze”!

I don’t see Samish Bay Cheese among the list of participants. They might not be big or fancy enough to make it to the cheese festival, but I like their cheese a lot. They make a nettle gouda that’s interesting and delicious. And their mont blanchard, oh, yum. Nothing too pretentious, just good tasty cheese. Used to be I could only find their stuff at the farmers markets, but these days you can get their cheese at PCC, Whole Foods, and through Pioneer Organics — maybe some other places as well.

11 Responses to “Seattle Cheese Festival, May 14-15”

  1. on 18 Apr 2005 at 7:19 pm 1.jeffbadge said …

    YUM! Definitely marking that on the calendar. I swoon for a rich aged gouda! I’m not a fan of brie, but I found a soft, spreadable bleu at Whole Foods once. *drooling*

  2. on 18 Apr 2005 at 7:49 pm 2.cithra said …

    must… not… post… hymn… parody….

  3. on 18 Apr 2005 at 9:49 pm 3.Cam said …

    What a friend we have in cheeses,
    For no food more subtly pleases,
    Nor plays so vast a gastronomic part;
    Cheese imported—not domestic—
    For we all get indigestic
    From the pasteurizer’s Kraft and sodden art.

    I’m happy that the disparagement of domestic cheese has become at least somewhat outdated.

  4. on 19 Apr 2005 at 12:01 am 4.Julie said …

    That “pasteurizer’s Kraft” is a jewel. You have the weird “What a friend we have in cheeses…” the next poem I memorize.

  5. on 19 Apr 2005 at 12:03 am 5.Julie said …

    Correction: typos typos typos. Here’s what I meant to say:

    That “pasteurizer’s Kraft” is a jewel. You have the weird mind of a real poet, young lady. “What a friend we have in cheeses….” [etc.]

  6. on 19 Apr 2005 at 12:14 am 6.Cam said …

    If only it were mine! I should have made that clear. I was going to post the whole thing tonight with attribution, and then I got distracted. The poem is by a William Cole — possibly the same one who edited Poem Stew — and it appears in Espy’s Words at Play.

    What A Friend We Have In Cheeses

    “Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese” — G.K. Chesterton

    What a friend we have in cheeses,
    For no food more subtly pleases,
    Nor plays so vast a gastronomic part;
    Cheese imported—not domestic—
    For we all get indigestic
    From the pasteurizer’s Kraft and sodden art.

    No poem we shall ever see is
    Quite so lovely as a Brie is,
    For “the queen of cheese” is what they call the Brie;
    If you pay sufficient money
    You will get one nice and runny,
    And you’ll understand what foods these morsels be!

    How we covet all the skills it
    Takes in making Chèvre or Tilset,
    But if getting basic Pot Cheese is your aim,
    Take some simple curds and wheys, a
    Bit of rennet — Lo! you’ve Käese!
    (Which is what, in German, is a cheese’s name.)

    Good lasagna, it’s a-gotta
    Mozzarella and Ricotta
    And a lotta freshly grated Parmesan;
    With the latter any pasta
    Will be eaten up much faster,
    For with Parmesan you’ll find a charm is on.

    Ask Ignacio Silone
    What he thinks of Provolone,
    And the very word will set his eyes aflame;
    Then go ask the bounteous Gina
    Her reaction to Fontina—
    If you raise your eyes, you’ll see she feels the same.

    A Pont-l’Évèque au point! What ho!
    How our juices all will flow!
    But don’t touch a Pont-l’Évèque beyond that stage,
    For what you’ll have, you’ll surely find
    Is just an overfragrant rind—
    There’s no benefit to this fromage from age.

    Claret, dear, not Coca-Cola,
    When you’re having Gorgonzola—
    Be particular to serve the proper wines;
    Likewise pick a Beaune not Coke for
    Pointing up a Bleu or Roquefort—
    Bless the products of the bovines and the vines!

    Ave Gouda! Ave Boursault!
    Ave Oka even more so!
    Ave Neufchâtel! Saluto Port-Salut!
    And another thing with cheeses—
    Every allied prospect pleases—
    Ah timbale! Ah Welsh Rabbit! Ah fondue!

    And we all know that “Say cheese” is
    How a cameraman unfreezes
    A subject in a stiff, or shy, or dour way;
    There’s no other food so useful,
    So bring on a whole cabooseful
    Of the stuff of life — the cheeses of the gourmet!

    – William Cole

  7. on 19 Apr 2005 at 7:35 am 7.tungsten said …

    I sooooo wish I could go to that.

    Unfortunately I scheduled a production meeting 500 miles away that weekend and I can’t back out of it or reschedule it to another weekend.

    I think they need to add a section for music though. They could have a bandstand of 80’s music during the tastings. Think of how much better a fine Ementaller would taste to the sound of “One Night in Bangkok”!

  8. on 19 Apr 2005 at 8:42 am 8.Aim said …

    Hey, this is WAY off-topic, but don’t/didn’t you work for the tenant’s union? I was looking for some info for my landlord, and I found this article:

    http://216.197.101.64/sgnnews14/page1.cfm

    Have you heard about it? The guy was a crime victim and his LL on cap hill is confiscating his first, last and deposit because of the blood on the floor and to replace curtains the cops took as evidence. He also took the guy’s cat to the pound while he was int he hospital!!!!! (I don’t know if he got kitty back or not)

    It’s one of the worst stories of landlord abuse I’ve seen in awhile. He used to work at Madison Market, and is well connected there, so that would be a way to get ahold of him. Do you know someone who can help him out? A lawsuit might just pay his medical bills :)

    (oops, where are my manners!! hi, how are you, I came here because I remembered you had a connection to TU and thought I’d ask… I hope all is well!)

  9. on 19 Apr 2005 at 9:12 am 9.Cam said …

    Hi, Aim!

    Good heavens! That’s awful.

    I volunteered for the TU for several years, but I haven’t had much of anything to do with them for almost a year and a half now. I don’t think my old connections would do much good.

  10. on 19 Apr 2005 at 12:12 pm 10.wolffire said …

    Oh dear. A cheese festival. I might just have to go.

  11. on 03 Aug 2006 at 4:20 pm 11.Joan Woolard said …

    You say you like cheese? Here’s a suggestion, the SPRING BEER & WINE FEST, April 6-7,3007 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland from noon to 11 PM both Friday & Saturday. They’re featuring TOUR DE CHEESE with seminars and food demonstrations. Sure to be lots of sampling. Check out their schedule at www.springbeerfest.com. Cheers!