black market pecorino

It will change the way you think about pecorino romano; Steven Jenkins brought us a chunk of his new proprietary cheese and it is phenomenal: quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous, a long sloppy kiss of a cheese, then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude.

Ummmm. . .what?

"'Pretentious' -- moi ?"

What exactly is pretentious about sharing the appearance of a great new cheese?

Jenkins = http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/07/ ... nkins.html

I'm the cheese specialist for a new store in Greenwich Village. Working in NYC with great, knowledgable staff offers me opportunities I wouldn't have, say, in Indianapolis.

Opportunities like attending the World's Best Cheese trade show not that long ago.

Christopher Gordon wrote:It will change the way you think about pecorino romano; Steven Jenkins brought us a chunk of his new proprietary cheese and it is phenomenal: quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous, a long sloppy kiss of a cheese, then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude.

I look forward to your posts and much appreciate your flair for language. I'd argue that the height of pretension is posting silly takedowns of others' efforts to share info on a chat site.

boudreaulicious wrote:I'd argue that the height of pretension is posting silly takedowns of others' efforts to share info on a chat site.

I don't know if it's pretension but it's certainly tiresome, especially when it predictably originates from the same place over and over again.

=R=
for the Moderators

I like pecorino. Thanks for sharing.

Maybe we can resume talking about cheese now?

The pecorinos I am familiar with(and Locatelli, I'm looking at you) are condiment cheeses, grating cheeses, aggressive, salty, behemoths in the ancient pantheon of cheese. This new pecorino is a wonder(and I cannot wait until I can legitimately-sell it, not just curl off tastes to curious aficionados). My GM chides me that our chunk should last until Christmas, then directs me to offer bits to our VIP's.

Christopher Gordon wrote:The pecorinos I am familiar with(and Locatelli, I'm looking at you) are condiment cheeses, grating cheeses, aggressive, salty, behemoths in the ancient pantheon of cheese. This new pecorino is a wonder(and I cannot wait until I can legitimately-sell it, not just curl off tastes to curious aficionados). My GM chides me that our chunk should last until Christmas, then directs me to offer bits to our VIP's.

Hi,

Do you think the producer is mistaken to refer to this as pecorino when you suggest it is in a class of its own?

Regards,
CAthy2

Roger Ramjet wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous, a long sloppy kiss of a cheese, then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude.

No.

I'm sorry, but no.

It is simply not humanly possible to read those words and think, "That's not pretentious, it's simply sharing information."

And as for you, Mr Ronnie "Tiresome" Suburban, where the fuck were you when people were posting deranged nonsense such as "not charging for bread is nazism"???

It's Christopher Gordon's normal writing style, and I didn't read it as pretentious. That might be because I've been hanging around a bunch of professional beer brewers lately, and they speak the same way about beer. They're pretty humble, down to earth people, but very serious - even scientific - about beer and creating a balanced finished product. Constant and fanatical attention to the different tastes and flavor compounds that are produced throughout the brewing process is necessary for them to create a great beer - and they do make great beer. I actually have learned from them how to taste and notice the more subtle characteristics of beer, and it's helped me appreciate it more. It's a really cool skill that can be transferred to wine, cheese, or any other food.

I assume Christopher Gordon - as a cheese monger - has the same mentality as these beer guys, he seems to take his product just as seriously.

I'm just disgruntled I can't try this cheese. Christopher, please let us know when/if the ship comes in. And thanks for the evocative review.

bnowell724 wrote:

Roger Ramjet wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous, a long sloppy kiss of a cheese, then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude.

No.

I'm sorry, but no.

It is simply not humanly possible to read those words and think, "That's not pretentious, it's simply sharing information."

And as for you, Mr Ronnie "Tiresome" Suburban, where the fuck were you when people were posting deranged nonsense such as "not charging for bread is nazism"???

It's Christopher Gordon's normal writing style, and I didn't read it as pretentious. That might be because I've been hanging around a bunch of professional beer brewers lately, and they speak the same way about beer. They're pretty humble, down to earth people, but very serious - even scientific - about beer and creating a balanced finished product. Constant and fanatical attention to the different tastes and flavor compounds that are produced throughout the brewing process is necessary for them to create a great beer - and they do make great beer. I actually have learned from them how to taste and notice the more subtle characteristics of beer, and it's helped me appreciate it more. It's a really cool skill that can be transferred to wine, cheese, or any other food.

I assume Christopher Gordon - as a cheese monger - has the same mentality as these beer guys, he seems to take his product just as seriously.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but there's a difference between a bunch of professional brewers sharing their "shop talk" and someone posting on a food-centric forum designed for the home enthusiast. I suspect your professional beermaster buddies would find a more accessible way to describe things if they were outside their group and hanging out with non-brewing friends or neighbors.

boudreaulicious wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:It will change the way you think about pecorino romano; Steven Jenkins brought us a chunk of his new proprietary cheese and it is phenomenal: quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous, a long sloppy kiss of a cheese, then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude.

I look forward to your posts and much appreciate your flair for language. I'd argue that the height of pretension is posting silly takedowns of others' efforts to share info on a chat site.

⬆️ Agreed.

I come here to learn about and discuss food. How this became a thread to debate the merits of a member's writing style, I cannot quite figure out. Surely, people are free to express themselves, but I'm just describing the type of discussion I look forward to finding when I come here: what's on the plate, not the plate.

So. About pecorino. I've only ever known the condiment version. I think it is Locatelli. It is dry and craggly and quite salty. I like it quite a bit, but only used in a certain way. I have a tough time envisioning what is different about this new cheese, since all the pecorinos I've tried are pretty similar. Is this black market version still pecorino Romano?

