Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

An Ode to Mould

Mould isn’t always a bad thing. Yes, it’s the disgusting fuzzy stuff that grows on our food when we keep it for too long. Yes, it’s the disgusting slimy stuff that grows in dark, damp places in the house. Yes, it’s the stuff that causes allergic reactions in people in old buildings. Yes, it’s part of what causes “sick office building syndrome”. There are many reasons why moulds are rightfully disliked.

However, there are also many reasons why we should be thankful for moulds. I’m not going to talk about the ecological benefits and the nutrient cycle and all that. No, I’m going to talk about the benefits that you and I can feel, touch, smell and taste!

I know, it sounds disgusting to feel, touch and taste anything to do with mould. Bear with me, though.

Moulds give us some of the most wonderful tastes in cuisines around the world:

• cheese of all kinds, not just blue cheeses
• specialty wines like botrytised wines
• fish sauce such as nuoc mam
• chinese black bean paste
• miso
• soy sauce
• rice vinegar

Without miso, soy sauce, and nuoc mam, much of what we now have in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cuisine would disappear. Without cheese, some of the finest gustatory experiences of Western Europe would disappear – indeed, without cheese of any kind, Italian cuisine would cease to be Italian.

With this in mind, let me take a moment to present my ode to mould:

Like wisps of cotton candy you appear
Wherever I turn, you are there.
Often I scold you and scorn you at first sight
Knowing that what you have begun to eat
I dare not touch out of sensible fright.

Little did I know that what you have given
Far outweighs what you have taken.
All the wonders of the world of cheese I owe to you,
I would be lost without cheese and not know what to do.
Asian cuisine far in the east relies on your work
Building a myriad of tastes on the things you make where you lurk.

I curse you when you take from me
And I will likely never stop scolding thee.
Yet for far too long have I neglected thank you
For all that you have given in tastes and plenitude.