A Cheesy Day!

The Cheeses ready to be tasted!

A Closer look at some of the cheeses.

My Cheese Map

My complete cheese map: I was a little nervous at this point!

A Cheesy Day!

       Today was cheese day! We had two guest speakers. One of the speakers was Amy Ruis from Art of the Table; the other was Barbara Jenness from the Dancing Goat Creamery. Amy introduced her specialty store which prides itself on selling specialty cheeses and wines not sold in the grocery store. Her friend, Barbara is the supplier of a lot of their cheeses and is also the supplier for various restaurants around town. Barbara gave us a lot of information on cheese making and the entire process of how cheese comes to our table.
       The first thing that Amy and Barbara introduced was about lactose intolerance. Amy wanted to assure us that even if some of us were lactose intolerant, we could still try the cheese. A lot of time lactose intolerant people can still have aged cheese because all the lactose is gone. Then Barbara went on to share her power point. The first point she made is that true cheese is made of milk, culture, rennet and salt. Cheese should not be named “genuine processed cheese food”. She was adamant about the fact that many of the cheeses we eat from the grocery are not genuine and natural.
        The most important part of the cheese, Barbara stated, is where the milk comes from. She says that the best cheese comes from milk that has not been sloshed around, and thus breaking the vital chemical bonds needed for cheese making. She also talked about rennet. This is a used in harder cheeses as a coagulant. Acid coagulated cheese also exists and usually makes up the softer cheeses. Culture is another element of cheese. She stressed that bacteria acidify the milk and create lactic acid. These bacteria are what give the cheese flavor and are not genetically modified. Other things can be used to acidify milk, including buttermilk, vinegar, and lemon juice. She said the most important things to keep in mind in terms of cheese making are temperature, time, and pH.
        Barbara also introduced us to a type of cheese I had never heard of before, raw milk cheeses. These cheeses have to be aged for 60 days by U.S. FDA health standards, because that is when the supposed “bad” bacteria is all dead. These cheeses taste the best because they contain the raw cultures and have been aged naturally. The flavors have had a chance to develop. She also introduced us to the idea of terrior. This literally means “of the earth”. Thus, what the animals eat comes through the milk.
        She also gave us some tips for making our own cheese at home. She said we will not be able to make cheese from simply going to buy milk at Meijer. This is because Meijer’s milk goes through a homogenization process which breaks up all the bonds that are vital for cheese making. So, we need to go find cream-line milk that is more old-fashioned. This is cheese that has not been homogenized so those chemical bonds are undisturbed. It was also interesting to learn that she names her cheeses after historical women. She is constantly inventing and creating new cheeses and she has the right to name them anything she wants! She also treats her goats very humanly. She has 35 goats and she keeps them on their natural cycle. Thus, these goats only produce milk 8 months out of the year. So, in the remaining months she relaxes and also makes cheese from cow’s milk, which she buys from a local farmer. Her take home message is to know your farmer. She tells people to know where they are getting their food from. The best way to change the economy and business practices for the better is not to start with the big corporations. It starts from the small farmer first and grows upward!


We also got the opportunity to taste test a variety of Barbara’s cheeses and some others sold at Art of the Table. We also got a “cheese map” to remind us of what each kind was like and so we could note our reactions. My reactions are as follows.

Dancing Goat Creamery’s Cream Cheese: Cow
When I smelled this cream cheese it smelled just like any other Philadelphia cream cheese. It smelled very fresh and appetizing. The texture was light and fluffy. However, the taste was much different than I expected. It was tangy, sour, and a bit lemony. It tasted like cream cheese at first, but had a tart after taste. In this case, I liked the store-bought cream cheese I have had much better.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Co’s Crème Fraiche: Cow
This cheese smelled like whipped cream. It was thicker looking than the previous cheese. It has a very short shelf life also. It tasted more like sour cream to me, but had the consistency of whipped cream. However, I liked it better than the previous cream cheese.

Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog: Goat
This cheese did not have a pleasant aroma. It smelled like rubber or cellophane. I learned that this is a mold ripened cheese that has thick skin and a mold added to it. It tasted like blue cheese to me. However, it had more of a chemical taste to me than normal blue cheese.

Capriole Mont St. Francis: Goat
This cheese smelled like rubber slightly. It also had the aroma of a sharp, Swiss cheese. It was more rich and pungent than the other cheese. It has a wrinkled rind and had almost a smoky taste. It was very sour, tart, and pungent.

