Granular cheese
Country of origin	None in particular
Region, town	None in particular
Source of milk	Cows
Pasteurised	Possibly
Texture	Granular, usually hard
Aging time	Minimum: 2 months Usual: 12 months
Certification	N/A

Granular cheese, also known as stirred curd cheese and hard cheese, is a type of cheese produced by repeatedly stirring and draining a mixture of curd and whey. It can refer to a wide variety of cheeses, including the grana cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (at right) and various others. Many types are commonly used in the production of processed cheese, especially American cheese, which by law must consist of Cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, cheese curd, or granular cheese.^[1]

Food and Drug Administration standards[link]

In the United States, the FDA mandates certain qualifications for something to be called granular cheese. The maximum allowed moisture content is 39 percent, and the minimum allowed milkfat content is 50 percent by weight of the solids. Regular granular cheese must either use pasteurized dairy products or be cured for at least 60 days at a temperature of at least 35 °F. Either cows' milk or cream may be used as the main ingredient. Other permissible ingredients include clotting enzymes such as rennet, coloring, calcium chloride as a coagulation aid, enzymes used in curing, hydrogen peroxide, and agents used to protect against fungi.^[2] The name granular cheese can encompass many types of cheeses; for example, Parmigiano-Reggiano is a granular cheese.^[3]

Granular cheese for manufacturing must meet all of these standards except that it does not need to be cured, nor do the dairy ingredients used need to be pasteurized.^[2] This is the type of granular cheese most commonly used for processing.

Production[link]

Although granular cheese can be created using any method that achieves the designated standard for physical and chemical properties, there is one method that is generally used. First, the milk or cream may be warmed and treated with hydrogen peroxide and catalase, producing water and oxygen gas.^[4] Then, a lactic acid-producing bacterial culture is added, and the product is treated with clotting enzymes to form a semisolid mass. This mass is cut, stirred, and heated to separate the curd and the whey. Increasing the amount of time between cutting and heating will increase both the final moisture content and the milkfat content of the cheese, thereby increasing the yield.^[5] There follows an alternating cycle of draining of the whey and stirring. After most of the whey has been drained, the curd is salted, drained, and pressed into the desired form. The remaining product may be cured if the original dairy products were not pasteurized.^[2] A common method of curing is to dry the cheese on racks for about a week, then to wax it and place it in coolers until the time of consumption.^[6]

Taste[link]

Granular cheese is rich and tangy. Although unpasteurized granular cheese is ready to eat after 60 days of curing, it has a very mild flavor unless aged further to increase sharpness. The cheese is sharpest after 12 months of aging, after which it is usually sold.^[6]

References[link]

Les Barker
Les Barker at the 2010 Ely Festival
Born	(1947-01-30) 30 January 1947 (age 65) Manchester, England
Nationality	Originally English, now claims Welsh nationality
Occupation	Poet and performer
Website
www.mrsackroyd.com

Les Barker (born 30 January 1947) is an English poet. He is best known for his comedic poetry and parodies of popular songs, however he has also produced some very serious thought-provoking written work.

Originally from Manchester he trained in accountancy before his talent for the written word was discovered. Initially he toured around folk music venues as a solo performer, and later with The Mrs Ackroyd Band (named after his mongrel dog Mrs Ackroyd.) Les is not a singer and the Mrs Ackroyd Band with classically trained vocalists Hilary Spencer and Alison Younger, with keyboard player Chris Harvey have enabled Les's parodies to be performed live to enthusiastic response.

As well as touring Britain he has also performed in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada.

Poems, Parodies and Monologues[link]

He has published 76 books to date and has released (either as a solo performer or with his band) 20 albums. His books typically feature a mixture of monologues and comic songs, with a few serious songs. The monologues tip the hat to Marriott Edgar, who wrote many of the monologues performed by Stanley Holloway. Like Edgar, Barker has created several recurring characters and themes, including Jason and the Arguments, Cosmo the Fairly Accurate Knife Thrower, Captain Indecisive, The Far off Land of Dyslexia and Spot of the Antarctic. All of these have become trademarks of Barker's work. Both his funny and more serious songs have become standards for other singers such as Waterson:Carthy and June Tabor.

He is also remarkable as being one of the few writers to get the Welsh place named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantisiliogogogoch into a song successfully (it forms the main chorus of a song of the same name, and is sung four times). Les has now taken up residence in Wales and is fully proficient in that language, producing two books of poetry written in the Welsh tongue.

He has remained firmly rooted in the circuit of folk clubs and festivals where he has a devoted following. Many other folk-poets and comedy writers like Mike Harding, Jasper Carrott, Billy Connolly and Max Boyce have moved into a mass media market, but Les Barker remains one among a few remaining comedy acts that still continue to work the folk circuit. Bernard Wrigley and Keith Donnelly are other examples and Les has recently performed as part of a double act with the latter under the name "Idiot and Friend".

