Cooking Cheap

Here’s a regional ingredient to get the foodies foaming. It’s made by/at Washington State University and it comes in a can (they are the Cougars so that’s what the name is about). A 30 oz. can. That almost two pounds to you. It’s a lot of cheese to me. My sister Kim gave it to me for Christmas (and a can to brother Larry).

Yes, you read that right. It comes in a can. Tin can. 30oz. The can is inside a Rubbermaid Reseal-able container (better that your normal Rubbermaid quality too!). Larry knew all about it and passed on sailing wisdom – “keeps for ever, everydody with a boat talks about it”.

Actually, kept in a can, it will keep forever. The little pamphlet explains that. And it says it ages in the can, so depending on how old your can is it could be smooth or crumbly. On the tin, mine says “Made by Sammy June 3, 2005″.

Sammy has a bright future as a cheese maker. I’d like to buy him a drink. This is some seriously good stuff. The closest cheese might be White Cheddar. My can was a bit crumbly to cut, and had some seriously good bite back, almost like a chunk of parmesan. I didn’t throw away a single crumbly bit. Not one. I put them all in my mouth. I’d have licked the cutting board if needed. I’d be happy to use it the same way as parmesan, subject to it not being as hard as parmesan.

Now I have to figure out what to do with it before it goes bad. All cheese is good, but some are better than others of course. I’ve had some “good” ones, some I liked and some not so much. I never research before writing up my opinions but now that I have my opinion written: “Get Some”, I can look at the their website. “World Class” in the 2006 World Cheese Awards in London. That seems big to me but maybe the French have other opinions. That would be too much research for me.

The Coug’s need the cash (BSU is gunning for them in athletics) and it’s seriously good cheese. Hell the price is even reasonable once you can find it on the website. $18 for 30oz plus $5 for standard shipping. Call it $12/lb to your doorstep. I don’t want to think about the cost of two pounds of parm. Yes, they’re different. Unless you age that tin a few years more, perhaps?. Too late for me know, I opened mine. I surrender.