Dancing Goat’s Effie Mills: Cow
This cheese smelled like a strong blue cheese. The feel of it was wet and spongy. It had a creamy consistency that I really liked. It was also more salty tasting and tasted more like blue cheese. It almost had a bit of a sweet quality to it. This was one of my favorite cheeses that I tried during this day.

Dancing Goat’s Merze Tate: Cow
This cheese had more of a chemical smell to it. The smell almost reminded me of a pool. Barbara stated that this cheese was a very young cheese and that the longer we let it age, the softer it will become. This was a more milk tasting cheese and really just tasted like mozzarella with a slight kick. I liked this one because it was a more tame cheese!

Berthaut Epoisses: Cow- France
This was a cheese with an orange rind. It had an absolutely awful smell to it! It almost smelled like ammonia. I did not like the taste of this cheese at all. I could barely even stand having a morsel of it on my tongue. It almost tasted burnt. It reminded me of eating food that had gone bad. I do not need to try this one again!

Alpine cheese
This cheese was not on our map, but was simply a cheese Barbara had created. It smelled like Swiss cheese and had been aged for 6 months. It was strong tasting and tasted identical to Swiss cheese. However, it was sharper and saltier; almost having a metallic taste to it.

Castellano: Sheep-Spain
This cheese had more of a parmesan smell to it. It is made of sheep’s milk and was a lot less sour. It had a softer taste and almost tasted like parmesan. It did not have as much of an after taste as the others! I really liked this one.

Isle of Mull: Cow-Britain
This cheese smelled more like a sharp parmesan. Amy explained it as a basic, English cheddar. It was more sharp and pungent, with a large salty taste. Although it seemed to have more of a deep, cheddar cheese taste.

Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue: Cow
This cheese smelled like blue cheese crumbles I would put on a salad. This was one of my favorite cheeses f the day. It was very creamy and sharp. It was extremely potent and had a deep blue cheese taste. However, I could see myself putting crumbles of this on a salad with some walnuts and cranberries!

Cashel Blue: Cow-Ireland
This cheese smelled like a wet cow! The smell was very un-appetizing. The taste was also not very appetizing. It tasted kind of like a band-aid. At first it was not bad, but the after taste was very sour. It almost tasted as if I was eating an old shoe!

Overall, a very interesting day with a lot of insight into the world of cheese making! However, I did not really take a liking to many of the cheeses. Many of them were a bit to sharp, sour, and potent for my liking! So, I don’t believe I will be taking Barbara up on her offer to learn to art of cheese making, but I have to give credit to those who have taken it on! It sounds like hard work and takes a lot of dedication! However, maybe with some more exposure to these rare cheeses, I will grow to like them just a little bit more!

Cheese Pre-Class Homework

Can you think of why salt is added to cheese?
      Salt can be added to cheese in order to preserve the curds for long periods of time. It probably can also be added to give it more flavor and help to solidify all the flavors in the cheese.

What is rennet?
       This was discovered by first someone figuring out that the most active portion of the young animal’s stomach to cause curdling was the abomasum. This part of the stomach was especially active in young calves. So, the abomasum was cut into strips and salted and dried. A small piece would be added to the curd so that the milk could be turned into curds and whey. This came to be known as rennen, which means to run together or to coagulate. This is used in the cheese making process in order to help the cheese to form and take its shape. It is an enzyme that produces a harder, more formed curd.

How long does it take to age cheese?
      Cheese can age for a wide variety of time. Cheese such as swiss cheese ages for about 6 months, but some cheese age for even a number of years. The aging process, also known as the ripening process, can range anywhere from a few days to several years. The longer the cheese ages, the longer the enzymes work and the more potent and intense the cheese flavor.

List the aromas your nose is able to identify in cheddar cheese:
- Pungent
- Buttery
- Sweet
- Creamy
- Blue cheese

Spicing it up!

Ingredients for the Chili and Salsa!

Carla is not a fan of cilantro...

Cooking the Vegetables

The finished product!

