Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 76, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1903 — "FOREIGN” CHEESE MADE HERE. [ARTICLE]

"FOREIGN” CHEESE MADE HERE.

Almost All the Best Products Arc Successfully Imitated. Slfnple folk who pride themselves upon their gastronomic taste are sometimes heard to speak scornfully of American cheeses, but perhaps in nine cases out of ten they eat and praise as an excellent example of the foreign product a cheese that never crossed the Atlantic. Caqiembert and Brie are the only soft cheeses that are imported In considerable quantity, and even they are manufactured in the United States. It is confessed that the native’Camembert and Brie are not so good as the foreign article, but the cheesemakers of New York and New Jersey have come at length to produce admirable Roquefort and good Imitations, if they may he so called, of many other famous foreign cheeses. The French chpesemakers, with the conservatism characteristic of rural Europeans, have neglected to adapt their products to the American market.

The* Brie ,gheese from abroad, for example, comes in a large disk, that puts It beyond any but those who consume It In large quantities, whereas the native Brie is made In small cakes, that may be- purchased for family use. The sale of. Gorgonzola cheese, which is still Imported, is much less than it would otherwise be if made in smaller parcels. Only two or three English cheesesare now Imported in large quantities, and the so-called English dairy cheese is a native product. Meanwhile, enormous quantities of American cheeses are exported to Great Britain. Some English cheesemakers have taken to putting up their products In jars Instead of bladders, In this way making them more easily preserved. German and Swiss cheeses are Imltated here, though less successfully than some others. As to the Italian cheeses, they are made without any pretense of concealment wherever there Is a considerable Italian quarter, though the Imitations are not liked by the Italians themselves, and cheap Italian cheeses are Imported in great quantities. Parmesan Is a great favorite with Italians, since it Is cheap and In various ways useful. Llmburger is imitated here, ns Is Neufchatel. According to local tradition, the earliest maker of “foreign” cream cheese in this region, was a Frenchman, whose first customers were a few fashionable restaurateurs. He produced in small quantities almost perfect Imitations of French cheeses, and delivered them to his customers himself. The manufacturer of these cheeses has now’ so extended that many grocers make no effort to keep a stock of foreigir cheeses. As yet, however, the conservatism of the commercial world seems to make It necessary to stick to old names and foreign labels.