Making American cheeses (Polish and EU ones are terrible!)

Craft beers started taking off before I left, in large part due to Poles returning from the UK and the States, and even to Brits and Americans coming to Poland. I remember meeting a young American who moved to Poland about 20 years ago and was in the process of resurrecting one of the old local breweries. He's doing quite well now: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browar_Namys%C5%82%C3%B3w

As you said, local tastes have to be reschooled. Same as American tastes had to be retrained in the 1970s when the only beers available were commercial crap. The charge was led by troops returning from being stationed in Germany, who returned home and found that there were no decent beers available.

As for cheese, even a lot of my cooworkers here in Vermont are unaware that Vermont is one of the bright stars on the cheese map. The selection of mouthwatering cheeses here is simply astounding. A lot of the craft producers went to Europe to learn the best methods for making traditional cheeses. Some are even making rather respectable washed-rind cheeses, which take an extraordinary level of skill.

We do washed rind (and cheddared) cheeses. They're a bit fiddlier but better than the easy option which is waxing them.

I know. Stinking Bishop is on the to-do list next time I visit the UK.

I am surprised that Poles don`t make good cheese. Anyway maybe Serbians can help, in this case, too >>> Spot this >>> Best cheese in the world is Serbian cheese >>> go import that from Serbia >>>

The most expensive cheese in the world is produced in Serbia, costing £700 a kilo... and it comes from a DONKEY

UK`s Dailymail
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3112015/The-expensive-cheese-world-produced-Serbia-costing-700-kilo-comes-DONKEY.html


Serbian cheeses
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_cheeses

Ill have to take a pass on that one Crow, but good luck to you!

Not one of the best. They're actually quite easy to make, though I'd recommend using pasteurised milk with them.

If that is what was meant then the OP may have a point. Some Polish cheeses are lovely, but the yellow cheese is quite bland and tasteless. However the title and opening post suggests the OP thinks European cheeses in general are terrible. Tell that to the French!!

In fairness, the only American cheese I have tried is Monterey Jack, and it was very bland in comparison to English cheddar cheese for example. Most Europeans tend to think of American cheese in terms of those disgusting Kraft cheese slices topping burgers......

That is because that kind of Kraft cheese is not really cheese.
It says right on the label Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product
Emphasize the word "PRODUCT".
It is milk cheddar cheese culture - Whey -Milk protein concentrate - milk fat - sodium citrate - lactic acid - annatto and paprika extract - modified food starch - mold inhibitor - enzymes - natamycin - vitamin D3 and a few other gross ingreidients .

YUMMY !
The kids just love it, it melts nice on heated sandwiches & burgers and only costs about $3.50 a pound.
In all reality though.......IT IS NOT REAL CHEESE !

Thank you. It was about most expensive cheese in the world. But, I would rather suggest you some of our standard cheeses: Sjenica (can be as sheep or cow cheese) or Zlatar (cow cheese) cheese.







Sjenicki sir

I think you're right. Until I read through this thread in its entirety, I presumed like many others I guess, that America didn't produce any quality cheeses. Do they produce any which are strong tasting? I'm still advocating that the American palate is geared more towards bland tastes, as is the case in Poland, at least where cheese is concerned.

I once gave a Polish friend of mine a piece of really mature Cheddar. She spat it out immediately in disgust. Polish do not do strong cheese!

Yes, cheeses with robust flavors and aromas are indeed produced in the States. The variety and quality of artisan cheeses available would make a Frenchman's head spin.

Of course, as in any other country, these cheeses are consumed mainly by foodies who make the effort to seek them out. Even here in the cheesemaking state of Vermont, you won't find much of a selection in regular supermarkets. You have to go to a specialist cheese shop, or to the producer themselves. Some of the best sell only on their premises by appointment only. Fortunately, it's just a short walk for me to the nearest cheese shop, which does have a rather decent selection, and they can order just about any local cheese I want with adequate notice.

I know what you mean, I quite often go to local food festivals where I live. At these you can get a choice of cheeses not found in shops/supermarkets and some I have never even heard of. Prices can be quite high though, but it's nice to be able to try them all out ;)

Thanks for the information.

That may well hold true over there. In France, people are more likely to buy interesting cheeses as a matter of course and in Britain every town with a market and every supermarket have plenty.

In Poland the range in normal shops is growing, however most are still factory made.

When I was in the mountains near the Czech border, there was some lovely cheese that was a bit like Halloumi, you could fry it.

Fried cheese.......oh my poor plugged arteries.
Since this thread started I have taken notice to imported cheese.
I went into a store that must have 300 different kinds and didn't know where to start but one section caught my eye. (for some unknown reason) lol

That section was many cheeses from Ireland.
I ended up buying the Blarney Castle.
Oh what a treat that was for a mere $15 a pound.
Any other suggestions as I now have a new hobby of trying different cheeses from around the world.
Does Poland produce any outstanding cheeses ?

