5 Year Aged Brat

I was at Whole Foods today and while there I went by the specialty cheese counter in an attempt to find the type of cheese I had last week that I so enjoyed. I couldn't remember what kind it was but figured if I saw the name it might spark my memory. God it was good and God do I love cheese.

While I was standing there reading the labels an annoying mother with her 5 year old daughter was browsing through the different cheeses as well. I say she was annoying because she asked the cheese expert behind the counter about 15 vague questions in an attempt to find the kind of cheese she was looking for. Not questions like "I think it's a Gouda," nor were they questions about consistency or coloring but rather "noooo.. it wasn't Parmesan.. I mean.. isn't there one that's like, Parmesan but not like Parmesan?" In your head pin whatever voice on this story that you'd like but definitely choose an annoying one because her voice certainly was. Anyway, I watched the cheese counter guy, who obviously knew his stuff very well, attempt very diligently to help her. He continued to describe the different qualities and textures that the cheese in question might possess.. to no avail.

Then I suddenly realized what was going on when the woman said "No, it's not that one.. it's just one that, oh UGH what is it, it's one that she really likes and can't get enough of.. oh honey which one was it?" she said looking at her five year old daughter. It was everything I could do not to say "KRAFT SINGLES! That's which one your stupid daughter likes!" I'm not talking about being at the deli counter at a supermarket here, this is the specialty cheese counter at Whole Foods. The place where two full-time specialists are hired to pair cheese with wine and anything else you can imagine. The counter where a couple ounces of aged cheese can set you back 15 bucks. I couldn't believe it, this woman was taking up what seemed like a billion minutes of this man's time, making him cut up numerous samples to hand down to her daughter who ate them and then mumbled things like "mommy I want juice." All this in an effort to find out what kind of 12 dollar cheese her 5 year old can't live without, who apparently has a pallet more dignified than a 40 year old. A cheese that has probably been aged longer than the little brat has been alive. Meanwhile, the little girl looked about as interested in the cheese selection as I probably would if someone started to describe the inner workings of a car engine. Guess what, lady, do your pocket book a favor and save about 10 dollars.. walk over to the sliced meat section of the store, in the fridge next to the bacon, pick up a packet of cheddar (and a juice because that's what she really seems to want) hand it to your little girl and stop wasting everyone's time.

The economy is horrible. Gas is so expensive I rarely fill my tank all the way but stick to just putting 20 dollars in at a time (which equals less than 5 gallons in Chicago). Our country's morale is so low that people are getting nasty with each other during this election. All over TV all you can hear is how doomed our markets are. But somewhere in this city tonight, a little girl snacked on a cheese older than she is to the tune of 6 dollars a bite and it only wasted 15 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

Now I'm going to go back to eating my Parrano cheese. It was Parrano I was looking for, and I found it on my own for the record. After I sampled it, the lady and her daughter followed suit and decided that Parrano was the winner for them as well.

Hope she's enjoying it on her grilled cheese sandwich as much as I am enjoying it with my wine.
M.db