Welcome to blogs.villagevoice.com
Blogs
  • News
    • » Daily News
    • » Runnin' Scared - News Blog
    • » Tom Robbins
    • » Wayne Barrett
  • Music
    • » Top Picks
    • » Find a Bar or Club
    • » Pazz & Jop
    • » Down in Front
    • » Sound of the City
    • » Siren
    • » Submit an Event
    • » Jukebox
    • » Join Music Newsletter
    • » Entertainment Ads
  • Calendar
    • » Calendar Home
    • » Top Picks
    • Valentine's Day Events
    • » Comedy Events
    • » Fitness Health & Beauty Guide
    • » Submit an Event
    • » Entertainment Ads
  • Restaurants
    • » Restaurant Guide
    • » Restaurant Reviews
    • » Sietsema's Counter Culture
    • » Find a Bar or Club
    • » Fork in the Road (column)
    • » Fork in the Road (blog)
    • » Sponsored Online Menus
    • » Choice Eats Tasting Event
    • » Join Dining Newsletter
    • » Restaurant Ads
  •  
  • Arts
    • » Calendar
    • » Books
    • » Theater
    • » Art
    • » Dance
    • » Obies Theater Awards
  • Films
    • » Now Showing
    • » Movie Showtimes
    • » Reviews
    • » Join NY Film Club
    • » Movie Ads
  • The Ads
    • Ad Index
    • Flip Book
    • Media Kit
  • Classifieds
    • Personals
    • Sexy Black Book
    • Free Online Classifieds
    • Place an Ad (print)
    • Career Fair
    • Real Estate for Sale/Trulia
    • Personals Blogs
    • Real Estate For Rent
  • Blogs
    • » Runnin' Scared
    • » Sound of the City
    • » La Daily Musto
    • » Fork in the Road (blog)
    • » All City
  • Columns
    • » La Dolce Musto
    • » Tom Robbins
    • » Sex
    • » Horoscope
  • Best Of
    • » Arts & Entertainment
    • » Bars & Clubs
    • » Food & Drink
    • » People & Places
    • » Shopping & Services
    • » Sports & Recreation
    • » Best of Ads
  • Bars/Clubs
    • » Bars/Clubs Home
    • » Bars/Club Ads
  • Archives
  • Reader Recommendations
  • Promotions
    • Street Team
    • Join The Street Team
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Text Alerts
    • Buy Village Voice Merchandise
    • Supplements Archive
  • Site Map

Top

blog

Stories

  • Web-Only Review

    Mmm. . . Bacon Naan

    By Robert Sietsema

    1
  • Chatting With

    Scott Conant on Faustina, Home Pa...

    By Sarah DiGregorio

    2
  • Featured

    Francois Payard Is Planning to Op...

    By Rebecca Marx

    3
  • Featured

    Chatting With Print's Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez

    By Rebecca Marx

    4
  • Chatting With

    Josh Ozersky on His Upcoming Wedd...

    By Jenny Miller

    5
  • The Early Word

    This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef's Roast Beef Sandwich

    By Robert Sietsema

    6
  • Featured

    Checking in with Port Clyde Fresh...

    By Sarah DiGregorio

    7
  • Drink Up

    Where Does the Word 'Cocktail' Come From?

    By Chantal Martineau

    8
  • Market Watch

    Mutant Citrus Invades Gourmet Gar...

    By Robert Sietsema

    9
  • Featured

    Mimi's Hummus Opens Its Market in...

    By Rebecca Marx

    10
  • Featured

    Wednesday: Public Hearing to Legalize Beekeeping

    By Rebecca Marx

    11
  • How Do You Spell G-U-T-B-O-M-B?

    Smoked Meat Poutine at Mile End i...

    By Robert Sietsema

    12
  • Our Ten Best

    Our Ten Best Park Slope Restauran...

    By Sarah DiGregorio

    13
  • Vegetarian Delights of NYC

    Vegetarian Delights of NYC: Red Sea 47's Vegetarian Combination

    By Robert Sietsema

    14
  • Booze News

    Sasha Petraske to Open Jazzy Midtown Cocktail Lounge

    By Chantal Martineau

    15
 
Events

Dispatch From the Brooklyn Cheese Experiment

By Rebecca Marx, Monday, Sep. 14 2009 @ 11:44AM
Comments (0)
Categories: Featured
IMG_4339.JPG
​The Bell House yesterday played host to the Brooklyn Cheese Experiment, a polite maelstrom of dairy, beer, and DIY showmanship. Home cooks and home brewers competed for the hearts and stomach linings of the audience and judges alike; inhuman quantities of curds and whey were consumed, and untold volumes of foam were absorbed by an untold number of beards.

