5 replies to this topic

[Rachel Perlow]

I don't like blue cheese. Or bleu cheese. Either one, yuck. My husband LOVES it. The stinkier the better.

Any advice on how to acclimate my tastebuds? Can one learn to like the veined behemoth?

[master cheesemonger/grocer]

I think I'm responding to an otherwise food-savvy person. For this reason it is my guess that one day soon the lights will go on for you regarding blue cheeses. You'll be hungry, you'll be confronted by the conjunction of a proper beverage, a crusty loaf, a crock of sweet butter and some un-named blue cheese. You'll slather a tranche of bread with the butter and you'll spread or crumble a small amount of the blue cheese atop the butter. You have a bite, and as you masticate the trio you find that on the exhale through your nose you are experiencing a sensation of pepper, berries, tobacco (the cured leaf -- not the smoke; like sticking your nose in your granddad's pouch of pipe tobacco), violets and honey. You drink. You build another one. Same deal. You're intrigued. The lights are on.

[sequim]

I think that having blue cheese straight on bread or cracker may be a bit too much, especially to start. I guess I like blue cheese more when it's in a dish than when it stars alone and I am a stinky cheese lover. But try it in a pear salad, it is absolutely fantastic and gives you a way to appreciate it without being the overwhelming flavor. And just use little chunks of it or go to a restaurant that makes a good one.

And of course there are different types of blue cheese. Go down to a good market where they let you sample and go through the blue cheese to find more mellow ones you like. Talk to the cheese person. I did that recently at our local Metropolitan Market and she led me through the different types and how to use them.

[ahr]

I've had some success in converting non-blue-cheese eaters using the Irish Cashel Blue.

[saycheese]

As a life long blue cheese lover, one of my favorite ways to eat blue cheese that you might like is as follows:

Slice raisin pecan bread (even the mass-market la brea bakery bread works for this) and toast briefly under the broiler, just to warm it up and crisp the edges slightly. Then spread with gorgonzola dolce, and run under the broiler again until the cheese is slightly bubbly. The sweetness of the bread combined with the saltiness of the cheese is wonderful -- very full of umami -- and it actually goes well with a glass of full-bodied champagne -- this makes a nice brunch treat.

[sequim]

That does sound good! Sweet goes well with blue cheese. I've had gorgonzola with a very nice chestnut honey.