gariotin

Well, I have certainly put my foot in my mouth with the comment about Rupert! I thought he was a bunny in a field with very big ears. My cats tell me I should have consulted with them first...of course he is a dog. He will never have to know about his faux- pas........ So if you are so close to Roquefot, what brand do you prefer? I am a Carles girl, myself, but I am appreciating a new one from Gabriel Coulet called "Le Petit Cave" - I think it is a "special" aging for the US, which means it is the same old stuff. I hear the village itself is quite small? I would love to go someday - your link was VERY interesting! That is a sad, but unfortunately worldwide, story of vanishing farms. Here in New England, they are folding like cardtables. While some of us want to get closer the the food source, it is truly harder and harder to do. Am planning a nice cheese course for Xmas dinner, which will be butterflied leg of lamb w/herbs, garlic & lemon in the center, potato gratin provencale w/olives, tomatos, chevre, and quick sauteed broccoli rabe w/fruity olive oil and garlic. Sophie (daughter who works at Whole Foods cheese dept) will bring a soft-ripened, goat, and blue of her choice. I will augment w/the Lincolnshire Poacher I got from Zingermans and some leftover samples from the Fine Cheese Co in Bath, England. Anyone on this thread know them? One of the most beautiful cheesemongers I have ever visited - they buy small, artisinal production much like Neal's Yard. One is called "Lord of the Hundreds" - it is a cheddar - another is Sharpham Rustic, a beautiful cow's milk, formed in a basket. Comes plain (cow's milke) or with herb and garlic. This came about by accident - cows were grazing and eating wild garlic. Milk was full of it and cheesemaker was dumping. Had an Eureka moment - aha, why not make garlic-flavored cheese? The rest is history.... Last one is Cornish Blue - a VERY nice, award-winning blue...obviously from Cornwall. So is Christmas dinner... It is the holiday season, so I hope you and Rupert will forgive me. Look forward to more cheese discussions in '07. Oops, wrong thread! Thought I was supposed to rhapsodize about cheese!

Yum - that sauce sounds so interesting! I can imagine the strong garlic with the grassy parsley cutting the richness of the nuts. Too bad I am making lamb for Xmas dinner, or I would try it. Rouergue - isn't that "roquefort country", or am I off geographically? Why is it depopulated? Did not realized that the bunny had a name...welcome, Ruport, to our conversations! Toasted - like your recipe too - something different for an appetizer. The kalamatas and rosemary don't overwhelm the walnut oil?

Lovely story with great pix, Dave. It is wonderful to see this truly artisinal method at work - bet this is a dying art. I agree w/Sarawelch - we all have uses I am sure, but tell us how the oil is used there at the "source".

You guys are funny! Now that I've thought about it, I think The Cheese Queen is a better moniker. For supper tonite, I plan to have a nice green salad, baguette and cheeses. Oh, of course wine too! I have to clean out the little pieces in the cheese drawer: Chevre Noir - wonderful, aged goat cheddar from Tournevent in Quebec. Consistent winner at the American Cheese Society competition and nothing at all like young ched. Roquefort - couldn't get Carles, so it will be Societe - not my fave, but pretty darn good Sottocenere - wonderful Italian w/ash-rubbed rind. L'Edel de Cleron - yummy, unctuous soft ripened Just enough of each for a little taste - yum!

They have some of the best customer service in the industry - try to find their phone number on the webpage to give them a call and ask when they might have more coming in. If anyone is inclined, they also have a great "cheese of the month" program - might make a good holiday gift. "...almighty cheese lord..." - like the ring of that!

I agree w/Lindsay Ann - Artisinal is a great site, BUT they are probably the most expensive of the bunch. They do have some great items, but I am not always a fan of their affinage. Poke around there though - there are some beautiful cheeses. I have bought from Zingermans (www.zingermans.com) - in fact I shd have a piece of one of my fave British artisinal cheds waiting for me tomorrow when I get home. It is called Lincolnshire Poacher and it is delicious. I know some manufacturers sell to a website called igourmet, so you may want to check them out as well. Lindsay Ann - assume you have recovered from the migraine and are eating cheese again?