Only Koryciński. You might have to look online for that.

Easy to make (very) however the main organic producer here has won prizes.

It's a bit like Queso Fresco in that people add things to it, like herbs, but lasts slightly longer.

Thank you jon.
Will be heading to that cheese store today to see if they carry it.
Will keep you posted on my findings.

I only encountered one commercial cheese that was of rather good quality while I was in Poland. It's called Bursztyn. The same company that makes it makes at least two other cheeses that I never had the chance to try: Safir and Rubin. I doubt that any would get exported to the States, though. All the rest of the commercially available cheeses I ever tried in Poland were bland and lifeless knock-offs of western European cheeses that all basically taste the same.

Once in a while, there will be a stand at a fair that has artisan cheeses that are pretty good. This movement is in its infancy, though, and again I don't think any would be exported.

As explained above, the one thing holding it back is consumer tastes. Most Poles will not even try any cheese that has any aroma, and strongly dislike sharp aged cheeses. The neighbor lady from the apartment downstairs even came apoundin' at my door once when I made cheesy melts with a rather mildly aromatic Czech cheese once. I probably would have put her in the hospital had I done so with a fully aromatic Danish cheese like Gamle Ole or Sorte Per Far. Their concept of cheese needs to be expanded a great deal. It's going to be quite a marketing challenge to increase demand for quality cheeses.

Not once in a while, but almost all the time. Things have changed very quickly in Poland, with cosmopolitan cities all having some form of regular (as in weekly) food fairs where you can buy such things.

This is getting better now, however most of the stuff they sell is still very bland and nothing that can't be made easily at home.

I suppose it will be like beer. One minute, you couldn't get a decent pint in Poland, the next minute you couldn't move for decent pints.

Overkill now, too many over-strong darkish weird tasting beers, drunk by hipsters - sometimes you just want a normal one. Cheese has further to go and less profit for investors, though a cottage industry may develop. Right now, people here who can afford it tend to buy imported or locally (factory) produced that pretends to be imported.

Funny you say that.
My Polish grandmother was very picky when I use to take her fish that I had caught.
I ask her what kind of fish she liked and she replied, "the ones that don't smell like fish." :-o
Maybe we are onto something here.........start a cheese factory in Poland that produces an exotic mild cheese the Polish people would buy.
Made in Poland.

@johnny reb

Indeed. The most popular fishes in Poland are pollock and swai, both very non-assertive.

Yet when my Polish grandma made her Polish cabbage dishes you could smell them all the way across town. lol
She tried relentlessly to teach me the Polish language but I was to young and dumb.
I only wish that she was still alive.
So today I will be looking for Korycinski & Bursztyn cheese at my cheese store.
I bet they will order it for me for a small fee if they do not have it.

I have looked in every town within 50 miles of me and couldn't find any cheese that is made in Poland.
Every other European country I found imported cheeses from though.
Will be gong to the big city next week so will try there.
Would have you send me some but shipping prices are ridiculous.
I sent a pound of chocolate to Poland from the U.S. and the shipping cost was $27.

You cannot be too young for learning the language (unless you are too young for talk). On the contrary, the young age is a big advantage for learning the language naturally and effectively through listening only.

See your PM box for the "best" Polish cheese.

On the request of JR, I am posting my PM message to him on the "best" Polish cheese here:

The best Polish cheese is perhaps the sheep's milk cheese manufactured by Roman Kluska, formerly a successful businessman and owner of a company selling computers whose business was completely destroyed by the Polish tax office several years ago and as a consequence he turned to making cheese. This cheese is unique, manufactured in rather small quantities and not available all the time since quality is put highly above profit. Mr Kluska is said to have cured himself from cancer and overweight through eating this cheese. The sheep milk used for this cheese is strictly controlled for not having any slightest addition of cow milk to it. I should add that the cheese is not cheap, but it is not overpriced either since Mr Kluska is a devoted Catholic who believes his cheese should be available (from time to time at least) to those people in Poland whose income is rather modest.

Cheese is not a cure for cancer.

I've eaten that sheeps' cheese. It doesn't differ much from any other. Very expensive too.

Just in case anyone was tempted to listen to the claims of that guy from Optimus and rely on Polish or other soft cheese as a therapy:


metro.co.uk/2016/01/14/science-has-given-us-yet-another-reason-to-eat-cheese-5623206/

The cheese that the guy makes is OK, but not exceptional and definitely not the reason his cancer is currently in remission - the surgery and chemotherapy he received had a lot more to do with it.