Traditional Food that Keeps Well: Butter and Cheese

Having a reliable supply of food on hand has become a necessity for large numbers of people throughout the world in the past week or so. My recent discussion of preparations for the rapidly growing outbreak of coronavirus received comments from people on several continents who were also starting to feel the necessity to stock up on food and other necessities. Before I continue with some thoughts on good food to have on hand, here are some photos I took at my local Whole Foods store this morning. Yes, the fear of being quarantined or isolated has really affected people!

Frozen pizza: gone.

Canned tomato products: almost gone.
According to the butcher, meat supplies are running out.

I saw many people with huge quantities of groceries, such as this scene in the checkout line.

Just like everyone else, I've been thinking about what foods have a long shelf life. My mind has turned to cheese.

From my refrigerator: cheddar, parmesan, and swiss.

These cheeses have a shelf-life of 3 to 6 months before you unwrap them, and last pretty long when opened. Despite the extreme fears of some people, I’m convinced that we won’t be without electricity during even the worst possible outbreak of disease, so cheese seems to me a very good choice to have on hand. I’ve read a lot of discussions of what to buy and keep — I don’t think most of the discussions mention cheese and butter, though jam and peanut butter often make the list.

With bread or crackers, cheese makes an instant meal. It also adds important flavor and nutrition to dishes from a wide variety of cuisines. For example, in the book Taco USA, Gustavo Arellano mentions many many types of tacos and other Mexican-style foods that use jack cheese, cotijo cheese, or the Tex-Mex queso. So besides a few extra packages of cheese for your fridge, think about adding a package of tortillas to the supplies in your freezer and some jars of salsa for your pantry!

Cheese has a wonderful long history, too. Preservation of milk by making it into cheese or butter has been around for thousands of years. Before refrigeration, cellars and natural caves provided cool storage for food and wine, including these processed dairy products. Discussions of processed foods often ignore the long traditions that enabled early agricultural societies to eat better throughout the seasons. Milk spoils fast and shelf-stable milk has been developed only in the last century or so, as a result of industrial food-processing techniques. On the other hand, cheese and butter are very good, traditionally processed, long-lasting foods to have on hand for whatever we are facing.

 A prehistoric woman holding a butter churn on her head.
Chacolithic era from the sanctuary of Gilat in the Negev in Israel.
Dated 5500 to 6500 years ago. (Israel Museum, Jerusalem, my photo.)

As my trip to Whole Foods impressed on me, there's suddenly been considerable acceleration of the urgency of the now-global pandemic. As more and more new cases were reported, including here in Michigan, the two of us became convinced that we should stay home rather than take a planned trip to visit family. Concerts, meetings, and lectures that we planned to attend have been cancelled or probably will be cancelled. All classes and seminars at the University of Michigan have been cancelled, along with those of many other institutions in the country.

On every level -- family, city, state, country, and the whole world -- we're facing a challenge that never happened before.

Blog post copyright © 2020 mae sander for maefood dot blog spot dot com.