      Today was a rather spicy day in our class! We tried out various kinds of chili and salsa. We started out talking about the capsaicin molecule. It is actually partially soluble in water, but quite a bit less than other molecules. Milk is definitely the best way to get rid of the spicy smell of capsaicin along with bread and yogurt. I was a little nervous about making the different kinds of chili because I am not a very big fan of spicy food. However, I was surprised by how much I liked the various chilis and salsa even though they had a little bit of a kick!
      The first type of chili that I tried was our own. It included chili beans, diced-canned tomatoes, garlic, onion, green pepper, oregano, chili powder, and cumin. We decided not to go off of a recipe for our chili, but simply sort of throw it together. Carla Miller and I had made a chili similar to this one earlier in the week, so we decided to model this chili in the same way. At first our chili was a little bland and needed more of a chili taste. So, we decided to add more chili powder. After trying it a second time we decided to add more cumin and also let the chili simmer for a bit longer in order to let the spices sink in. This is what did the trick! The chili tasted much better after letting it simmer! Everyone seemed to really enjoy our chili! It tasted just slightly spicy, with a bit of the chili flavoring from the powder. The oregano also added a bit of an earthy quality and the vegetables added to the chunky texture. The chili was nice and warm, having a nice blend of onion and green pepper flavors. We had a lot of visitors to our station, as people really seemed to enjoy our chili!
      I also really liked one of the other group’s salsas. This was a really fresh tasting salsa with a lot of green peppers and onions. I also liked it because it was not extremely spicy and had a lot of cilantro. The cilantro really gave it that fresh, crisp taste and made the salsa very refreshing. I also really enjoyed one of the other group’s chili. This was a spicier chili and had a lot of black pepper and chipotle spices in it. It had quite a kick to it, but I was surprised by how well I tolerated the spice. It had a very different taste to it which I think was because of the chipotle spices. They also had various types of beans in the chili which added to the hearty taste. The various other salsas and chili’s were also pleasant, but many of them were a little too spicy for my liking. However, today has shown me that I shouldn’t rule out all spicy foods. There may, in fact, be quite a few that I really like!

The Hottest Peppers on Earth!

Tezpur: 855,000 SHU's

Dorset Naga: 855,000 SHU's

Bhut Jolokia: 1,001,304 SHU's

Chili and Salsa Pre-Class Homework

1. To what family does capsaicin belong?
      Capsaicin belongs to the vanilloid family of molecules.

2. How is capsaicin different from the other molecules in its family?
      This molecule is different from others in its family in that it has the highest moleculer weight and its side chain contains a polar amid (NHCO) group. This makes the molecules have a very low volatility and also makes it completely odorless.

3. Why is drinking water not useful for reducing the burning sensation from eating a chili or food that contains chili? If you feel “hotness” in your mouth, what should you drink? and why?
      This is because capsaicin is insoluble in cold water. Simply drinking water is not going to dissolve the molecules on your tongue, so the burning sensation will continue. If you feel hotness you should drink milk. This is because milk contains casein, with is a fat-loving substance that is able to surround the fatty capsaicin molecule and wash it away off your tongue.

4. What is a Scoville Unit?
      This is a unit used to determine the heat level of a wide variety of chilis. In this test, humans taste a chili sample and evaluate how many parts of sugar water it takes in order to neutralize the heat of the chili so that its pungent taste is no longer noticeable. This dilution is called the Scoville Heat Unit. The number means the higher the unit, the hotter the pepper.

5. Look up the 3 hottest chili’s according to their Scoville index. Google the names of these chili’s and see if you can find a picture of these chili’s to post on your blog (you may find some in the chili glossary at the above site)

Bhut Jolokia: 1,001,304 SHU’s

see above.

Dorset Naga: 855,000 SHU’s

see above.

Tezpur: 855,000 SHU’s
see above.

6. Capsinoids are considered less pungent than capsaicinoids. Look up the term “pungent”. What does it mean?
Site used: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pungent
       Pungent means “sharply painful”. It also means having a sharp or irritating sensation or an intense flavor or odor.

7. Although you can buy creams containing capsaicin, how effective are they at controlling pain according to this article?
      According to this article, adding capsaicin to creams has a moderate to poor effect on chronic pain.

8. In table 1, what is the difference in the structure between capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin? What is the difference in the structure between capsaicin and homocapsaicin?
      The difference between capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin is that capsaicin has an extra double bond in its hydrogen chain. This means it has 27 hydrogen instead of 29 hydrogen like dihydrocapsaicin. The difference between capsaicin and homocapsaicin is that they are mirror images of each other. Homocapsaicin has a carbon group sticking downward at the end of the long chain, whereas capsaicin has it sticking upward. There is also a difference in that homocapsaicin has 29 hydrogens while capsaicin only has 27.

