We’ve been in Wisconsin for over two months and today, I finally buckled and bought some Cheese Curds. Good thing the Ice Cream Stand is closed for the season or I would have payed them a visit as well. Anyway, back to cheese curds. A huge aspect of cheese curds is they have to be fresh otherwise you will not get the full sensory experience of eating them. The problem is you can’t buy just like 5 or a dozen curds, you have to buy a sizable bag of them. Then what do you do? Eat them all? Hmmm…
Back to experience. First texture, a curd, if fresh, will feel like an eraser in your mouth and as you chew on it, it will squeak and squeak against your teeth. It doesn’t have much of a taste, it’s just a bigger version of the curds in cottage cheese without the whey. However, while the curd is squeaking the noise goes up into your ears and then takes over your whole brain. They’re a hoot, like a carnival ride for your brain.
Now here is where this gets way out of hand, Fried Cheese Curds. Every pub, tavern, and restaurant in northern Wisconsin offers Fried Cheese Curds. Everyone orders the Fried Curds, oh and they have them with copious amounts of Ranch Dressing for dipping! Geez and Pete, seriously? There’s four people at the table, they order two plates of Curds, wait a second, let’s all get our own because the curds are so good here!
OK, so I’m a little disrespectful of Fried Cheese Curds but I’m also here to extol the beauty and culinary excellence of Poutine, (pronounced Poo’-tin.) French fries are covered with fresh cheese curds, and topped with brown gravy. In a traditional Quebec restaurant poutine: French fries: Usually of medium thickness, and fried (most times, twice) so the inside stays soft, while the outside is crispy. Last time I had Poutine was at Le Lapin in Quebec. Sauce was brown sauce with rabbit, I went to heaven that night.
So all things considered, cheese curds are definitely a regional thing, but step forward and don’t shy away from them, they are delicious. Step out of your comfort zone and enjoy!!!
