A Cheese Cake Quietus

by Sukruti Anah

So maybe this me thanking James Lewis Kraft, after a hundred years – for his efforts, his persistence in not just selling cheese from a wagon, but in creating a sort of indulgent cheese. In 1912, Kraft began with his brothers to sell cheese, but this was no ordinary cheese – he developed a way to pasteurize the cheese so that it can be shipped over long distances and still stay creamy and thick. Good old James was not the first of his kind to process cheese, the french cheese ‘Neufchâtel’ from Normandy was this soft and crumbly cheese that was essentially quite grainy. However the American Neufchâtel was creamier than its french version and was extremely creamy due  to the reduced fat content and high levels of moisture. And this cream cheese along with a base of crushed biscuits is your basic Cheesecake.

There was the New York Cheesecake, the Philadelphia Cheesecake, and other Cheesecakes from all over the world.

With the option of baking it or not, the Cheesecake has infinite variations – with fruits, with Green Tea ice cream or even Guava Marmalade. When you try to figure out its origins, some people imagine its emergence in Greece. However the Cheesecake has now travelled the world and from Japan to Brazil, each culture varies the Cheesecake, to become a part of traditions. The Raspberry  Cheesecake (in the picture) is a combination of a thick creamy cheese block, placed neatly on a crushed biscuit base and topped with a thin sheet of Raspberry Sorbet, and garnished with a white chocolate square and a perfect little Raspberry.

Slice through it slowly, peacefully. Its calm and soothing effect slowly kills you. But you will survive, and when you do live to tell your Cheesecake story, you must tell of it, and the whole world must know.

Caked Baked by: La Cigale, Doha