Non-fat Mozzarella Cheese

Okay, this is the set-up:

I was at the Kroger the other day, and I was in a hurry. I had a dentist appointment that I didn't want to be late for. So... I'm in a hurry, I don't have my glasses on (and are therefore nearly blind) and I see that the already shredded store brand mozzarella cheese is on sale. So I think, "Why not?" I mean, I already use their brand of block cheese and it's fine. So I picked up 3 packages of the stuff and I hurry home to put away the food before I rush off to the dentist. Then, a couple of days later I make a couple of quickie tortilla pizzas for Thomas and myself for lunch. And I see on the package that it says "Non-fat cheese". But I wasn't worried, how bad could it be?

Turns out folks that it is very bad indeed. The stuff doesn't melt like mozzarella cheese, it doesn't taste like mozzarella cheese and it doesn't smell like mozzarella cheese. I'm not really sure what it is, but my friends, it ain't cheese. It's some kind of weird, space-age technology, petroleum by-product, plastic, pretend food that I don't understand. And I don't want to understand it. It was nasty. Let me repeat myself: IT WAS NOT CHEESE. Avoid at all costs, people. I don't even think your body can digest it. It probably passes right thru entire, like when I was little and the dog ate one of my plastic army men (I was a strange girl child, what can I say) and it came out the other end and we found it in the yard many weeks later. Must have hurt like hell, but the dog didn't seem to take any lasting harm from it. Lived many more years thereafter. I have hopes that I will too, after ingesting this stuff.

Bottom line:
Price: cheap when on sale.
Would I buy this again? No, no, no. Hell NO!
Would I serve this to my friends? Nope, not even to my enemies, probably.
Would I recommend it? I would recommend that they stop calling this stuff "cheese" and I would recommend that they stop selling it as a "food" item. Other than that? Absolutely not.

I have decided that I will, in the future, limit my cheese health-o-meter to cheddar made with 2% milk. That's about as healthy as I'm willing to go with my cheese. I might have to cut the fat in my diet in other places and I might consider not eating as much but dammit! I ain't messing with the cheese no more! Its gonna be REAL cheese or nothing from now on, for this girl and her family. I'm not even sure something as fake as that stuff was is good for you anyway. It can't be.

End of this cheese story.

Comte French Raw Milk Alpine Cheese - tasted 01/20/08

Hubby picked out this cheese and therefore, I don't have a brand name for it, either. (I'm not starting out too good, am I?) I will get the brand for this one and the Double Gloucester from last week as soon as I can and pass them on to you.


This is a lovely, creamy white cheese with a brownish-tan colored natural rind (which I will be saving to use as a flavoring in my next pot of soup). It has a firm, smooth texture. Easy to slice. Feels good "to the teeth", to borrow a pasta cooking term. This cheese is semi-dry. As it came up to room temperature it became slightly oily.


From the label:
Raw cow milk, salt, animal rennet, lactic ferments.
Net weight: .26 lb.
Unit Price: $16.99/lb.
Total Price: $4.42


As I said, Pete picked this cheese. So, of course, he didn't care for it. Me? I love it! It is a robust, flavorful, some might say "pungent" cheese. I accompanied my first serving of this cheese with red seedless grapes, cherry tomatoes, pumpernickel bread and iced peach tea. The tomatoes were really good with this cheese. So was the pumpernickel. The grapes didn't go so well. This cheese needs to be served with foods that can "stand up" to it. I would serve it with such things as cured meats, different types of pickles, olives, rustic breads, veggies... I would not serve it with sweet or fruity items. Except maybe berries with balsamic vinegar.


There is almost a flavor of Parmesan cheese when you first put this in your mouth. Then the flavor changes into something else. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's something I've tasted before. Some other type of cheese. Gruyere, perhaps? Something about this Comte French makes me think of fondue. This is a very rich, slightly nutty flavored cheese.


This cheese is not for everyone. It has a strong, distinctive flavor that some people may object to. I would save this one for guests you are sure will appreciate it. Despite the cost, I would buy this cheese again. Perhaps not every week, or even every month, but two or three times a year would not be out of the question.