is this really a strong selling point? (lyn)

I go to Fairway to pick up a few things.  They have the best chicken pot pie, prepared soups, vegetables, and fruit.  Really, they have everything you could possibly want, their prices are good, and help can be found (without a lot of looking) in every department.  I go to the deli counter to buy some prepared foods.  I take the next number, 81.  They are on 73.  While I’m waiting I notice a sign sitting prominently on the counter.  In capital letters and yellow for emphasis, it reads:

HOMEMADE FRESH MOZZARELLA.

OUR MOZZARELLA IS MADE FROM CURD MADE WITH VEGETABLE RENNET.

Really?  This is supposed to impress me enough to buy some mozzarella?  My only reference point for curd is Little Miss Muffet and a spider.  I’m pretty sure that’s not the image Fairway is going for.  And what is rennet?  I don’t think I’ve ever even seen that word, and I do a lot of crossword puzzles and go to Weight Watchers where there is much conversation about food.  I ask the guy behind the counter and he says, “I’m new.  I’m still learning."   In other words, he hasn't a clue.

I come home and look it up.  According to Wikipedia,

Rennet  /ˈrɛnɨt/) is a complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk, and is often used in the production of cheese.

Oh now I get it.  Rennet sounds so appetizing; my mouth waters just thinking about it.  


Maybe Fairway attracts sophisticated shoppers from the Upper East Side who know about these kinds of things and think, “WOW.  Curd made with rennet!  I better buy some before they run out."


And all this time I’ve been eating homemade fresh mozzarella from Agata and thinking that was good.  I wonder what I’ve been missing?