IMG_4330.JPG
​

The festivities were organized by Nick Suarez and Theo Peck, veterans of the competitive home-cooking circuit who are already planning future experiments centered around Chinese take-out and eggs. The 17 cheese-centric competing dishes included three varieties of mac 'n' cheese, a polenta-mozzarella-pesto "sushi," gougeres, cheese crackers served with tomato-ricotta shooters, homemade Indian paneer, and cheese puffs with blue cheese cream and fig reduction.
IMG_4333.JPG
​

While there were some strong entries, the competition served as a reminder of one seemingly eternal (and dismaying) truth: home cooks are afraid of salt. And butter. It's become fashionable to declare that Julia Child's renewed popularity has inspired a hearty embrace of the two invaluable ingredients, but yesterday's competition suggests otherwise. Even no-brainers like mac 'n' cheese were completely undermined by sodium phobia: All of the top-quality cheddar in Brooklyn can't compensate timid or non-existent seasoning.
IMG_4336.JPG
​

That said, some competitors did manage to stop worrying and learn to love the (gut)bomb. The judges, led by Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton, awarded Alyssa Lees' blue cheese cream puffs third place, and second to Evelyn Kim's rosewater knafi. First place went to Bonnie Suarez (who, aside from being a professional chef, is Nick Suarez's mom) for her tomato-ricotta shooters. The audience chose Rebecca Landau's ricotta cheesecake as their third-favorite entry, Suarez's shooters as their second, and crowned Alyssa Lees as their cream puff queen. After the cheese-oriented prizes -- and jars of Theo Peck's Peck's pate -- were awarded, competitors and audience members retired to the bar for more beer and, unbelievably, yet more cheese.

Comments (0) Write Comment
Share

Related Content

  • Before Chili, Chocolate: A Sweet Amateur Cook-off November 3, 2009
  • Cuckoo for Cocoa at the Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment November 16, 2009
  • POUR SOME BEER ON ME May 27, 2009
  • What's Happening This Week--Learn How New York Chefs Cook At Home & Sample Homebrews At the Brooklyn Beer Experiment June 1, 2009
  • After Takedowns Lamb, Tofu & Bacon, Chili Returns October 29, 2009

More About:

  • Theo Peck
  • Nick Suarez
  • Brooklyn
  • Foods
  • Food and Cooking

Comments (0)

Write Comment


Comments may not show up immediately after submission. Please wait a minute after posting a comment for it to appear.

All reader comments are subject to our Terms of Use. By clicking "Post," you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to these Terms.

Tools

Search Fork in the Road


Follow

Email tips to tips@villagevoice.com

SlideShows»

  • Brooklyn Taco Experiment
  • Cookie Takedown
  • Chili Takedown 2009
  • More Slideshows >>

Most …

  • Oaxaca Mexican Grill Is Only Another Burrito Joint, But Not a Bad One
  • Fraunces Tavern Joins List of Historic Restaurant Closures
  • Nate Appleman Says There Won't Be Neopolitan Pizza at Pulino's
  • Moby Chews on Some Gristle
  • Avenue B Won't Be Getting a Fully Licensed 3,000-Square-Foot Italian Restaurant
  • More Recent Entries...
  • Introducing Edward III, New York's Second Homegrown Absinthe (11)
  • John Durant of Hunter-Gatherer.com Touts Caveman Diet on The Colbert Report (11)
  • New Study Adds Pancreatic Cancer to Soda's List of Evils (10)
  • Hey Purina: Push My Buttons, Then Push My Cat's Buttons (8)
  • Attention, Ladies: Burger King, Like a Bad Boyfriend, Wants You Back (8)
  • Attention, Ladies: Burger King, Like a Bad Boyfriend, Wants You Back
  • John Durant of Hunter-Gatherer.com Touts Caveman Diet on The Colbert Report
  • New Study Adds Pancreatic Cancer to Soda's List of Evils
  • Our 10 Best NYC Restaurant Bathrooms
  • Our Ten Best Park Slope Restaurants

Find A Restaurant

Twitter Feed

Follow Fork in the Road on Twitter

More Twitter >>

Fork in the Road on Digg

Restaurants

  • Sushi Lounge

    View Ad | View Site
  • Lips Restaurant

    View Ad | View Site
  • GAETANAS

    View Ad | View Site
More >>

Links

  • Eater
  • Grub Street
  • Serious Eats
  • Midtown Lunch
  • eGullet New York
  • Chowhound
  • Gothamist Food
  • Sietsema on Gourmet.com
  • Guardian UK: Word of Mouth
  • Eating in Translation
  • Food Buzz
  • Amateur Gourmet
  • Cheap Ass Food
  • Food in Mouth
  • The Girl Who Ate Everything
  • Blondie and Brownie
  • Eat Drink One Woman
  • Not Eating Out in New York
  • Time Out's The Feed
  • The Feedbag
  • Eat Me Daily
  • Hungry Beast
  • Saveur
  • Slice
  • A Hamburger Today
  • The Atlantic's Food Channel
  • The Food Section
  • Gastropoda
  • NYT: Diner's Journal
About Us | Work for Village Voice | Esubscribe | Free Classifieds | Advertising | Privacy Policy | Problem With the Site? | RSS | Site Map
©2010 Village Voice Media All rights reserved.