Comments on: My New Favorite Cheese Sandwich

By: Fi

Fi — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 21:08:41 +0000

Er… further to Steph’s post, as a fellow Brit I’d also like to know what “government cheese” is. Oh, and what’s Velveeta? *curious*

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 21:07:18 +0000

“Government” cheese is not grey. Nor is it politically sensitive. It is, however, given out to the poor–it is made from surplus milk supplies that the government buys up and has made into processed American style cheese. It is very dark orange, comes in big blocks and while it doesn’t -really- take an oxy-aceteline torch to melt it–it does have a very rubbery texture that I find to be unappealing.

My Grandpa, however, loved it. Probably because he didn’t have to pay for it–he was very frugal.

The last time I tasted it was about twenty-five years ago when Grandpa was still using it to melt over his really good homegrown broccoli, so it is possible that the formulation has improved over the years.

By: Steph

Steph — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 20:19:05 +0000

Can you explain to a Brit what “government” cheese is? Grey? Politically sensitive? Given out to the poor? Whatever, it sounds a little scary

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:09:58 +0000

Indira–I think you would love this sandwich. The cheese is superlative, and the great bread, fresh tomatoes and lemon basil really just make it all sing beautifully together. (Did you not eat paneer in India?)

Hello, and welcome, Mindy! Thank you for the compliment on the Indian foods–I have a few more to post in the coming week–I made a big dinner on Sunday, specifically so I could have leftovers through the week. It is my lazy way of cooking!

Meg–no worries on the guilt trip! Raw cheeses were never mentioned by my doctors per se–mostly because they probably don’t know about raw cheeses even existing! But, I have read injunctions against pregnant women eating them–which I tend to think are a little bit bogus, as the likelihood of raw milk cheeses carrying a dangerous bacteria are fairly low. (I did a lot of research on it.) I think that the reason they are forbidden so tightly in France probably has to do with the prevalance of them.

Technically, I should not be eating a lot of things, and for the most part, I keep the most egregiously dangerous foods out of my diet. No alcohol, save for a tiny sip to taste, or in food where the alcohol is cooked away. No top of the foodchain fish like tuna or salmon, even though they are great sources of omega 3 fatty acids, because of the methylmercury contamination. No raw meat, even though I love steak tartare. (I still eat my steaks rare when I eat them, though, because dammit–that is the way I like them! But, my disinclination to eat much meat seems to be holding….)

No raw milk, not that I can get it anyway….and a big cut down on refined sugars and the like.

Not that I can tolerate much that tastes very sweet without getting nauseous anyway….

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 10:05:46 +0000

Barbara, I didn’t mean to trigger a guilt trip! I was just curious, because my family was amazed at the number of foods I was forbidden to eat here in France. My sister couldn’t remember a single food she’d been told not to eat…though granted her last pregnancy was over 13 years ago and she may have forgotten!

Anyway, glad to hear that you and the baby are healthy – that’s the main thing!