Saturday, March 4, 2017

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Danish Fontina Cheese

     Once again, the subject of this post is a little irregular.  As readers might suspect from its name, fontina cheese is actually an Italian invention.  Quite an old one, actually, dating back to the 12th century.  The remote, relatively unpopulated Aosta Valley is where the cheese was born, which is an area of Italy which borders with Switzerland and France.  Fontina is noted for its distinctly strong odor and flavor.  "Young" (unaged) fontina is soft and known for being a good choice for making fondue, while "old" (aged) fontina is a hard cheese.
     However, since the cheese is popular, imitation was inevitable.  Derivative fontinas are made in Denmark, obviously, and Sweden, Argentina, the U.S., Quebec, and France.  The Danish version is particularly popular in the U.S. because it's cheaper than the Italian original--roughly $12 per pound versus $15 per pound.  Some cheese purists (apparently they're an actual thing) are critical of the non-Italian derivatives, feeling that they're inferior knockoffs.  The Danish kind is semisoft, and is considered to have a milder odor and taste.  A sweet, nutty flavor, rather than the original's mushroom-y, earthy, woody taste.  Fontina is also considered to be an excellent cooking cheese, due to its melting point.  So it's commonly used for macaroni and cheese, and also in sandwiches.
    The Danish fontina I bought was fairly expensive--$5.28 for 7 ounces (about 200 grams).  It was light yellowish in color, semisoft, with a red wax rind.  It was a Di Bruno Brothers/Celebrity International product, imported by Atalanta Corp. out of New Jersey.  I had it plain, and then on Wheat Thins crackers.  The taste was simple and plain, but good for both ways.  I didn't really pick up on the "nutty" flavoring, but it was still a very respectable cheese.  My father tried some, too, and had the same opinion.  It probably goes without saying that I'll certainly try the original Italian version of fontina if/when I get the chance, to compare and contrast with the Danish kind.  But, I found the knockoff to be more than decent in its own right.
     Now I'd like to throw out some fun and interesting facts about the country of Denmark.  It  rates as being excellent in social mobility, income equality, low levels of corruption, and has led the world in having the "happiest citizens" during 2 years.  It also ranks very well on worker's rights, and has the highest minimum wage, and....correspondingly high personal income tax, and some other taxes.  (For an example of the latter, evidently the tax on a new car is 150%!)  Additionally, it was the first country to completely legalize pornography, back in 1969.  Famous Danes include the brass-nosed astronomer Tycho Brahe (he lost part of his nose in a sword duel), the atomic physicist Niels Bohr, fairly tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, and the Lego toy brick company.  Also, the Bluetooth technical device is named after the second Danish King--Harald Gormsson, also known as "Bluetooth."  It's not conclusively known how he got this nickname--either it was a linguistic corruption of "dark chieftain," or the King didn't practice great dental hygiene.  And, finally, Denmark sounds like a good place for hipsters to visit--a website I checked noted that the Danish people have "a strong sense of irony."



















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