Guide Cats for the Blind[link]

He also wrote a poem called "Guide Cats for the Blind" which led to an unexpected development. The poem was heard by Clive Lever, a keyboard player and comedy songwriter from Maidstone, who is involved in an organisation called the "British Computer Association of the Blind" (BCAB). The Association runs a program called EyeT4all, which aims to make computers accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Clive got in touch with Les, who agreed to the poem being used as the title track of a double fundraising CD . Les also agreed to the recording of a series of albums, in which his poems and songs would be recorded by artists from the folk world, but also by well known celebrities from the entertainment and theatrical world. Presenters from all five BBC Radio stations featured on the albums and so far between £40,000 and £50,000 has been raised.^{[citation needed]}

So far five "Guide Cats" albums have been produced, "Guide Cats for the Blind", "Missing Persians File", "Top Cat, White Tie and Tails", "Cat Nav", and "Herding Cats". The CDs contain performances of Les's poems by members of the folk world like June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Steve Tilston, Mike Harding and Tom Paxton but also well known figures like Jimmy Young, Nicholas Parsons, Brian Perkins, Terry Wogan, Nicky Campbell, Robert Lindsay, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs.

Recent Developments and Poet Laureate Campaign[link]

Shortly after a heart attack in January 2008, Barker began solo gigging again.^[1]

He has also, since taking up residence in Wales, become fluent in the native tongue. In 2008 he was awarded the NIACE Inspire Award as Welsh Learner of the Year,^[2] and recited his poem "Have you Got Any News of the Iceberg?" in Welsh at the presentation in Swansea.

In 2009, a campaign by his folk fanbase sought to have him chosen as the British Poet Laureate.^[3]

Books[link]

• Airedale
• Alexander Greyhound Bell
• Alsatians to Crewe
• Bark Odes
• Bark to Front
• The Beagle has Landed
• Beagles, Bangles and Beads
• Beyond Our Cairn
• The Boogie Woogie Beagle Boy from Company B
• Borzoi Ballet
• The Borzoi's Back in Town
• The Boxer Rebellion
• Break the Mole
• Collieflowers
• Corgasm
• Corgi and Bess
• Dachshunds With Erections Can't Climb Stairs
• Dog Byte
• Dog Ends
• Dog Gone
• Dog Only Nose
• Doggerel
• The English Book of Penguin Folk Songs
• Extra Terrierestrial
• Fetlar
• The First Mutt is the Cheapest
• Get a Dog and Barker Yourself
• The Green Eye of the Little Yellow Dog
• Her Master's Book
• The Hound of Music
• The Hound of the Basketballs
• I Camel, I Saw, I Conker
• I Hear the Sound of Distant Plums
• Illegal Annual
• Irritable Bow-Wow Syndrome
• Jack Spaniel's
• King Charles Spaniel
• Labrador Rigby
• Lady & the Trampoline
• Llandrindod and One Dalmatians
• The Mabidogion
• Man and Doberman
• Mastiff Central
• Medlock Delta Blues
• Morocco and Things
• Mrs. Ack Royd's Again
• Mrs. Ackroyd's Diary
• O Camel Ye Faithful
• The Official Retriever
• Paws for Thought
• Pekinese Up Mother Brown
• Pup Yours
• A Quite Short Goat and a Pink Dalmatian
• Red Setters in the Sunset
• Reign of Terrier
• Rover the Hills and Far Away
• Rover the Rainbow
• Roverdance: The Poems
• Royders of the Lost Ack
• Sitting With My Dog on Display
• Something to Sniff At
• Songs for Swingin' Tails
• Spaniel in the Lion's Den
• Spencer's Dog Rover
• The First Mutt is the Cheapest
• The Stones of Callanish
• The Collar Purple
• THE MRS ACKROYD OCCASIONAL TABLE BOOK
• THE MRS ACKROYD PERIODIC TABLE BOOK
• A Tail of Two Setters
• Upper Cruft
• Vincent Van Dogh
• Viva a Spaniel
• Vodabone
• Waiting for Dogot
• Werneth Willie Ackroyd
• Wolfhound Amadeus Mozart
• 101 Damnatians

Albums[link]

• A Cardi and Bloke
• Airs of the Dog
• An Infinite Number of Occasional Tables
• Arovertherapy
• Dark Side of the Mongrel
• Dog 017 Yelp!
• Dogologues
• Earwigo
• Gnus & Roses
• Guide Cats for the Blind
• The Mrs. Ackroyd Rock'n'Roll Show
• Mrs. Ackroyd: Superstar!
• Oranges & Lemmings
• Probably the Best Album Ever Made by Anybody in Our Street
• Some Love
• The Missing Persians File
• The Stones of Callanish
• The War on Terrier
• Top Cat, White Tie and Tails
• Tubular Dogs
• Twilight of the Dogs
• Up the Creek without a Poodle
• The Wings of Butterflies
• Yelp!