In any case, I'll be looking forward to trying it if it ever comes this way.

spinynorman99 wrote:

bnowell724 wrote:

It's Christopher Gordon's normal writing style, and I didn't read it as pretentious. That might be because I've been hanging around a bunch of professional beer brewers lately, and they speak the same way about beer. They're pretty humble, down to earth people, but very serious - even scientific - about beer and creating a balanced finished product. Constant and fanatical attention to the different tastes and flavor compounds that are produced throughout the brewing process is necessary for them to create a great beer - and they do make great beer. I actually have learned from them how to taste and notice the more subtle characteristics of beer, and it's helped me appreciate it more. It's a really cool skill that can be transferred to wine, cheese, or any other food.

I assume Christopher Gordon - as a cheese monger - has the same mentality as these beer guys, he seems to take his product just as seriously.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but there's a difference between a bunch of professional brewers sharing their "shop talk" and someone posting on a food-centric forum designed for the home enthusiast. I suspect your professional beermaster buddies would find a more accessible way to describe things if they were outside their group and hanging out with non-brewing friends or neighbors.

Yeah with shop talk you're right, they would make it more accessible and speak differently. I wasn't clear but I was talking about actual beer tasting - and they use the same food-centric language re: beer whether talking to me (in no way an aficionado) or anyone else. Using culinary terms is a unique approach, but it's sort of their philosophy.

Wow, calling WCW, not about the thing but the thing itself. That's a lesson I am always learning. What if I wrote, this is not available in the United States, yet. Made in Italy to the specifications of Stephen Jenkins. If Locatelli or black rind grating pecorino are what you are familiar, wait until you try this stuff, not a condiment cheese, instead, the main event. And, yeah, I was, anyway,

If one were to approach me in my store I would sneak one a taste; speakeasy, handle Little TH. Otherwise. My GM would kill me. Just such great stuff, I had to share.

spinynorman99 wrote:Not to add fuel to the fire, but there's a difference between a bunch of professional brewers sharing their "shop talk" and someone posting on a food-centric forum designed for the home enthusiast. I suspect your professional beermaster buddies would find a more accessible way to describe things if they were outside their group and hanging out with non-brewing friends or neighbors.

"More accessible"? It's beyond me how virtually any of the description in the original post is anything but accessible. What's difficult to understand about this language? "It will change the way you think about pecorino romano; Steven Jenkins brought us a chunk of his new proprietary cheese and it is phenomenal: quiet, then buttery, then lactic, then herbaceous..."

That section contains the single "technical" word in the entire post: "lactic." Surely that's not difficult or inaccessible. The OP follows that straightforward description with "a long sloppy kiss of a cheese"--there can't be too many folks here who don't follow that. In fact, some might even think it pretty creative and vivid language to convey his idea. It captured what he meant and I like to think I understand what he meant.

I presume it is either that phrase or the ending that has people reacting: "...then reeling back, realizing what it has done, apologizes with a finish of gratitude." The phrase may be too poetic or metaphorical for some--maybe even incomprehensible. Unusual description? You bet. Do you know what he means? I'm not certain I do, either. So what? I think I have some sense of it and even if I'm wrong, I'm grateful for what preceded it and that he took the time to call to the board's attention a cheese we might otherwise never know or even hear about. In my book, that's a pretty valuable contribution to this board.

As has already been pointed out, the poster has a particularly distinctive style. Go back and look at his posts from ten years ago and you'll find the same thing. I may not always understand Christopher Gordon's posts but I always appreciate the effort and the clear enthusiasm behind them. His style may not speak to you, but I think it's pretty intense and pithy.

Not everyone likes Faulkner, not everyone likes Hemingway. Just because one may not "get" or like a particular writer's style doesn't seem much of a reason to write him off. We all write in different ways and understand in different ways; if you don't like the writing, skip it. (Hell, if you don't like what a poster has to say on a regular basis, block them.) What baffles me is the perceived need to respond to posts you don't like or don't understand with snark (and no, I don't mean you, spinynorman99).

Ok, everyone. Let's get back to the cheese, please!

Thanks,

=R=
for the Moderators

Someone asked about eating Pecorino out of hand not grated: why not? If it's a good tasty cheese, I would eat it like any other aged cheese. If it's so hard you can't chew it, sure, grate it up. But why not a lovely piece of Pecorino with a nice glass of a Pecorino white wine (yes, it's Italy, they make wine there too).

The cheese is available this January.

I have no problem with Christopher's writing style. It's chewy, herbaceous, fruity, a bit whimsical. I tend to wax nostalgic the same way at times, though not in the cheese arena.

Besides, he's doing me the favor of hooking me up with a guy in NYC that knows some people in Rome that have expertise about Pecorino Romano when I am there in March. So he's good people to me.

Christopher Gordon wrote:The cheese is available this January.

NO...
Should be.....

Chilling winds careen through concrete and glass canyons, fur feather and fin tremble awestruck of Jack Frost's temper
no hope/reprieve/relinquish
Stinging frozen eyes light softly upon romano redemption, precious pecorino teasing with gentle suggestion hope is not lost, deliciousness afoot
No apology necessary, Cubs win in 7, love unrequited no more.............

You...you...pot-stirrer, you!

Gypsy Boy wrote:You...you...pot-stirrer, you!

Pot stirring was not my intention.

I simply wanted CG to realize even if some of us, including me, occasionally read his posts shake our heads and mouth W-T-F doesn't mean we/me/others wish he modify his unique style.

(Insert something pithy about Jack Web and the world wide web -->here<--)

Agreed. And, to bring things back full circle, I've been enjoying some fairly good pecorino lately, but the news about this particular cheese has me salivating. I hope it turns out to be available in some fashion--I'd love to sample some.