I once created a cooking class, called 'Zen in the Kitchen'. Then wrote a book called the same. Then started the group with that name and the blog came after. All this happened in Turkish. Now is the time for the English version of it. Let's see what will cook here!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Love story


Have you ever fallen in love with a certain type of cheese? Stupid isn't it? Silly... But no. You may. It only takes few moments. You go to a far, far city.
It's called Kars. Then you go to a far, far village. In that village,
there is this guy with blue eyes. A tall guy with a beard. He makes gruyer
cheese as his family have been making for almost 100 years. The big, big
rounds of gruyer cheese -each weighs 70 to 90 kilos- are resting in cool rooms,
warm rooms. Some sweat. You take a piece of cloth and clean the sweat. They are like babies. They require attention. It takes almost two months for the big rounds to be ready for sale. How do you not love this cheese? Then you buy some, slice and eat them with few grissinis. A glass of wine is also required. Is it possible not to have wine with it?

5 comments:

TRAN! (www.thinktran.com) said...

I only just recently discovered that I LOVE gruyere. So.. yes, it is possible to fall in love with a certain type of cheese. But, then again, I just love cheese, in general.

Tijen said...

Thank you so much for your comment Tran. I believe we treat food better when we know how it's made or how difficult the process is. I do too love cheese in general!

Anonymous said...

Tijen-

Would you really classify Kars peyniri as a gruyere-type cheese? Some books describe it as a cheddar-esque cheese (I disagree). Or- would you put it in a category of its own??? I have a whole wheel in my fridge as we speak and I think it deserves its own categorical name.

Anonymous said...

This sounds lovely. Does it melt well? Is Kars the town from the book Snow? If so, I can understand why they make such an alpine-style cheese. I must visit Turkey soon.

Anonymous said...

I think as a cheese lover it is hard to love just one cheese. I don't think there is a cheese yet that I haven't liked.