Shar, Hum...I'm not surprised that the FL WF don't have Capriole, but I'll bet they sell Humboldt Fog - if they have a service case, make sure they cut a piece for you, don't buy a pre-wrapped one if you can avoid it. They may also have some great French goats to try - Le Chevrot, Chevre d'Or, and the little cheeses from Les Saveur des Pyrenees like the aformentionted Gariotin, but also Lingot. Try to befriend some people behind the cheese counter and tell them you are interested in expanding your cheese tasting - they will undoubtedly have some great ideas for you. I look out on the Atlantic from my little office window south of Boston. We are lucky here to have great selections in our WF, but also several nice small cheesemongers like Formaggio Kitchen, Cheese Shop Concord, Russo's, Shubie's - I'm leaving out so many, but you get the point. Several people on the thread know that I am a ringer - I have been in the cheese business for over 25 years and am passionate about turning people on to good cheese!

Shar - where are you located? Lindsay - yes, I had also read somewhere that hard aged cheeses like parms and cheds can contribute to migranes - have y heard this?

Yes, Geoff - you are right. By this morning, the color had noticably lightened back to the way it was. I like your tip - I may not do as much as the installer suggested (twice a week for 6 weeks, then once every other month or so) and see how it works. I really like the lighter look - you can see the greys and the beautiful veining. I will report back and let y all know how it worked out.

Hey, if that's what you have for lunch, maybe I'll take you up on that spare bedroom!

Shar, I agree with Lindsay - try to find pecorino toscano. They range in age from young, soft, and mild to more aged, harder, and stronger. They are delicious. Depending on where you are, if you have a good cheesemonger, see if they have any cheeses from Sally Jackson. They are unbelievabley yummy. I'm glad you gave the Fleur de Maquis another try - it is a wonderful cheese. One of the best cheeses from the Cypress Grove folks is the Humboldt Fog - it is goat and I have never served to anyone who didn't love it - even goat cheese "haters". Just keep on tryin' till you find what you like! gfron and Dave - the pix are beautiful! Dave...I am worried I will never taste that Pechegos again...unless I go to France.

I am just winding up a kitchen reno and have soapstone - I am in love! I live in Mass and got to drive up to NH to actually select my slabs at the quarry. I chose a black/grey with dark green veining - it is beautiful. I liked the look of it unoiled and would have like to keep it lighter, but everyone (contractor, installer, kitchen designer) told me I'd end up oiling it to even out the oil splotches. So, today I just oiled it for the first time. It is so much darker than I have gotten used to! Still looks great, but will take some getting used to. Can anyone else comment on the darkening - once you have oiled, does it pretty much stay that way?

I sell cheese for a living and work out of a home office. Someone gave me a beautiful French cheese calendar a few years ago. When the year was over, I had 4 pages drymounted and have them over my desk. On the walls, I have beautiful framed posters of Spanish cheeses and French cheeses. I also love the Cook's Illustrated back covers and have the back of the door covered in those - just taped on up there. I am just finishing a kitchen reno and when I was in Paris last month, found a store that sold vintage cooking items. They had a whole drawer full of old food labels and I scored some old camembert paper labels, along with some hand-painted cheese signs. Can't wait to hang those up!

Yes, Dana - this cheese is made by the wonderful Judy Schad from Capriole Farm in Indiana. Judy is one of the most respected of the American artisinal cheesemakers, and she consistently wins awards at the American Cheese Society competitions each year. Scroll thru this thread a few pages back - someone posted about buying her cheeses at a Chicago farmers' market this past summer. Her cheeses rock!

Shoud have added that I did almost buy Clarines for him, but I thought it might be too scary looking. Now I wish I had bought one for myself!

No, no, no - I love smelly ones! You just said it was actually speaking to you by name, which I thought was pretty impressive. I just put together a cheese basket for my kitchen contractor. We are almost at the end of a 3 mo total reno and he has been a peach. You will not believe this, but I chose a beautiful vivid yellow for the wall and when I turned the paint chip over, it was called "American Cheese". When Mr. Contractor told me he LOVED the real thing, I promised him a selection of real cheeses before we were done. I bought: Brie de la Brie - suspect he has only ever had supermarket stuff La Tur Humboldt Fog Epoisses Roaring Forties 5 yr vintage gouda I numbered them (Dave's friend, Jacque's idea) in order of consumption and told him to take a break after the blue before hitting the 5 yr. I just find the aged goudas to be so naturally sweet, that they don't fit in well with a cheese flight like this. Better to wait and then approach like a desser by serving w/fruit and nuts. I put some thought into this and tried to select cheeses that a novice would find interesting, but not too challenging. He was thrilled and I will be interested to see what he and his wife think.

