I've been offline for the past few weeks, my computer a victim of a nasty worm. I returned late last week to learn, courtesy of Max, that Jeffrey Steingarten, my culinary idol, was doing this week's Q & A on egullet. Somehow, egullet allowed me to post a question, and miracle of miracles, he answered! Read on...
Question:
Thank you for coming. I was offline for a couple of weeks, and I returned to discover that you were doing this q&a! It was like an early Christmas gift!
I write for a cheese weblog with some other friends and we're all really big fans of yours. We loved your article about mozzarella di bufala in September, and have all emailed that earthlink address you printed requesting your tasting notes on domestic mozzarella, and have yet to hear back. Does this list exist? If so, can we have it?
Also, do you think that with Homeland Security tightening restrictions in customs, that it's still possible to bring unpasteurized cheese into the country by simply declaring it? Traveling friends want to know.
Thanks again, for your time.
Answer:
Dear Connie,
Thanks for the kind words.
I'm troubled by your story about requesting (you and your friends) the mozzarella di bufala list at bufala@earthlink.net, a mailbox I set up for the purpose, and not receiving the list. I'll admit that it took too long for me to get the list together, but we were waiting for certain developments in Vermont. Still, it was some time ago, over a month, that we e-mailed many copies of the list. If nobody had received a reply, we would have gotten lots of hate mail--judging from past experience. So I'm puzzled by your experience. If you've sent in your request fairly recently, it's possible that you've been grouped into a second wave of replies. Please elucidate.
As for Homeland Security: My understanding of the FDA's new rules, which went into effect on December 12, is that foreign companies importing food into the US must now appoint a responsible agent within the US and must inform the FDA (through any of several methods, including the Internet) of the shipment at least four days before the shipment is set to arrive. There's nothing I can find in the new regulations regarding individuals' bringing in food. Remember, carrying in raw milk cheeses aged fewer than 60 days is still not allowable under the law and never has been--at least for the past 52 years. As I explained in the "Cheese Crise" chapter of "It Must've Been Something I Ate," the reason you can carry in illegal cheese with impunity is that the FDA has no inspectors at the airport, and the customs people who check your baggage couldn't care less about the FDA's war against real cheese. Everybody I spoke with denied there was a policy of benign, very benign, neglect. On many occasions I have followed the policy of "declare everything." I am always very explicit in what I declare; I write on the back of the form "raw milk cheeses aged for fewer than 60 days" and sometimes add, "in contravention of FDA regulations and statutes." The inspector reads it and waves me through. If the FDA were thoroughly concerned with homeland security, they would reassign everybody there who has been working against real cheese.
Although I have not yet had a chance to test the new regulatory regime, I don't believe that the FDA has any more inspectors at the airports for non-commercial , personal, imports than they did before. If they do, it's a real waste of money. The reason for declaring everything, apart from the fun of it, is to protect yourself legally. But as I've written, the main thing to fear at the airport is the USDA. Bring in some uncooked (i.e. unpasteurized) meat, and the USDA guys will read you your rights. Thing is, except during the Mad Cow and Sick Pig scares, the USDA was not concerned about cheese. The FDA is concerned with human health, the USDA with animal health. And besides Sky King, my fabulous golden retriever, animals do not eat Camembert.
Note: I have since resubmitted that request