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mrs Ackroyd (Band) Home Page
• Biography
• All Music Guide biography by Craig Harris

Michael Wayne Rosen
Born	(1946-05-07) 7 May 1946 (age 66) Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK
Occupation	Children's novelist and poet
Period	20th century – present
Genres	Children's literature; Poetry
www.michaelrosen.co.uk

Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946)^[1] is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009.

Family and early years[link]

Michael Rosen was born in Harrow, London. The family background is Jewish, "from the Jewish East End tradition" as Rosen puts it.^[2] Rosen's father Harold (1919–2008) was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, in the United States to Communist parents and settled in the East End of London at the age of two, when his mother returned to the country of her birth.^[3] While a member of the Young Communist League he met Connie Isakofsky, his future wife and Michael Rosen's mother, in 1935. Harold was a secondary school teacher before becoming a professor of English at the Institute of Education, London,^[4] and Connie a primary school teacher before becoming a training college lecturer; she also broadcast for the BBC. Producing a programme featuring poetry, she persuaded her son to write for it, and used some of the material he submitted.^[5] Their ancestors came from Poland, Russia and Romania.^[2] Michael Rosen was brought up in Pinner, Middlesex, and went to various state schools in Pinner, Harrow, and then Watford Grammar School for Boys,^[2] and, having discovered the range of Jonathan Miller, thought: "Wouldn't it be wonderful to know all about science, and know all about art, and be funny and urbane and all that."^[6] Subsequently, in his own words:

... I went to [Middlesex Hospital] Medical School, started on the first part of a medical training, jacked it in and went on to do a degree in English at Oxford University. I then worked for the BBC until they chucked me out and I have been a freelance writer, broadcaster, lecturer, performer ever since – that's to say since 1972. Most of my books have been for children, but that's not how I started out. ... Sometime around the age of twelve and thirteen I began to get a sense that I liked writing, liked trying out different kinds of writing, I tried writing satirical poems about people I knew.^[2]

Career[link]

After graduating from Wadham College, Oxford, in 1969, Rosen became a graduate trainee at the BBC. Among the work that he did while there in the 1970s was presenting a series on BBC Schools television called WALRUS (Write And Learn, Read, Understand, Speak). He was also scriptwriter on the children's reading series Sam on Boffs' Island. But Rosen found working for the corporation frustrating: "Their view of 'educational' was narrow. The machine had decided this was the direction to take. Your own creativity was down the spout."^[7]

Despite previously having made no secret of his radical politics he was asked to go freelance in 1972, though in practice he was sacked despite several departments of the BBC wishing to employ him. In common with the China expert and journalist Isabel Hilton among several others at this time, Rosen had failed the vetting procedures which were then in operation. This long-standing practice was only revealed in 1985.^[8]

In 1974 Mind Your Own Business, his first book of poetry for children, was published. In due course, Rosen established himself with his collections of humorous verse for children, including Wouldn't You Like to Know, You Tell Me and Quick Let's Get Out of Here.

Educationalist Morag Styles has described Rosen as "one of the most significant figures in contemporary children's poetry". He was, says Styles, one of the first poets "to draw closely on his own childhood experiences ... and to 'tell it as it was' in the ordinary language children actually use".^[7]

Rosen played a key role in opening up children's access to poetry: both through his own writing and with important anthologies such as Culture Shock. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and further afield in Australia, Canada and Singapore.^[7] His tours continue to enthuse and engage school children about poetry in the present.^[9] In 1993, he gained an M.A. in Children's Literature from the University of Reading; he also holds a Ph.D. from the University of North London.^[10]

He is well established as a broadcaster, presenting a range of documentary features on British radio. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's regular magazine programme Word of Mouth which looks at the English language and the way it is used.^[11]

The English Association has given Michael Rosen's Sad Book an Exceptional Award for the Best Children's Illustrated Books of 2004, in the 4–11 age range. The book was written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It deals in part with bereavement, and followed the publication of Carrying the Elephant: A Memoir of Love and Loss which was published in November 2002 after the death of his son Eddie, who features as a child in much of his earlier poetry. In 2004, Rosen published This Is Not My Nose: A Memoir of Illness and Recovery, an account of his ten years with undiagnosed hypothyroidism; a course of drugs in 1981 alleviated the condition.^[7]

Rosen has also been involved in campaigning around issues of education and for the Palestinian cause. He has written columns for the newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party (Socialist Worker)^[12] and spoken at their conferences.^[13] He has also stood for election in June 2004 in London as a Respect Coalition candidate.^[5] He is also a supporter of the Republic campaign.^[14]

