Qui couper le fromage?

It was the The Commander Guy who cut the cheese.

Not quite the same, good intentioned, vibe as, say, Charlie Wilson's War



Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France ...Departing Officials Set Duty at 300%

This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war.

A village of 600 souls in a remote part of southern France, Roquefort clings precariously to the side of Combalou Rock, a promontory overlooking a deep valley where sheep graze in the shadow of limestone cliffs that were sheared off by a seismic jolt in prehistoric times.

But the primal shake also carved out aerated underground crevasses that give a unique economic value to this jagged landscape about 65 miles northwest of Montpellier. They make possible a gastronomical wonder that has delighted gourmets for centuries: Roquefort cheese. And now, in an era of globalized competition for trade, the smelly delicacy and its little home town have become ground zero for the warriors of export-import in Washington.

It seems, on his way out the door, the man who had a Ek-A-Lec-Tic reading list, but not such sophisticated taste buds, gave a shout out to the Freedom Fries crowd and whacked the French with a 300-percent duty on Roquefort cheese.

Yikes!

The measure, announced Jan. 13 by U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab as she headed out the door, was designed as retaliation for a European Union ban on imports of U.S. beef containing hormones. Tit for tat, and all perfectly legal under World Trade Organization rules, U.S. officials explained.

All you stinky cheese lovers, better get your dander up, and start lobbying the new Obama Administration.

Hmmmm .... Perhaps, if they could get McDonald's to start making their cheeseburgers with Roquefort ... Man, it would in no-time at all, see those walls come tumbling down, and a less-taxed stinky cheese makes it into the country ...

Or, you know ... They could tie it into the Stimulus Package ...Part of the next TARP payment

For all those Wall Street fat cats, the ones who got the $18-Billion in bonuses (I wonder how big their bonuses would have been, had they actually plunged us into a full-fledged depression) ... They're gonna want some good, imported Roquefort, to go with their whining ...

And, at least for a few moments, take away the stink from them.

Top Ten Cloves: Possible Problems Julia Child Had As An OSS Spy

News Item: Julia Child, spy? Records reveal Julia Child was a World War II-era spy

10. Called in often, asking if she could work from her kitchen

9. Whenever she was told of a need, Julia thought they meant "knead" and would go off on a tangent, for hours, about Tuscan breads

8. Kept annoying, making suggestions to, management, for a television show, introducing French spies to American audiences

7. Sending secret messages on cheese cloth made it difficult for her colleagues to read

6. Her super-secret code, if she was in trouble, was to serve fish for lunch, without the heads - which she loathed to do

5. Though she hid them well in her trench coat, Meat Tenderizer and Oven Thermometer were not approved OSS equipment

4. Didn't do well at stakeouts - noise and odor from cooking gave away her position

3. When running after suspects, wind would blow apron up over her face

2. Failed self-defense training - kept hitting instructor, simulating attack on her, over head with frying pan

1. When interrogating a suspect, spent inordinate amount of time grilling them for recipes


Bonus Bon Appetite Links

Celebrity spies revealed - new details of Julia Child's pre-chef career released

John Bennett: Declassified: Julie Child's OSS Cook Book

Sara Dickerman: How To Read Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Six recipes Julia Child would want you to make

Cookin' With Julia & Jacques

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