And every day is the right day
I just went shopping, looking for a bit of a taste of the last four months...namely good cheese.
At first, it was the price that made me choke. For the price of a couple of grams of good brie here, I could have half a ton of the stuff in France. And this isn't even very good cheese here.
The next shock was when I got home and opened the package. First there was the carboard box, then the hermetically sealed plastic cup. Finally, the plastic wrap. Holy over packaging Batman!! In France, you get a piece of cheese wrapped in some wax paper and that is good enough!
When I was in Geneva, Alex and I were discussing how Europeans and North Americans view cheese differently. He was saying that in Europe, it is advertised by how it tastes, what it tastes best with, and how it improves the taste of certain wines, etc. In North America it is all about how nicely packaged it is. Case in point, there was a French company trying to market their cheese in the States, but they failed badly. Looking back after loosing lots of money on it, they discovered that the North Americans want everything plastic wrapped and sterile, not realizing that cheese needs to breathe, and be alive. So, their advertising showing cheese all nice with fruits and wine and stuff didn't go over as well in North America as Europe.
Another point that Alex made was a quote from some author and his opinion on the different attitudes about cheese. I don't remember the exact quote, but I will paraphrase it the best that I can.
"In Europe, cheese is allowed to live. It is left out on the counter, allowed to breathe, grow, and evolve into something better. This in the end gives it a better flavour, and the flavour will change over time. In North America, cheese is dead. It is kept in a plastic bag and then kept cold like a corpse in a morgue. It can't grow, it can't become something better. It is dead and that is it."
So, I guess that I will have to suffer with crappy cheese, or travel until I find a good import cheese shop.
At first, it was the price that made me choke. For the price of a couple of grams of good brie here, I could have half a ton of the stuff in France. And this isn't even very good cheese here.
The next shock was when I got home and opened the package. First there was the carboard box, then the hermetically sealed plastic cup. Finally, the plastic wrap. Holy over packaging Batman!! In France, you get a piece of cheese wrapped in some wax paper and that is good enough!
When I was in Geneva, Alex and I were discussing how Europeans and North Americans view cheese differently. He was saying that in Europe, it is advertised by how it tastes, what it tastes best with, and how it improves the taste of certain wines, etc. In North America it is all about how nicely packaged it is. Case in point, there was a French company trying to market their cheese in the States, but they failed badly. Looking back after loosing lots of money on it, they discovered that the North Americans want everything plastic wrapped and sterile, not realizing that cheese needs to breathe, and be alive. So, their advertising showing cheese all nice with fruits and wine and stuff didn't go over as well in North America as Europe.
Another point that Alex made was a quote from some author and his opinion on the different attitudes about cheese. I don't remember the exact quote, but I will paraphrase it the best that I can.
"In Europe, cheese is allowed to live. It is left out on the counter, allowed to breathe, grow, and evolve into something better. This in the end gives it a better flavour, and the flavour will change over time. In North America, cheese is dead. It is kept in a plastic bag and then kept cold like a corpse in a morgue. It can't grow, it can't become something better. It is dead and that is it."
So, I guess that I will have to suffer with crappy cheese, or travel until I find a good import cheese shop.
posted by Travelcedric at 15:48
2 Comments:
what kind of cheese are you trying to get?
There are a couple good cheese shops around town:
Forsters Fine Cheeses -- Kerrisdale on 41st.
The Steveston British store (sorry, don't know what street its on)
and if you're just looking for a quick fix some of the grocery stores have 'okay' cheese...
You must remember where I live... the people out this way wouldn't know good cheese if it bit them. A bit harder to find, guess that I will be heading into the city to find the good cheese that I crave.
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