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You can only call it that if you make it there and have a licence.
by bzb6 6y ago
You can only call it that if you make it there and have a licence.
- blackbear_ 6y agoThe license being the fundamendal part for authentic taste. /s
- bzb6 6y agoThe licence being the fundamental part to protect the livelihoods of those who live in the region producing these valued products. But I guess we should outsource the production of this cheese to China instead, right?
- mantap 6y agoIf China could make cheese as good as European cheese, they would. PDO is not currently stopping them.
- bzb6 6y agoIt is, because they would be unable to sell it in the first world.
- lb1lf 6y agoThey can sell it, but the PDO ensures they have to find some other way of gaining market share than piggybacking off the reputation the products they imitate have earned over the years. (Which, in fairness, equates to being unable to sell it if other people shop like I do - nine times out of ten I pick cheeses (to stay with the original example) I already know.)
- arrrg 6y agoI would be so happy to find Parmesan that‘s not named Parmesan, just for some more diversity. For example, I would prefer to avoid animal-based rennet if at all possible, but there is no real diversity in cheeses with a Parmesan-like flavor profile made with microbial rennet (I know of one such cheese and while it’s ok it’s also no amazing) and as far as I know Parmesan (actual Parmesan named Parmesan) with microbial rennet doesn’t exist. There are probably hard-cheeses out there that have a Parmesan-like flavor profile and are made with microbial rennet but they are fiendishly difficult to find. The one I found I only did find because it markets itself explicitly as a Parmesan alternative with microbial rennet. But beyond that? And I can totally understand why cheese makers are reluctant to jump into that market if they can’t market themselves as that thing, even if they were perfectly capable of making that thing. Overall it’s a difficult Problem to solve with no easy outs I can see.
- yitchelle 6y agoIf they can sell it to the Chinese population, they don't need to sell it to anybody else.
- woofie11 6y ago... more like European old wealth. There are land-owning European families whose wealth and power date back half a millennium. Most of these valued, recognizable products are mostly produced on land and capital owned by those families.
- iguy 6y agoI think it's more the reverse. It's important to the wealthy Parisians that the traditional regional produce continue to be made. If the people in the village all gave up & got factory jobs, then hundreds of specific cheeses (etc.) would cease to be made at all, and not be available at any price for their table. So they have made sure this doesn't happen.
- bzb6 6y agoAnd? This sounds like the usual socialist argument of “tear it all down”—they’d rather all the money went to China than to wealthy locals which, let’s not forget, employ thousands.
- woofie11 6y agoRereading my post, I can't find any sort of argument for either changing the system, keeping things as-is, or advocating for any sort of specific change. Simply pattern-matching what people say to ideology is what leads to nothing getting done. I'm not sure I have an opinion on what ought to be done. I do have an opinion that we should keep things fact-based. Licensing requirements protect entrenched interests. Is that a good thing? A bad thing? If there are problems, how should they be fixed? Please try to discuss based on facts (or even your own opinions) rather than pattern-matching to an ideology you disagree with, and asking everyone to discount based on that. All I did was point out a faulty argument. I didn't take a stance.
- bzb6 6y agoI am talking from my experience from living in the south of Spain. I know your argument, I know the kind of people who support it, and I know what it is and what it means. You mentioned a common argument, I told you what I think of it.
- raverbashing 6y agoThe license is more in the sense that someone will not make a crappy cheese and slap the name just because they're located there.
- AlgorithmicTime 6y agoNot to China, but why not to Guillermo who also lives in the Po Valley region? Why should he not be allowed to also make it?
- bigyikes 6y agoThis sounded really silly to me at first, but I guess it’s not much different than a company holding a trademark?
- saiya-jin 6y agoThis is how we have protected products here in Europe - hundreds of cheeses, salamis, balsamico di modena, well basically anything with any history. It doesn't prevent copies, ie french/non local Swiss Gruyere, but its clear when you're buying it (AOP sign in the case of Gruyere). I don't see a problem with it - you have variety of selection, competition is not stiffled, but if you want traditional original one, you can navigate the market without being an expert on every item.
- op00to 6y agoThe problem is not in the supermarket. The problem is when YouTube is taking down how to videos because someone used a special word for cheese.