Sweet and Spicy
A dialectic on love, in edible form. What’s better, sweet or savory? Who’s right? Who cares?
There’s time for hours of debate and compromise as you eat your way through the sweet, creamy cheese and the spicy, savory ‘nduja spread.
In this installment
Marieke Gouda Cheese
Tempesta ‘Nduja
Marieke Gouda Cheese
Marieke Penterman was born in the Netherlands but followed her heart to a Wisconsin farm. She was determined to bring her favorite Gouda cheese to America, so she worked on obtaining her cheesemaker’s license and eventually became only the fourth female Master Cheesemaker in Gouda.
This cheese is a farmstead cheese – from a herd of 600 cows, the cows are milked within a couple hundred feet from where the cheese is made, and the cheese is made within six hours of the milking. The wheels we sell are aged around 9-12 months so they’ve shifted away from the mild, buttery flavors of a young gouda into a more developed, sweetly nutty aged gouda.
Tempesta ‘Nduja
Eating ‘nduja for the first time always counts as a significant experience. It’s spreadable meat—very memorable in and of itself. A pork spread that’s spicy, slightly sweet, buttery, powerfully porky yet as smooth in texture as homemade strawberry jam.
Chicago’s Antonio Fiasche is a fifth generation ‘nduja maker whose grandfather still lives in Calabria, Italy, not far from ‘nduja’s hometown Spilinga. Tony uses only pork from sustainably raised old-school Berkshire hogs, a proprietary blend of five different chiles, and ages his ‘nduja for months.
What to do with it? Just about anything. Spread it on toast or a burger. Mix it into tomato sauce or scrambled eggs. Eat it with crackers, cheese, and pickles. Cut it with some ricotta and make a sauce.