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Monday, April 17, 2006

Say, "Buffalo Cheese" Pleeze!


Photo note: My face has not been Photoshopped onto this water buffalo (though I did have hair like this at one point in high school).

Buffalo Cheese: Modern, unpasteurized, vegetarian, hard cheese of wheel shape with thin, leathery, polished, natural rind. The cheese was introduced on market in 1996 and became very popular. It is the only hard buffalo's milk cheese made in Britain. It has a mild flavor with a hint of almonds.--www.cheese.com

I went to www.cheese.com, the number one cheese resource to do some research. Buffalo cheese jumped right out at me. It is a cheese made from water buffalo milk. I am left with many unanswered questions after reading about buffalo cheese at http://www.cheese.com/ :How does one go about milking a water buffalo? Who was the first person to suggest milking a water buffalo? Why? How did the water buffalo react (I would guess poorly)?

Looking at the hunk of hard buffalo cheese, it also strikes me that it would be a challenging product to market. I suppose you could take the Dairy Farmer's of America's approach and keep it simple with: GOT BUFFALO CHEESE? The campaign could be accompanied by photos of famous people with buffalo cheese crumbs on their face.

Or I could take the Bud Light approach and use humor:

SCENE: Urban Hip party with lots of beautiful people mingling. A geeky looking guy is standing next to the food table that is piled with elaborately prepared party food. The geek is holding a paper bag. He reaches in and pulls out a hunk of buffalo cheese and sets it on the table. He next takes a serving knife and saws off a hunk, slaps it on a cracker and puts it into his mouth. And instant hush comes over the party and all eyes are on the geek who swallows audibly and smiles weakly. Crumbs of buffalo cheese are stuck to his face.

A tall super model approaches and says seductively: WHO CUT THE BUFFALO CHEESE? She takes the geek by the arm, grabs the cheese and they leave together.

Okay, okay, buffalo cheese is never going to be a household word even with my great marketing ideas. Besides there are literally hundreds of cheeses to choose from and they are all listed at http://www.cheese.com/. And if I hadn't already picked a NO TIM'S FACE PHOTOSHOPPED ON ANYTHING WEEK as my theme I'd be doing a Cheese a Day blog with riveting posts about Galloway Goat's Milk Gems, Fynbo, or one of my favorites -- Knockalara. Just read what http://www.cheese.com/ has to say about Knockalara:
Knockalara is a fresh, feta-style cheese made on the Waterford farm by Wolfgang and Agnes Schliebitz. Its light tang goes beautifully with fruity olive oil, so it's ideal in salads. Knockalara comes either plain or preserved in herb-flavored olive oil.
No wonder these cheese sites are getting all the traffic.

2 comments:

Naughti Biscotti said...

I'm so glad you educated me on the subject. I felt a bit like Jessica Simpson. In this case I thought buffalo cheese came from... Buffalo (as in "buffalo wings")

Time said...

Cherish, Having grown up in farm country, I recognize the importance of being able to tell a bull from a cow. Milking a water buffalo bull, especially without his consent, could have dire consequences.

Shandi,
You are right. It really should be called Water Buffalo Cheese, but since it is primarily produced in Britain and Australia, I don't think they draw the distinction. But I imagine milking an American Bison would also present challenges. Incidentally, I toyed with putting your face on the cheese. But I'm saving that for later.