9. Why is capsaicin considered a “double-edged sword” ? (see section 2.2-cancer prevention).
      Capsaicin is considered a “double-edged sword” because it has both carcinogenic and chemopreventive properties. This means that although there has been evidence of anticancer activity with capsaicin, there has also been contradictory data on this molecule. There may also be evidence that capsaicin has tumor-promoting qualities.

10. How is capsaicin related to weight-loss according to section 2.3-weight reduction?
      There is evidence that capsaicin inhibits obesity by enhancing ones energy expenditure and also reducing body fat accumulation in animal experiments and clinical studies. Sweet peppers are also able to increase the body temperature and oxygen consumption which could reduce body weight and promote the oxidation of fat. However, because of potentially harmful side effects the clinical application of this molecule is limited.

Aromas at Woodland Mall

Reactions to the Bread!

     I was very happy with the way our Focaccia bread turned out. I have taste many other Focaccia breads before so I was hoping that it would turn out similar to one of those types of bread. Our bread was actually my favorite one of the day. I was crispy and the hint of olive oil really added a lot of flavor. My second favorite bread was the potato bread that one group made. The texture of the bread was very hearty and sweet. It tasted a bit like sour dough bread, but with not as much of a kick. I also really liked the whole wheat bread that one group made. This was extremely hearty and had a fantastic texture. It also tasted a little bit sweet. Overall, though I really liked the texture and olive oil taste of our Focaccia bread.

Tuesday January 18, 2011: Aroma Marketing at Woodland Mall

The following is my reactions after our day at the mall. I chose to simply answer all the questions based on the stores that I entered.

Food Court
     The first smell that I was overwhelmed with upon entering the mall was the food court. When I opened the doors of Woodland Mall, I was overcome by a mix of food smells. The smells of fried food, pretzels, and grilling meat filled the air. It was definitely a pleasant smell and made my mouth water.

American Eagle
     There was a pleasant smell when entering this store. It was not an overwhelming smell, but rather a smell of light cologne or perfume. The smell was rather gender neutral. It simply smelled like fresh, new clothes. The smell was directly related to the stores in that it smelled like new, fresh clothes. I did not really find this type of aroma in other stores. The aroma seemed to be unique to this particular store. The aroma seemed to be uniform throughout the store. However, it was a little more potent at the entrance to the store but that is most likely because I had gotten used to it by the back of the store. When we asked an employee about the scent, she said they often spray their clothes with perfume in order to make the store smell as it does. The music playing was a light rock type that was simply playing lightly in the background. It did not seem to overwhelm the shopper and was merely adding to the shopping experience. The store also appealed to my senses in that it was well lit and extremely organized. Since the store was free of clutter and the clothes were perfectly displayed, the store was extremely pleasing to the eye. I was much more likely to look around and buy something because of the open layout of the store.

Buckle
     This store was laid out very similarly to American Eagle. There was not a distinct smell when I entered this store. There did not seem to be different aromas as I moved throughout the store either. However, there was relaxed rock music playing. Again, the music was not overwhelming it was simply in the background. The store also appealed to my senses in that it was very well lit and extremely organized. An employee stated that they had just replaced the carpet which looked very appealing. Some other parts of the store that related back to the videos was how the outfits were displayed. There were many complete outfits hanging throughout the store. This entices the buyer to not only buy a certain item; it draws the consumer to buy the entire outfit. Since the outfits are so nicely put together, the buyer feels inclined to buy all the pieces.

Charlotte Russe
     This store was extremely pleasing to the eye. There was not a distinct smell upon entering this store. The main marketing involved in this store was the eye appeal. The music was again just a light background melody. The store was also very free of clutter and really highlighted the clothes. The lights seemed to shine right on the clothes and there were a lot of mannequin displays. The store seemed to really show off the clothes and highlight the outfits on display.

Yankee Doodle Candle Company
      The smell of this store was extremely pleasant, but was rather overwhelming. Upon entering the store I smelled a mixture of apple and cinnamon. However, as I walked over to different types of candles The store was also playing Blink 182 music throughout the entire time I was at the store, which was rather surprising to me considering the type of store it was. The store was also visually pleasing because it was completely organized by color. Not only did the candles smell delicious, they were lovely colors as well. The store was also rather simple as if to simply highlight the candles. The store in it of itself was extremely bland as if it did not want to detract from the product.

