David Chang hosted an amazing episode of Mind of A Chef dedicated to the subject of rot and I have no intentions on plagiarizing his genius but honestly, every and yes I mean every night, I sit on the floor and open the door to my wine chiller and just marvel at this glorious, molding leg of pig and count the mold blossoms and spin it this way and that in complete reverence.
Age is good, cure is good, mold is good, and yes rot, rot is good. I remember touring the caves at Roth Kase in Wisconsin and coming up upon the Gruyere rooms. They were intense. Gruyere produces ammonia during aging. Even walking past the doors of the aging rooms was an eye burning, nose bleed, throat melting choke. I was saddened and angered by the people in my group who over reacted with immature disgust gagging, giggling, and overall douchery where every sensory blast I received was a revelation. I was in love. I went as far in as I was allowed, snapped as many pictures as I could, filed away every last memory I could muster. It was incredible. Yes, it was intense. I could not imagine working in that environment everyday. But it captured a timelessness, a tradition, a history, and sharing in something very very old and very very dear to the soul of humanity.
Feed the body, nourish the soul is what they say. This is exactly what foods like this do. It is their soul intent, they are an edible compass They connect us to thousands of years and millions of lives of our history, and if you really try, I think you can taste it. A simple piece of cheese transporting you through time or space or maybe both, to a much older place. A hill top in Burgundy where even the air breaths richer, the light fuller and deeper. A place where life is timeless and a great meal is infinite and full of peace.
The next time you are shopping, reach for some cheese, or bread, or a salami, or bacon, or an olive, or a pickle, or kraut, or kimchi, or that hip new Greek yogurt and stop for a second. For what you eat is essentially rot, and rot is fucking delicious.
