[Mikitivity]

Welcome to the 2006 International Democratic Union Cheese Festival!

The basic rules of this year?s festival can be found at:
http://s10.invisionfree.com/IDU/index.php?showtopic=463

This portion of the festival is dedicated to focusing on the Cheeses manufactured within the IDU itself. This year the following cheeses have been submitted to this festival for you all to sample. Please select the cheese you most like. The winning cheese will have the right to label itself as the Best IDU Cheese in 2006.

Cheese (Country of Manufacture)
*Kolatch Gouda / Kolatch Ost (Ceorana)
*Aimitsy (Baranxtu)
*Moksaitabunauha Ipantli (Otea)
*Gouda / Real Gouda Cheese (Groot Gouda)
*Brig Cheese (Mikitivity)

{Descriptions of the Cheeses are posted below. NSWiki links to the cheeses and countries are provided above. All festival participants who want their entries to be added to NSWiki are encouraged to do so or can ask Mikitivity for help to do so.}

Anybody can vote once in this poll, and you can still vote for the other two IDU Cheese Festival categories: Best Imported Cheese to the IDU and Best Cheese Related Product! Naturally festival attendees are encouraged to sample as much as they like to make the hard decision on which cheese is the best!


The votes will be tabulated Friday Feb. 19, 2006 (i.e. the voting will last until then). Replies are allowed (but only after the posts for the five cheeses have been made).

[Mikitivity]

Cheese #1:
Nation: Ceorana
Home Region: International Democratic Union
Category: Best IDU Cheese

Kolatch Gouda

Kolatch Gouda is generally known as the oldest cheese in Ceorana. To survive the winters near what is now Tzatzing, the Kolatch tribe made this cheese and put it in storehouses made of cold rock to last the winter, along with smoked salmon. These stores could last for a couple of years. Most Kolatchites were fond of sharper cheese, as do most Ceoranans today, so an effort was made to eat the newest cheese in the storehouse first, to allow delicacies to develop in the back of the storehouse.

Today, Kolatch Gouda is manufactured both by the Kolatch tribe and mass-producers (the biggest mass-producer is Variety Cheeses, LLC., owned by Cameron Groeon), although the Kolatch tribe is almost universally accepted to make the better variety. Although it can be eaten while young, this is generally seen to be only for lower classes, and middle and upper class Ceoranans almost always eat Kolatch Gouda that has been aged for at least 18 months, preferably over 2 years.

There are several myths and superstitions surrounding Kolatch Gouda. Here are just a few:

• If a person eats Kolatch Gouda with a fork, instead of using bare hands, they must run for the Senate in the next election. Although this is widely cited, it has only been followed in the case of Benjamin Qiro, current Senator and Secretary of State.
  
  
• Those who spell Kolatch without a "t" must not eat the cheese in the next week to avoid rousing tribal spirits.
  
  
• A woman who kisses her husband must not eat any other type of cheese in the next day, lets she get divorced in the next week.
  
  

[Mikitivity]

Cheese #2:
Nation: Baranxtu
Home Region: IDU
Entry Category: Best IDU Cheese

Aimitsy
Baranxtuan Hard Cheese

Aimitsy is a both culturally and economocally important cheese of Baranxtu and is an adaption of the cheese with the longest tradition in Baranxtu, the barratsy, a type of hard goat cheese. Since its development in the 14th and 15th century CE, it has surpassed its predecessor in popularity, although the barratsy is still of high religious importance.

Production and Regulation

The whole process of aimitsebuna (production of aimitsy) is still relatively traditional, and only farms that adhere to a traditional way are allowed by the government to sell their cheese under the name "aimitsy".
One condition is that the cows are allowed to roam freely in the pastures and that they may only be put into a stable during cold or unusually hot months.
Both the milk and the grazing areas are frequently tested for harmful substances to ensure the high quality the name aimitsy promises.

After milking, the milk is already spiced with a variety of seasonings; the exact mix of spices that are used is often a tightly guarded secret of the producer.
Basic ingredients, however, are tnani, ma?irahta, parsley, chives and horse radish.

Flavour and Use

The aimitsy is probably the most tangy of all Baranxtuan cheeses, and can best be described as a cheese with a hot, herbal taste.
A number of attempts to market less spicy variations have been made, but all have failed miserably - these attempts of the 1960s and 1970s actually led to an additional government regulation that simple cheese that undergoes the same process of maturing, etc. but has not spices added to it has to be marketed as simple ?(th)ur aimbastutu ("cow milk's cheese") - previously, aimitsy could be legally used to describe any cheese made from cow milk.

Foreigners often need some time to adjust to the aimitsy, which is ubiquitous in traditional Baranxtuan cuisine. It can be found as a covering for bread and rolls as well as in ground form for various kinds of pasta dishes.

Importance

Economical
Of the overall yearly cheese production of Baranxtu, aimitsebuna takes about ten percent, making it the most important domestically produced cheese.

Religious
The durable aimitsy is also used extensively in the yearly sacrifices for the harvest and the Birth of the New Year. It is also still used in some traditional wedding ceremonies and baptisms, although this position is still largely held by the barratsy.

[Mikitivity]

Cheese #3:
Nation: Otea
Home Region: IDU
Entry Category: Best IDU Cheese

Moksaitabunauha Ipantli (Oteake)
Ripened fig ch?vre cheese (from Otea)

The Moksaitabunauha Ipantli, commonly known as Saita Ipantli or (Otean) Fig Cheese is a traditional cheese from the hilly island of Otea, which is also known as Qiruan Isle or Hadu Qirala, which has recently acquired quite some renown among cheese connoisseurs.

