White Collar inspired question

[ratcreature]

In the recent ep Diana claims that Neal's raw milk Pecorino cheese was illegal (Neal counters that it was a gift, not sold), which I found very strange. I know that there is more concern about risks of raw milk products in the US than elsewhere, but surely the US wouldn't outlaw all kinds of cheeses? What on earth would be sold as Parmesan cheese in the US for example (I mean if you want the non-ersatz kind, i.e. proper Parmigiano-Reggiano), if raw milk cheese was really illegal? Or Gruyère? Or any of the other common cheeses that need raw milk? It's not like raw milk is only used in obscure specialty cheeses foodie snobs seek out.

Comments

[ratcreature]

Due to money constraints I mostly buy the cheap supermarket cheese myself rather than any gourmet special cheeses, so it's not like I can cast stones. But the variety even on the cheapish end is slightly greater, like today I got a package of Swiss Gruyère made from raw milk in said discount supermarket. (It has to be labelled here in the ingredients so people with weak immune system can avoid raw milk if they prefer to be careful.)

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

I don't think I even heard of Gruyere until I was fourteen or fifteen, in a book. They might have it in the bigger supermarkets now, haven't looked since cheese is off my diet anyway.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

Depends where you are, but any halfway decent supermarket in any medium-sized US city should have an extensive cheese department, probably containing at least a few raw-milk cheeses. I live in Pittsburgh, PA, and even the discount supermarkets have Colby jack, mozzarella, and a few other options (in addition to cheddar, Swiss, and the ubiquitous Kraft singles and Velveeta).

Back to the original question...pecorino in the US would almost always be sold aged (you can get "young" pecorino, but it is less common -- for me to get it, I have to go to the giant Italian speciality cheese counter in the market district and can't be sure they'll have it, while regular/aged pecorino I can reliably get, though not in many shops). So I find the statement from WC dubious at best, unless there's some internal evidence that the cheese was young.

[ratcreature]

Here the discount supermarkets almost never sell the proper mozzarella made from buffalo milk, only the pseudo kind from cow's milk. (On the bright side, the boring cow mozzarella sold here is usually not Italian and thus not entangled with the Camorra, who caused that bacteria scandal a few years back because they threatened vets, falsified hygiene tests and hid sick buffalo and such, not to mention runs these illegal waste dumps that contaminate the food production with dioxins. I mean, I still buy Italian cheese, but I'd feel more reassured if it wasn't some mafia running the food production.)