No love is lost between Russia and Ukraine, its former satellite state. But conflict is now brewing over an unexpected fight: import and regulatory issues surrounding Ukrainian cheese sold in Russian stores. The Moscow News has the story:

Russian-Ukrainian relations face a new hurdle as Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko said Ukrainian cheeses aren’t cheesy enough by Russia’s standards. 

Local consumers need to be aware that they are buying a “cheese product,” and not actual cheese, given the amount of palm oil “used without control” by many Ukrainian cheese factories, Onishchenko told Interfax on Thursday.

A special probe has been launched by Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor as a part of a larger investigation, the agency reported.

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In this episode of NY CHOW Report, Alex Van Buren treks out in the snow with her friend Sarah Karnasiewicz to sample the Georgian khachapuri bread at a restaurant called, appropriately, Georgian Bread.

A very pregnant Jessica Simpson admitted to Showbiz Spy that eating for two means comfort food:

The actress/singer and TV personality — who’s expecting her first child with fiance Eric Johnson — admits she can’t get enough salty macaroni and cheese!

“I’m a big fan of Kraft Mac N’ Cheese… That keeps me happy. That keeps me sodium happy,” she said.

“I, like, wake up swollen because I put Lowry’s seasoning salt all over it.

“I’m craving a lot of things I had when I was a kid, like, this morning I buttered a Pop Tart. I haven’t done that in years.”

Read all the dish here.

Over on the Artisanal blog, Max McCalman waxes eloquent on Grassias, a new cheese from Paula Lambert:

This attractive little cheese is made with a mix of cow and goat milk, and then encircled with Lemon Grass leaves. The blend of cow and goat is a plus on its own, like the “best-of-both-worlds.” Quite frankly, some people just can’t do the goat, or so they believe. The Grassias may turn out to be an excellent gateway to the wonderful family of goat cheeses, the goat flavor moderated by the buttery cow.

Advice and recipes from three great chefs on how to master the grilled cheese. Luke Zaleski at GQ has the scoop on how to emulate these kitchen masters:

Madame Fromage gives Spring Brook Farm a head nod for their tasty Reading Raclette:

So many award-winning cheeses are made in Vermont these days that it’s easy to feel Green State envy. One Vermont cheese that’s got cheesemongers buzzing this winter is Reading Raclette. Now, the Swiss make Raclette and so do the French, but until Spring Brook Farm introduced its artisanal version from Reading, no American cheesemaker had come forward with a melt-away Alpine stinker this good.

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Via Huffpo: If you're helpless before the sight of a well-turned crust, check out this 2012 calendar, featuring a bevy of cheesy beauties posed in their toppings, and in one case, au natural: a pin-up for the pie-minded gentleman and -woman.

The images below may prove what you already knew: pizza is damn sexy. New York pizza restaurant L'asso (the pear/gorgonzola pie is excellent, by the way) has created the "Pizza Is My Lover" 2012 calendar -- a selection of well, sensual pizza images. This pizza porn is a steal at only $10 and was created by Greg Barris, who is a comedian and partner at L'asso, and photographer Ashley Macknica.

As the holiday season winds down, the cheese smuggling season heats up along the Texas / Mexico border. Folks returning home from holiday stays and family visits in Mexico are often tempted to bring undeclared delicacies across the border, falling into the clutches of Cheese Crime™:

The largest penalty was assessed in a cheese smuggling case at the Paso Del Norte port of entry in El Paso.

[US Customs and Border Protection] officers were performing inspections on Dec. 28 when a 2008 Chevrolet HHR arrived at the primary inspection booth. CBP officers received a negative declaration for any plant, fruit, meat or vegetable products.

Ahead of the upcoming Packers vs. Giants playoffs next Sunday, the New York Daily News staged their own contest: a blind cheddar taste-off.

As the New York Giants prepare to face the Packers in the playoffs Sunday, The Daily News staged a showdown between the two states’ cheddars in a blind taste test in Times Square Tuesday.

“New York’s better at everything,” declared Gina Guglielmo, 18, a college student from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

She was confident she would prefer the New York cheddar. But like many tasters, she was a bit overwhelmed by the New York cheddar’s notorious sharp bite.

Meat consumption dropped ~12% in the past 5 years. Yes, the economy plays a role, but there's another big change that Mark Bittman picks out in this column from today's New York Times:

It’s not the non-existent federal War on Meat that’s making a difference. And even if availability is down, it’s not as if we’re going to the supermarket and finding empty meat cases and deli counters filled with coleslaw.

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Some are choosing to eat less meat for all the right reasons. The Values Institute at DGWB Advertising and Communications just named the rise of “flexitarianism” — an eating style that reduces the amount of meat without “going vegetarian” — as one of its top five consumer health trends for 2012.