Rosen was the subject of the BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme on 6 August 2006.^[15]

He is currently Visiting Professor of Children's Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, where he teaches Children's Literature and has devised an MA in Children's Literature, which commenced in October 2010.^[16]

In August 2010 Rosen contributed to an eBook collection of political poems entitled Emergency Verse - Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State edited by Alan Morrison^[17]

In 2011, he collaborated with his wife, Emma-Louise Williams to produce the film 'Under the Cranes'; he provided the original screenplay (a 'play for voices' called 'Hackney Streets') which Williams took as a basis with which to direct the film. It premiered at the Rio Cinema, Dalston, London on April 30, 2011 as part of the East End Film Festival^[18]

Awards and honours[link]

Rosen was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson,^[19] and held this honour till 9 June 2009, being succeeded by Anthony Browne.^[20] Rosen signed off from the Laureateship with an article in The Guardian,^[21] in which he said, poignantly: "Sometimes when I sit with children when they have the space to talk and write about ... things, I have the feeling that I am privileged to be the kind of person who is asked to be part of it".

In summer 2007, Rosen was awarded an Honorary D.Litt at the University of Exeter.^[22]

On 19 January 2008, Rosen was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and the University of East London at a ceremony held at the Institute of Education.^[23]

On 5 November 2008, he was presented with an Honorary Masters degree at the University of Worcester.^[24]

On 18 November 2008, he was presented with the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) by the Government of France at the French Ambassador's residence in London.^[25]

On 2 April 2010 he was given the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award by the National Union of Teachers for "campaigning for education".^[26]

On 22 July 2010, Michael Rosen was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Education (DEd) by Nottingham Trent University.^[27]

On April 5, 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the Institute of Education, University of London.^[28]

On 20 July 2011, Michael Rosen was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of the West of England.^[29]

Personal life[link]

Rosen has been married three times, and is the father of five children and two stepchildren. With his first partner, Susannah, he had two sons: Joe (born 1976) and Eddie (born 1980, died 1999). His second partner, whom he does not name, had two daughters from her previous relationship: Naomi (born 1978) and Laura (born 1983).^[30] He had one son with her: Isaac (born 1987). Rosen currently lives in Dalston, Hackney, London with his wife Emma-Louise Williams and their two children, Elsie (born 2001) and Emile (born 2004).^[31][32]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Michael Rosen Interview, WriteWords Writers' Community, February 2006?, http://www.writewords.org.uk/interviews/michael_rosen.asp, retrieved 2007-06-29 .
• Michael Rosen Interview - Igniting the desire to read, Scottish Book Trust, February 2009, http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/podcasts/audio/michael-rosen-interview-creative-sparks, retrieved 2009-03-06 .
• Styles, Morag (July 1988), "Authorgraph No 51 – Michael Rosen", Books for Keeps: the Children's Book Magazine (51), http://www.booksforkeeps.co.uk/issues/51/27198, retrieved 2008-08-21 ^{[dead link]}.

Further reading[link]

Articles[link]

• Rosen, Michael (4 March 2006), "What's a story for?", Socialist Worker (1990), http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=8401 .

Book reviews[link]

• Perring, Christian (15 May 2005), "Michael Rosen's Sad Book", Metapsychology 9 (19), http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=2645, retrieved 2007-06-30 .

News reports[link]

• Franks, Alan (26 October 2002), "Of love and loss", The Times, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2132690.ece .
• Hattenstone, Simon (12 June 2007), "Forever young", The Guardian (g2), http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2100665,00.html .
• Ian McMillan's writing lab: Michael Rosen interview, Open2.net, http://www.open2.net/writing/michaelrosen.html, retrieved 2007-06-30 .
• Michael Rosen's interview, Onion Street, bbc.co.uk, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/communities/onionstreet/liveguests/interviews/michaelrosen.shtml, retrieved 2007-06-30 .
• Mansfield, Susan (24 August 2007), "Poetry is the greatest teacher", The Scotsman, http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1342612007 .
• Miles, Alice; Helen Rumbelow (15 September 2007), "'Children need freedom and chaos, not tests, ticks, and smiley faces'", The Times, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article2456502.ece .
• Sharman, Andy (28 August 2008), "Michael Rosen: Give Children Books not SATs", The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/michael-rosen-give-children-books-not-sats-910225.html .
• Bearn, Emily (16 November 2008), "'A novel approach to the classroom'", The Sunday Times, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5161225.ece .

External links[link]

• Official website
• Michael Rosen's blog
• Michael Rosen at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Rosen at Contemporary Writers, a website managed by the British Council – contains a comprehensive bibliography of Rosen's works, a summary of his career, details of awards and a critical appreciation
• Michael Rosen at the Penguin Readers' Group website