I want to definitely see pix of the pig day - it is a lot of work. My German grandparents would do that once a year and it seemed like my Oma made sausages for days. Thank goodness she never went in for the head cheese! Lindsay Ann - your cheeses sound so good. Is the Sofia another one of Judy Schad's? You are lucky to be able to get so many of her cheeses - i usually only get to taste them at the American Cheese Society conference every year. Constant Bliss is a wonderful new American soft-ripened - made here in neighboring Vermont by 2 brothers. Have never met them, but they also do a wonderful blue named Baley Hazen blue and did the aging for the award-winning Cabot bandaged ched that took "best of show" at the ACS. Clarines is a great little stinker - and was speaking just to you! OK, you are killing me - going down to have some cheese before dinner - Franklin Peluso's wonderful Teleme with some dried figs sounds good.

Dave, please be assured it was a joke! It was just so cool, but also hilarious to me, that a visiting friend would arrive with such an incredible array of great cheese. I like to think my group of intimates are pretty cheese-savvy, but I can assure you that NO ONE would bring the beautiful display that Jacques did. Rest assured that I also eat a lot of cheese - it has begun to catch up with me now that I am in my 50s, but my cholesterol numbers are not really bad, just higher than they used to be. I do agree about trying to eat primarily unprocessed or organic foods, and also about red wine, but I also think there is a genetic componant to all this as well. "Real" food just tastes better and is more satisfying.

Dave, I have 2 questions - 1/ Do you know any more about the bouyesset - I have never heard of it and it looks great. What region is it typical of? Raw or pasteurized? 2/ Have you had your cholesteral checked recently?

Nice choices in there - you have access to good cheeses. I am particularly fond of number 11 - hence my screen name!

Sounds pretty freakin' great, gfron. Don't you just love those Rogue River cheeses - I think the Smokey Blue is delish. At the recent SIAL food show in Paris, the ONLY American cheese producer that I saw was Davie Gremmel from RR. He said that European buyers were very impressed with his cheeses.

Oh, the beauty.....! Didn't we discuss the Rouelle in the CGC thread? Le Pic cheeses definitely used to be exported to the US, but I have not seen them in 2-3 years. Please go visit and take some pix for us!

Wow, Dave, those chevres are beautiful and look intense and interesting. I like that numbering touch!

Delice de B is a very nice triple creme from France. It's cow's milk, very much in the tradition of Brillat Savarin or Explorateur. It will prob have about 75% butterfat, so if it is not too young, the paste will be pretty soft and buttery at room temp. I think triple cremes are beautiful with fruit, as they are so rich and lactic. Pair with some nice seasonal fruits at the moment like apple, pear, quince, dried figs - I'll bet your guests will be all over that. Offer some nuts to crack too. Happy Bust Your Gut Day to all the Yanks here!

Lori, you will have to let us know what you serve and the reactions you got from your guests. I went to one of Boston's best restaurants on Monday evening and it has a reputation of having one of the best cheese courses in town. They have a very nice covered tray that they wheel from table to table, and a nice selection of cheeses on the menu. I was dining with another colleague in the food business, and even tho we told the waiter we didn't want to order cheese, we were asking enough questions that he was happy to roll the tray over for us to look at. Most of the cheese were in good condition and looked great, but we recoiled in horror at a piece of Spanish Valdeon. This cheese was so past it's prime that it should have been put out of it's misery weeks ago. The paste was actually very brown under the rind, so far down that it had discolored almost all the blue of the paste. It was nasty. We told him that our opinion was to dump it immediately and he appreciated our feedback. We noticed that the next time the cart was wheeled out, the blue was not there. We complimented him at the next opportunity and he said he actually had to fight to get it off the tray, but that he had stuck to his guns. This goes back to my pet peeve - if I were a consumer who didn't know any better, I would think Valdeon was a nasty terrible cheese if I had eaten that. I think the idea of a cheese certification course for restaurants is a great goal.