Illegal Cheese!

Illegal Cheese

Great story!



I bring raw milk cheeses in from Montreal all the time. I used to tell the guys "I got some cheese, that ok?" but one finally told me "we're too busy to worry about cheese" so now I don't mention it. If anyone's interested, there's an entire store in the Jean-Talon market devoted to raw milk cheeses. There's nothing finer.

Geo

Great story.

I had wondered why I hadn't seen Brie de Meaux in a long time. Now I see that we're being protected again.

I realize that it is probably with good intentions, at least on the part of some, but it's ridiculous. Public health laws were written in a time when that meant keeping the rat population down and preventing the deaths of babies from tainted milk -- not keeping us from eating cheese.

But then the FDA has been on my "bad guy" list for a long time, largely because of their campaign to stop the spread of health food. But that's another discussion.

Purely out of curiosity, and not in any way to encourage an illegal activity, how would one transport a young, raw milk cheese from France...or the Netherlands?

I may or may not know someone who may or may not be going to these countries who may or may not be willing to carry some potentially deadly but undoubtedly delicious cheeses back.

Problem is, he has long hair and a goatee, and seems to get the rubber-gloved strip search everywhere he travels.

How much might he get away with?
Should he rip off labels?
Where and how should he store it?
If if takes 5-7 days between the time he buys it and his return to the states, will the moment have passed for the cheese? Or is it still worth the trouble?

Jeffrey Steingarten had an article about bringing in banned foods in one of his books. Although I can't particularly remember many details, he seemed to be quite blatant about it.

For trans-Atlantic flights, I have the store wrap the cheese in double cling-wrap. No need, so far as I can see, to hide anything. I've never found an agent with even the slightest interest in cheese.

I used to bring in two or three wheels of 1kg Bavarian blue at a time.

Geo

Yes, but Jeffrey Steingarten is...Jeffrey Steingarten. I'm sure he'd have the savvy and sense to talk his way out of a run-in with the cheese police, and still walk away with the goods.

My cheese mule is, shall we say, not so gifted? He doesn't truly "get" my food obsession, though he often benefits from it. So I'm trying to send him off with a good alibi, the right gear (insulated bag?) and some basic packing/transporting wisdom.

Any suggestions?

[edit] Thanks Geo...do you think it matters if the cheese is purchased several days before the flight and refrigerated in the interim? Does he need to pack it in an insulated bag? I carted a wheel of Stilton from London years ago, and just kept it wrapped in newspaper and plastic wrap, and had no problems. Don't know if this is the case for a young, raw, runny-ish cheese.

Steingarten's method was to declare them on his customs form. As in "3lb unpasteurized cheeses <6 months old".

No one ever batted an eye.

I'm considering trying it.

To me the movement to ban raw milk cheese (aged 60 days or not) is at least as heinous, if not more, than the foie gras ban. Much of the support for the current ban and the push for more widespread restrictions has little to do with health issues and much more to due with finacial reasons. Dairy is a huge industry and the large dary enterprises have been fairly public is pushing for a ban on all raw milk producs under the guise of health issues. The do not mention the fact that raw milk producers have fewer related health issues due to more vigilent milk handleing processes. Raw milk cheese producers are much smaller scale than the large dairy manufacturing farms/plants and have far tighter controlls on every step of production, as well as, a more refined end product (obviously). Think: your local microbrewery vs. Bud!

The sad thing is that these small farms pose no threat to the large dairy enterprises. There is no reason to champion these restrictions on raw milk cheese, domestic or imported. It is simpy a preditory tactic being used on the basis of ideaology and percived threat rather than actual competition or risk. If you, like me, love real cheese, try writiing your local or national dary council (or even the feds... though that will probably not get you anywhere) and tell them that you will still buy there cheese too if they stop trying to force out the real thing.

When I brought back deliciously contraband young raw cheeses from France last year, the shop actually vacuum sealed them for me and put them in a styrofoam container. I kept it refrigerated for the few days prior to my return to the U.S, and the cheeses made it home in great shape. My suitcase was one of many to be sniffed by a police beagle in the Chicago customs area, but the police woman in charge of him said explicitly that they could really care less about cheese.

With the popularity of "sous-vide" cooking and food storage in France, maybe most shops could vacuum seal your cheese purchases for you? It certainly kept the tell-tale smell of great stinky cheese at bay during transport.

crrush wrote:Any suggestions?

Have you considered offering to pay your friend to get a shave and a haircut?

I live with "my friend", and I think he'd rather transport the cheese in strategically inserted balloons a la heroin than get a shave and a haircut. But believe me...the thought did cross my mind.

Actually, thinking of things that are banned, is foie gras just banned in restaurants in Chicago, or is it (like the cheese) banned in general -- i.e., can one bring a tin of it home from a trip to France? Can one buy it still at stores in Chicago, just not restaurants? Can one buy it outside of Chicago and prepare it for private consumption at home but within city limits? Just what is banned from where and to what degree?