Name
The tongue-twister name is typical for the Qi language. Its pronunciation in X-SAMPA is [mo."saIj.ta.bU.naU.ha i."pAn.l@].

The name just describes the qualities of the cheese: It is a cheese (saita), or more exactly, ch?vre cheese (moka - goat), that has matured for a long time (bunauha) and has been flavored with figs (ipanta).

History
Cheese making has long been known to those Maran tribes that practise farming as a way to make milk more durable during the seasons not suitable for agriculture. This practice became especially well-developed in mountains and on islands, where the climate could sometimes prove especially hostile for the crops. At least three times during the know Maran history, stored cheese became the staple food of the people due to crop destruction.

The Qiri people on Otea, an island where domesticated cattle could only be bred on a small scale as opposed to goats and sheep, became a major exporter of cheese during the 5th century CE.

Figs were first used as a condiment in cheese around 950 CE, probably as a result of simple experimentation. The Saita Ipantli quickly became one of the major exports of Otea, and it remains so to this day.

Flavor
The Saita Ipantli combines the strong taste of hard ch?vre cheese with the sweetness of ripe, dried figs, making for an interesting and favored flavor.

Variations such as Sweetened Saita Ipantli (Moksaitabunauha me akiba Ipantli) and Salty Saita Ipantli (Moksaitabunauha me ratsa Ipantli) also exist, but these usually have only small, but loyal following.

[Mikitivity]

Cheese #4:
Nation: The Glorious People's Republic of Groot Gouda
Home Region: IDU
Entry Category: Best IDU Cheese

Entry: Real Gouda Cheese ™

The Gouda city region has been a cheese-producing region from very early times. With the growth of the city and other important cities in the early Groot Gouda empire, the demand for cow-related products such as meat, leather and dairy increased greatly. So did the variety in cheeses. In Groot Gouda, the name "Gouda" for cheese and cheese-related products is reserved for the cheeses made in Gouda City's surrounding provinces (North and South Illians, Eastmeadow to the east and Shortfields and Gowlands to the west), and stringent checks on the typical procedure are made to ensure that it is real Gouda Cheese. The distinc flavour is said to come from the minerals in the clay from the rivers Gow and Ysle which run through the area. It's not a surprise that these rivers, despite their importance for traffic and transport, are monitored by the Groot Gouda Environmental Department more than the other rivers.

Oddly, Gouda cheese was never actually made in Gouda City. It was and still is the major marketplace for them, and that's why the name Gouda Cheese has stuck. A difference is sometimes made between the Gowlands cheese and the Eastmeadow varieties.

Real Gouda Cheese has a distinct arome that takes you back hundres of years, to the flavours of old rural Gouda. Gouda Cheeses are rich in fat (especially the Eastmeadow varieties) giving it a rich creamy flavour.

The two main varieties:

Eastmeadow Gouda Cheese: eat this one young. It will nearly melt on the tip of your tongue, and spread its delicious rich flavour snoothly through your mouth. Eastmeadow varieties have a high fat percentage and are slightly salty, caused by the local soil. Eastmeadow is the province with the most cheese-producing farms in Groot Gouda and in spring, the Grass Cheese Festival (celebration of the first fresh cheeses in the season) is the major happening in the region.

Old Gower: this cheese has lived a life, and you'll know it. It has seen things, been at places, and lived a life of happiness. The saying goes that an Old Gower is like an excellent wine: best left for a few years before it's really good. Because of the fat content, it will remain creamy even if it's al older cheese. Ideal for the traditional way to eat Gouda Cheese, in slices. It has spicy undertones but isn't as salt as an Eastmeadow Gouda.

[Mikitivity]

Cheese #5:
Nation: Mikitivity
Home Region: IDU
Entry Category: Best IDU Cheese

Entry: Brig Cheese

Brig Cheese is a Mikitivity cheese that is the key ingredient in making Thuvian Fondue. It is named after Brig, a small village located in an isolated valley in the Thuvian mountains in the canton of Miervatia.

Due to the popularity of Thuvian Fondue, the denomination Brig Cheese is not protected, thus it is common to find similar cheeses being made outside of Mikitivity. In fact, it is said that some of the higher quality Brig Cheeses actually can be found to the west of Mikitivity in the Schnauzer Domains, which share a similar climate but has more land suitable for cattle grazing.

Brig Cheese is a pale-yellow, medium hard cheese with characteristic large holes. It is made from nonpasturized cow's milk and typically aged for 3 to 12 months.

The holes are affectionately refered to as mausknabbern, as it was tradition to fault the holes on nibbles that tiny mice would eat out of the cheese. The holes are actually created in the last stage of production, when one of the bacteria used in making the cheese consumes the lactic acid excreted by the other types of bacteria and releases carbon dioxide gas, which slowly forms bubbles within the cheese.

The cheese has a mild taste and when fresh is popular in making sandwiches. Though the cheese ages well in cold climates, stale Brig Cheese is seasoned with spice melange and local white wines, and then melted in a kasetopf to make Thuvian Fondue. The demand for Brig Cheese in the fondue is so high, that today it is common for the fresh cheese to be stored in barns waiting for it to age enough for traditional fondue, and thus other cheeses are more and more frequently being used to make sandwiches or other dishes.

[Mikitivity]

Non IDU members can vote here too. The winner of the Best IDU Cheese could be a nation who has developed a strong international market for their product.

[I'm still testing all these cheeses, so I've not yet voted myself.]

[Mikitivity]

I've voted, however, I'd like to ask that each of these cheeses be considered imports to Mikitivity. (We are also in the market of hunting for anything pork related as well as most vegetables.)