Victoria’s Secret
     This store had simply a light smell to it, almost like a mild baby powder smell. This aroma was most likely contributed to by the cosmetic and lotion sections of the store. This aroma was a little more intense at the beginning of the store, but seemed to dissipate as we moved throughout the store. However, the main attraction of this store was the visual aspect. When we entered we were overwhelmed by neon colored clothing organized by color. The colors seemed to almost blind us as we walked in and attracted us to every corner of the store. There were also large posters of women in lingerie which also entices the buyer inside. The clothes themselves were not that extravagant, but the colors were outrageously vibrant. The music even added to the experience. There was loud, “girl-power” type music playing throughout our entire time at the store.

Williams-Sonoma
     This store also had a very distinct, pleasant aroma upon entering. It smelled like someone was cooking. It resembled the smell of spices and fresh vegetables. However, we seemed to get used to the aroma right away and it seemed to dissipate as we moved throughout the store. We walked up to the middle of the store to find an employee making an onion dish on the stove. She said they are required to make a dish on the stove each day and often have samples for consumers to taste. She stated that Williams-Sonoma was “Big on the Senses”. The music in this store was extremely soothing and was only playing lightly in the background. The store was also visually appealing. All the cookware was shiny and looked extremely new. There was also crystal displayed in elaborate cabinetry. The products were also arranged in such a way that one would have all they needed for one recipe in one spot. For example, all the ingredients for making popcorn were displayed in one area. This made shopping efficient and easy for the customer.

Tradehome
     This was a shoe store and upon entering the store, I was overcome with the smell of leather. This is contributed to because of the leather from the various types of shoes. This smell was fairly strong and seemed to linger throughout the store. However, this store was not as visually pleasing. The store looked more cluttered and shoes were covering every surface of the walls. This store did not try to draw the consumer in with flashy colors or elaborate displays. It seemed more practical and conducive to simply displaying shoes. However, there were big, yellow sales tags on some of the shoes that make it easy for consumers to recognize the deals. There was also very quiet music playing in the background.

The Body Shop
     This store had the most pleasant aroma of all the stores I entered today. I very much expected this store to smell as it did because it is a cosmetic store. It smelled like fresh fruits and vanilla combined. The smell was very feminine and is obviously because of the various types of lotion and body sprays in the store. It seemed that each place I turned to had a different fruity smell to it. The store also appealed to vision by being perfectly organized. All the lotions were perfectly arranged and stacked. The products were all organized by color and seemed to all fit together like a puzzle. In terms of the senses, this was my favorite store I entered during the day.

Hollister
     The smell of this store was extremely overwhelming. I could smell the store from several steps away from the entrance. It smelled like men’s cologne and was completely overpowering. The smell seemed to linger throughout the entire store and was inescapable. The music was also extremely loud. It seemed to be the loudest music we encountered in any store during the day. The entire store was not very appealing to my senses. It did not make me want to buy anything. The atmosphere was almost suffocating and the lighting was extremely dark. I found it difficult to read my notes and did not really focus at all on the clothes. It seemed that they were selling the name brand and the idea of the clothes rather than the actually clothes. The clothes were extremely secondary and in fact not even that exciting. The idea and the smells seemed to most significantly attract the people to the store.

     After also visiting Pac Sun, Forever 21, Banana Republic, and Aeropostale I was able to see a lot of themes. It seemed that the clothing stores had more aromas of perfumes and colognes, whereas the food and cosmetics stores more resembled their products. Also, almost all of the stores seemed to play light rock music. The music was usually not overpowering, but simply acted as a background sound. I was surprised that about half of the stores seemed to have no distinct smell. Surprisingly, many of the female stores seemed to lack a smell, as opposed to the unisex stores which seemed to have the smell of perfume and cologne.

     Also, I notice that the overall mall seemed very conducive to buying. There were high ceilings that almost looked majestic. It was very open and airy and gives the consumer an almost futuristic feel. I also noticed that the jewelry stores were all at the center of the mall. They all also seemed to be right near each other. This may be because this makes the jewelry stores less prone to theft and also to encourage healthy competition. I think that stores having pleasant smells do encourage people to buy stuff. I think that if there are more pleasant smells people will be more enticed to enter and thus also buy something. I think that it also provides a more pleasant and enjoyable atmosphere for the consumer. However, if the scent is overpowering, it can be bad for business. For me, a store like Hollister was too much and I couldn’t wait to leave!