{"id":16478,"date":"2021-12-26T07:48:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T12:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=16478"},"modified":"2022-02-20T09:59:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T14:59:23","slug":"st-stephen-cheese-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=16478","title":{"rendered":"St. Stephen Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)<\/em>
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To understand how today’s date, December 26, relates to the ambrosial triple cream pictured above, you have to do a little digging.<\/p>\n

December 26, also known as Boxing Day, is earmarked as the date set aside for boxing up unwanted Christmas presents and returning them to their original sources, particularly in the US.<\/p>\n

But dig a little deeper and you\u2019ll find that in the UK and elsewhere, Boxing Day was originally set aside for donating charity to those in need, the name relating to alms boxes located in churches to collect contributions. <\/p>\n

And dig a little deeper still and you\u2019ll find that Boxing Day shares its calendar slot with Saint Stephen\u2019s Day which honors the Christian martyr known for his acts of charity (and the connection with the alms boxes).<\/p>\n

All of which neatly connects December 26 and the subject of this post, St. Stephen cheese.<\/p>\n

Some of you know that in addition to being cuckoo for ethnic food, I am a turophile \u2013 from the Greek word for \u201cobsessive cheesefreak\u201d. One of my absolute favorites, and one that always finds a place on my Christmas cheeseboard, is St. Stephen from Four Fat Fowl (in Stephentown, NY, of course).<\/p>\n

Some bloomy rind cheeses are mild and buttery, some have a pronounced personality; this magnificently rich, velvety cheese manages to have distinct characteristics of both. It\u2019s made from all natural Jersey cow\u2019s milk and fresh cream and IMHO is at its best when aged and runny.<\/p>\n

(If you\u2019re careful and know what you\u2019re doing, you can ripen your prize a little past the \u201cbest by\u201d date. Assuming you can wait that long. Or do what I do and get two, one for now and one for later.)<\/p>\n

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\nIt\u2019s a perfect candidate for the role of soft-ripened member of a well-curated cheese board. Try pairing it with fresh, ripe figs for a dessert treat, or as you see here, served on a lightly toasted baguette with local farmers\u2019 market sliced sweet heirloom tomatoes, warm from the sun.<\/p>\n

To fully enjoy this dreamy dairy delight, please do not trim away the rind! Would you buy a perfect French baguette and then cut off the crust before you consume it? Of course not – it’s an essential component. Same rule applies here.
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\nLook for St. Stephen at your local cheese shop or purchase it directly from their website: www.fourfatfowl.com.<\/a>
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What do cheese and December 26 have in common? Read on…. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shopping","category-snacks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16478"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16987,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16478\/revisions\/16987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}