Whine and Cheese

Year 2 of med school started Monday, and all I really want to do is whine about how much reading there already is. Well, honestly, it would be manageable if I could motivate myself to do a little bit each day! But instead three days have already piled up, leaving me a whining, complaining mess. (I’ll break out the world’s smallest violin for myself, thanks!) End of my venting… I’ll cheer up thinking about all of the goodies up for grabs in CCK’s amazing give away, and remembering some awesome stories from my vacation!

My new favorite indulgence is wine and cheese. That’s not completely true. I loved wine and I loved cheese before I left, but my love was renewed as I sampled some of the best cheese I have ever tried. I have already taken you on my tour through the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese making process, but that is not the only cheese I got to indulge in in Italy. Especially during the summer, it is too hot to eat dinner much earlier than dusk, which doesn’t happen until 8:30 or 9pm. With lunch at 1pm, that is a long time between meals! It is common instead to enjoy an apertivo, usually a glass of white wine with a platter of meats and cheeses. We biked to the neighboring town one evening, where there is a great cafe on the town square that Miriam’s family favors for a pre-dinner drink. For just a few euro, we got a refreshing glass of local white wine, and a platter of some of the best cheese I have ever tasted. My favorite was the drunken cheese, a cow’s milk cheese aged in red wine. Not hearing the description of what everything was, I just happily munched away. I reached for a piece of the purple-y pink cheese, thinking it was actually a bit of cured ham. I exclaimed, “This is so good… it almost tastes like cheese!” A little bit of a blonde moment…

My cheese indulgences didn’t end in Italy! Before we left for Dresden, our host told us of a dairy that we simply had to visit. It was a little bit off the beaten path, but well worth the trip.

The entire inside of the shop was decorated with blue-and-white tile and porcelain statues. I found out after sneaking a few pictures that cameras weren’t allowed… oops! After exploring the beautiful store for a few minutes, we made our way to the cheese counter to pick out a few cheeses for dinner.

The woman spoke little English, and we spoke little German, but we relied on key distinctions like sharp or mild, Saxon, small or big, try or buy. We sampled several, but only purchases three small pieces. One was half a round of French Camembert, the second a piece of smoked Saxon Gouda, and the last an aged, herbed Saxon cheese whose real name I didn’t recognize. Each was unique and excellent, and made a perfect train picnic with a few rolls picked up from the bakery down the street! I particularly enjoyed the smoked cheese with the seedy rye bread as the beautiful German countryside rolled past the train window. A great splurge!

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