Cynthia wrote:Actually, thinking of things that are banned, is foie gras just banned in restaurants in Chicago, or is it (like the cheese) banned in general -- i.e., can one bring a tin of it home from a trip to France? Can one buy it still at stores in Chicago, just not restaurants? Can one buy it outside of Chicago and prepare it for private consumption at home but within city limits? Just what is banned from where and to what degree?

The ordinance bans the sale of foie gras within the city limits.

More ordinance discussion here.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:
The ordinance bans the sale of foie gras within the city limits.

More ordinance discussion here.

Best,
Michael

Thanks, Michael. So the foie gras ban is not quite as limiting as the cheese ban -- you can't buy it, but you can carry it in.

And the discussion on the foie gras ban has been entertaining -- I've followed much of it, and have enjoyed both the informative and sarcastic remarks. I just didn't know if foie gras was considered as dangerous as raw-milk cheese. Of course, no one is force-feeding us that cheese.

What you want to do with a young runny cheese is 1) give it as much structural support as possible, which means wrapping it firmly and strongly--vacuum-pak would be best; b) keep it as cool as possible as long as possible, fridge would be nice.

Geo

having bought raw numerous times right here in chicago, I seriously question the enforcement of the law prohibiting unpasteurized milk in cheeses.

I've bought raw cheese at whole foods even (while tasting various things at WF, the store person did a 'psst dont say anything but this is ...').

Other times i've gotten it from a vendor at a farmer's market who I happen to think has some of the best cheese I've ever had, and def. the best selection i've seen in chicago.. (and he supplies to many local high-end restaurants, so there must be some truth to that). (if anyone is curious, http://greatamericancheese.com/wheretobuy.html)

so it must be common and easy to find, without having to bring it across the border yourself. also, as far as customs not caring.. did you tell them it was raw milk (if so, do they even know what that means I wonder?).. cheese itself is allowed and is even sold in duty free shops.

I've brought back some wonderful raw milk cheeses from the Netherlands. My experience was exactly like Geo's-- wrapped in plastic and paper, and I was upfront with the people at customs. Never a problem.

Now I just need to find a place that sells this awesome stuff-- the Black Amsterdam we get here (e.g. at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's) just does not compare.

They normally don't care as long as you are only bringing in enough for yourself. They care far more about fresh veggies and/or any meat. However, you do have to be prepared for them to get all rulesy and say you have to dump it, or pay duty on it.

We normally will bring wine and cheese home from Europe, usually more than our allotment, and declare it. The duty really isn't that high, in any case, if they do decide to require you to pay it.

Do, however, check if you can ship your wine home. Depending on the prices of the bottles, and the number you buy, it can be more cost effective than buying it in the US - if what you are buying is even available. I don't know about all areas, or all countries, but I would suspect in the larger, more touristic areas you can do it. We found a nice wine shop in Bordeaux that was happy to ship a case for us. It took a while, but they had all the right licenses to do it, and took care of the paperwork, etc. It was definitely worth it to pick up some cool wines we normally don't see in the US - or that only get to one or two restaurants in NY and CA.

Pardon me if this has been mentioned...

Raw milk cheeses are legal IF they have been aged long enough to kill potentially harmful bacteria. I think the time varies but 60 days seems common. Hence counter top sales of raw milk cheese in supermarkets like Whole Foods. Aged raw milk cheese can be legally imported.

I got some great raw milk cheese (and grass-fed beef and free-range chickens & eggs) at Steve-n-Sons farm in Michigan last week. They sell cheese at Green City but don't bring the meat or eggs. Look for Grasslands Cheese. All their cheeses are aged the mandated minimum.

Diannie

Diannie wrote:Pardon me if this has been mentioned...

Raw milk cheeses are legal IF they have been aged long enough to kill potentially harmful bacteria. I think the time varies but 60 days seems common. Hence counter top sales of raw milk cheese in supermarkets like Whole Foods. Aged raw milk cheese can be legally imported.

Diannie

yes that's correct... it's legal if aged 60 days. in my story about the WF, the clerk actually mentioned it was illegal because it was so young. but obviously it wasn't labeled as such.

Any specific recommendations for which verboten cheese(s) to transport? Is Brie de Meaux the most scandalous? Would you risk hard time in the pokey for a true Camembert? S.O. will be in the Loire Valley (Saumur), so any regional suggestions are welcome!

I like both coulommiers and Pont l'Eveque. They both start fairly mild and runny, but strengthen fairly rapidly.

Geo

A few years ago my sister's roommate wrote an article on illegal cheese for the WSJ. My sister was never happier when the research was going on because they got hundreds of dollars of cheese paid for by the Journal.