Eric Jorgensen wrote:

> "Bob (this one)" > wrote:
>
>>I guarantee you that this last one will be more dense, richer and more
>>satisfying than any of the others.
>
> The density may be a cultural preference thing.

Perhaps so. But I've had dense cheesecakes in parts of Europe.

> I have the extreme good fortune of living a couple miles from an actual
> french bakery that has inexplicably been transported to the mountain west.
>
> Two married couples of professional bakers - one from france and one
> french tahitian - for reasons i am unaware and dare not question - bought
> an entire bakery's worth of equipment - in france - and imported it to Utah
> to set up shop.
>
> The mind boggles. I've been known to spend as much as $50 there in a
> single week. They have this queer power over my mind where i have no qualms
> at all about paying $1.60 for a single croissant.

<LOL> I understand. One needs to feed the body *and* the soul.

> Their cheesecake is extremely rich, very satisfying, and significantly
> less dense than most american cheesecakes - but still with essentially
> cheesecake texture rather than something more like a chiffon or flan.

Like Italian cheesecakes which are usually made with ricotta cheese,
perhaps with a touch of mascarpone.

> I object to substitutions for philosophical reasons.
>
> If i can't have something i want, having something that's almost but not
> quite like it is just a depressing mockery - I'd rather have something
> completely different.
>
> I'd also much rather have 1/3rd slice of real cheesecake than settle for
> a whole slice of fakey low-everything cheesecake-like food substitute.

A friend of mine characterizes such "foods" as being like "kissing your
sister. It's a kiss," he says, "but it's not a *kiss*."

Pastorio