It's a good cheese, but is it a great cheese?
Only a cheese snob knows for sure.
Wine snobs are famed for being persnickety about just which vintage of a given variety is allowed to touch their tongue. But they aren't any pickier than cheese snobs.
You know you are a cheese snob if:
Words like "Kraft" or "Cheez-whiz" never pass your lips.
You have to know the country - even region - of origin of any slice you consider.
You make a fuss about whether your cheese is wrapped in a "rustic" rind.
You look down your nose at people who think they are sophisticated because they know of Feta and Brie.
However, if you aren't a cheese snob, but love cheese and would like to be knowledgeable enough about it to achieve snob status, Steve Jenkins can help.
Jenkins is an acknowledged cheese guru and the author of a book called "Cheese Primer" (Workman Publishing, $16.95). The subtitle explains its subject matter this way:
"A passionate guide to the world's cheeses, from grand Parmigiano-Reggiano and stunning Roquefort to Cheddar from the farm, high Alpine Emmentals, haunting Italian Toma, the real Munster, and fresh, tangy artisanal chevres, by America's most opinionated authority."
Opinionated, he definitely is.
"If you want to eat something memorable, make sure it was made by people, not machines," says Jenkins.
"Look for natural rinds - from beige to chocolate brown to red. Serve it with serious bread. That means bread with a crust. Accompany it with dried fruit, chutney, roasted vegetables or braised Italian onions in balsamic vinegar - as opposed to the usual Delicious apple."
That's just for starters.
Jenkins is a New Yorker and owner of two gourmet food emporiums. He says that when he was growing up in Columbia, Mo., his acquaintance with cheese was as limited as the next person's. "I ate grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and cheeseburgers made with processed `American' cheese . . .' "
But in 1977, he got a job with a specialty food shop in Manhattan and was assigned to develop that store's cheese department.
He began by giving customers tastes of the cheeses then available. He followed up by going to Paris to arrange to import French cheeses "the likes of which had never been tasted in New York before. Real Brie from Brie, not the nonsense that comes from just any cheese factory in France. I stocked French chevres [goat cheese] made the traditional way from fresh raw milk - not the mutant stuff made from frozen curds and powdered milk."
