3 ms·

> These laws are not about protecting the consumer from inauthentic products. They're about protecting producers from competition. Yes, they are, and I have no

by Zababa 5y ago

> These laws are not about protecting the consumer from inauthentic products. They're about protecting producers from competition. Yes, they are, and I have no problem with that. When I buy "Comté", I want the money to go in the region where my grandparents were born and raised, where we spent lots of vacations visiting museum, caves and enjoying the local cheese. I don't want some kind of global industry stealing the name "Comté" to help sell a knockoff. These days Comté is not my favorite cheese, I have a soft sport for Italian cheeses and discovered recently some Eastern European ones that are delicious. But when I want Comté, I want Comté, made in Jura, by Montbéliardes cows. If they don't respect this, it's not Comté.

jhrozek 5y ago
Off topic but which Eastern European cheese did you find that you like? The only ones I even saw sold outside its are of origin were usually underwhelming. I’m originally from central/Eastern Europe and know very small and local producers but I’m really interested in what you found you can buy in your area.
- Zababa 5y ago
  I have no idea how to pronounce it, but one I really like is I think a braided and smoked cheese like this one: https://dks22p812qygs.cloudfront.net/UserFiles/ib_product/14858963105890fa767d324-500x400.jpg https://dks22p812qygs.cloudfront.net/UserFiles/ib_product/14... The other that I really like looks a bit like this: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0250/1387/8893/products/Arroyo_Sardo_Wheel.jpg?v=1573914953 http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0250/1387/8893/products/Arr... but I think that it's younger than the one here. I have no doubts that the local ones are probably way better, but I still haven't taken the time to visit Eastern/Central Europe.
  - dionys 5y ago
    the first one is called Korbaciky (found in Slovakia/Poland) https://st4.depositphotos.com/1046564/41431/i/1600/depositphotos_414317284-stock-photo-different-traditional-smoked-unsmoked-slovakian.jpg https://st4.depositphotos.com/1046564/41431/i/1600/depositph... There are both un-smoked and smoked variants, different shapes etc. I think the traditional is the braided one. Definitely recommended if you ever visit Orava/Tatras.
denton-scratch 5y ago
I have no problem with that either. In this country, we have long made a product called "Cheddar Cheese". Unfortunately, cheddar is not covered by Protected Designation of Origin rules. So most of the cheddar in the shops is imported. Real cheddar is now pretty hard to find. In my youth, I lived for a while in cheddar country; there was a cheese shop on the corner that sold the most amazing, nutty, crumbly cheddar. It's decades since I've eaten anything like it; even premium cheddar from top-class cheese shops doesn't match it (few Americans have ever eaten cheese like that). That is: the competition from industrial cheese-makers has forced out the traditional makers, driven down the quality of the cheddar that's on the market, and made it much harder to find proper cheddar. The good stuff can only be found in specialist cheese shops, and even that is a shadow of what it used to be. I approve of Protected Designation of Origin. More generally, I approve of regulated food labelling (GMOs? Growth-hormone beef? How can I exercise my market-power as a consumer, if I'm not allowed to know what's in the pack?)

by Zababa 5y ago

jhrozek 5y ago

Off topic but which Eastern European cheese did you find that you like? The only ones I even saw sold outside its are of origin were usually underwhelming. I’m originally from central/Eastern Europe and know very small and local producers but I’m really interested in what you found you can buy in your area.

Zababa 5y ago
I have no idea how to pronounce it, but one I really like is I think a braided and smoked cheese like this one: https://dks22p812qygs.cloudfront.net/UserFiles/ib_product/14858963105890fa767d324-500x400.jpg https://dks22p812qygs.cloudfront.net/UserFiles/ib_product/14... The other that I really like looks a bit like this: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0250/1387/8893/products/Arroyo_Sardo_Wheel.jpg?v=1573914953 http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0250/1387/8893/products/Arr... but I think that it's younger than the one here. I have no doubts that the local ones are probably way better, but I still haven't taken the time to visit Eastern/Central Europe.
- dionys 5y ago
  the first one is called Korbaciky (found in Slovakia/Poland) https://st4.depositphotos.com/1046564/41431/i/1600/depositphotos_414317284-stock-photo-different-traditional-smoked-unsmoked-slovakian.jpg https://st4.depositphotos.com/1046564/41431/i/1600/depositph... There are both un-smoked and smoked variants, different shapes etc. I think the traditional is the braided one. Definitely recommended if you ever visit Orava/Tatras.

denton-scratch 5y ago

I have no problem with that either. In this country, we have long made a product called "Cheddar Cheese". Unfortunately, cheddar is not covered by Protected Designation of Origin rules. So most of the cheddar in the shops is imported. Real cheddar is now pretty hard to find. In my youth, I lived for a while in cheddar country; there was a cheese shop on the corner that sold the most amazing, nutty, crumbly cheddar. It's decades since I've eaten anything like it; even premium cheddar from top-class cheese shops doesn't match it (few Americans have ever eaten cheese like that). That is: the competition from industrial cheese-makers has forced out the traditional makers, driven down the quality of the cheddar that's on the market, and made it much harder to find proper cheddar. The good stuff can only be found in specialist cheese shops, and even that is a shadow of what it used to be. I approve of Protected Designation of Origin. More generally, I approve of regulated food labelling (GMOs? Growth-hormone beef? How can I exercise my market-power as a consumer, if I'm not allowed to know what's in the pack?)