A recent article in Mother Jones examines what Americans are eating overall. Information here is pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and we learn that we now spend more on processed foods than any other food type. This is followed by meats, with dairy now at the bottom!

Cheese and dairy products are truly one of those things that the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

For example, its hard enough to to get your head around the notion and process that turns liquid milk into cheese. However, once you’ve conquered that, such questions naturally arise as “what makes a cheddar a cheddar” or “what makes brie a brie.”

Well, like any regular recipe, many different factors contribute to the overall result. That said, perhaps the single most critical factor in determining what variety of cheese is produced are the addition of starter cultures that give the cheese its main characterisitcs.

Starter cultures are usually added to the vat of milk at the beginning of the cheesemaking process. As their name suggests, they comprise a blend (often proprietory to the cheesemaker) of cultures and bacteria that, in conjunction with time and temperature considerations, determine the variety of cheese to be made.

It took us quite a while, but finally we were approaching the end of the wedges we received in the mail weeks ago. After the taste test was over we still had quite a bit left – we’ve been adding it to omelets, topping baked potatoes with it, and making some pretty tasty grilled cheese sandwiches. Recently, I came across a recipe for cheese soufflés. I admit I’ve never made a savory soufflé before, only dessert ones. The recipe made 2 individual-sized servings, perfect for us. After grating all our remaining Jasper Hill cheese I had exactly what the recipe called for, to the gram! I took that as a good omen.

How would you describe the flavor of cheese?

It's an impossible question. You can certainly elaborate on the tastes of cheese varieties, the sharpness of a blue vein, spicy kick of jalapeno, or flavor of an ale wash. But trying to define the basic taste of cheese itself is impossible, no easier than trying to tell you what red looks like.

Cheese's' avoidance of being captured by words or trapped by sentences can make writing about cheese difficult, but I'm viewing that as a challenge as I began writing and blogging here at Culture. As a budding writer and foodie, I hope to learn how to better capture food through language, and learn more about what makes cheese such a unique, undefinable treat.

I hope that you will join me.

Eric