Cheese (2008– )

[rotuts]

Tonight's Cheese Board. ( fine its a plate ! )

everything from TraderJoes.

the blue is Blue Castello, the 'Brie' is a double B from Canada ( )

I get the Brie that looks the most runny.

all are carefully Home Aged for 3 - 4 days at room temp some what chilly here now )!

and well notice the Fine Crusty FR Bread? Missed it did you? so did I

the plonk is not even from FR. its from S. of the Equator.

but for me a fine treat!

the green stuff is for 'balance'

no worries I might have seconds!

Edited October 22, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[carlux]

"Would you put your dog in the freezer?"

Listening to one of my favourite French food programs (of course) someone mentioned that if she had too much cheese, she put it in the freezer. Guests and host of program horrified. Of course cheese is a living organism - thus the question. I do love this country. http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-on-va-deguster-les-fromages-francais-sont-ils-dangereux. Well worth listening to if you have any French.

[rotuts]

I was unable to fine the audio link. My FR is rusty, and Ive had two plates of cheeze.

Id love to hear this and indeed hear all the new Eps.! please help!

(waddling in for plate Trois )

[FrogPrincesse]

"Would you put your dog in the freezer?"

Listening to one of my favourite French food programs (of course) someone mentioned that if she had too much cheese, she put it in the freezer. Guests and host of program horrified. Of course cheese is a living organism - thus the question. I do love this country. http://www.franceint...t-ils-dangereux. Well worth listening to if you have any French.

I did not have a chance to listen to the link but the hard/semi-hard cheeses are usually fine after a stay in the freezer and my French friends and family do it all the time. I've had good success with crottin de Chavignol and raclette. I only do it when I buy a lot of cheese and want to keep some for a future use.

[rotuts]

Sooooooooo ... the exact audio link is ...........

[Dave Hatfield]

"DH: can you get Bleu de Bresse?

http://en.wikipedia..../Bleu_de_Bresse

although Google thinks this is a 'bigginers' cheese, a billion years ago I though it was the Cats Meow in FR.

if you see it in passing, Im very curious about the prices in FR vs here "

Rotuts - There's a curious thing about Bleu de Bresse. There are two Bleu de Bresses!

Like you I used to love BdeB, then when I tried buying it in the French supermarkets it was terrible. Just blah, hardly any taste at all. Its available everywhere, but hardly worth buying. Very strange and just not the same cheese. This is the stuff that mostly comes in the little round cardboard containers. Yuck!

Not too long ago I noticed that one of my favorite cheese vans at market had BdeB, but in a larger block. I tried a sample and was immediately taken back 20 years to the cheese I used to love. Turns out that there are still some small producers who produce 'true' BdeB. The stuff in the cardboard containers comes from the cooperative.

​This particular seller seems to be the only one who stocks what I call real Bleu de Bresse. I'll buy some next time I go to a market where he comes.

As you say the real thing is delicious. Mild, but with a wonderful nutty flavor. There's no other blue quite like it in my experience.

I'll try to get you some prices as I buy.

[Dave Hatfield]

Couldn't resist this quick post.

When I went into our local shop for bread this morning I noticed they had in some local cheeses.

As you can see the only label is the price. These come from a local sheep farmer whose wife makes the cheeses every so often.

These felt as if they were ready to eat so I bought one. Last of the big spenders at 1.05€. I was almost right. Probably another day would have been perfect.

Could have been marginally runnier.

I managed anyway. Absolutely delicious.

Some will complain that I didn't eat it on proper French bread which is true, but I also like cheese on the crisp Swedish crackers.

Chaque'un a son gout!

[Kerry Beal]

Double post here - cause I also posted it over here on our North Again - the tradition continues thread.

This is Anna's home made feta with some dill, parsley, chives, garlic and black pepper on toasted cheddar cheese bread.

[rotuts]

you are of course correct. I havent had BdB in about 20 years, and for a long time was not imported here. now it is and overly $$.

the one Im thinking of was a fairly larger block, still round but no one would ever buy a whole one. Look forward to your investigations!

[carlux]

I was unable to fine the audio link. My FR is rusty, and Ive had two plates of cheeze.

Id love to hear this and indeed hear all the new Eps.! please help!

(waddling in for plate Trois )

http://www.franceinter.fr/player/reecouter?play=464087 assuming you can get it wherever you live

Edited October 24, 2012 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[Dave Hatfield]

I'm sitting here in front of the computer spreading crumbs all over as I type this cheesy post.

We went to Albi today and whilst the ladies shopped for clothes My friend Rob & I visited the beautifully restored covered market. There were all kinds of wonderful edibles for sale, but I was good & only bought cheeses,

First, I bought some great looking Parmesan from an Italian specialty shop. I got a nice chunk so it should last for a while.

After perusing two beautiful cheese stands I exercise great restraint and only bought two little cheeses. They both are chevres, but they come from very different parts of France. Here's the first:

As you can see its called; Le Fontadam. It come from the Pitou-Charents area from near a small village called Chail.

I'm not sure who actually made it because its by: Jeqan-Noel Lavergne who is a collecteur- Affineur so I'm not sure whether he made the cheese or bought & aged it. In this case I think he made it because the label says 'lait de Melange' (mixed milk). In any case its a fairly firm chevre with a nice bite to it. Not too strong at this stage of development. I can assure you that it won't last long enough to develop much further.

My second cheese is from much closer to home. Its from near Carmaux. ( Carmaux is an old mining town & probably the ugliest town in our area) I'm glad I didn't hold that against the cheese.

As far as I can find out its from a village just North of Carmaux in the Tarn hills. Its a raw milk cheese and what's interesting is that its first wrapped in linen along with a sprig of rosemary and then aged for a week or so. Its then unwrapped and formed into it's quenelle like shape.

I can assure you that it is drop dead delicious. Again, it won't last long.

My contribution for the day. What cheese did YOU eat today??

[rotuts]

much envy here, much!

at least I didnt have to endure seeing some crusty bread and some plonk in a jelly jar 'half' full!

many thanks. have to see what the Trader is up to tomorrow.

[FrogPrincesse]

Beautiful farm cheeses, Dave. They both look great, especiallty the second one (raw goat milk).

I made whole-milk ricotta yesterday. I also had some cave-aged Swiss Gruyère from TJ's (my daughter's favorite).

[rotuts]

speaking of cheese: The Cheese Platter today in the WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203406404578075311487487812.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_1

Edited November 1, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[qrn]

timely subject,went to place I have been buying Mozz for pizza for 10 years or so , and they changed the whole operation with a merger,now all they have is this stuff that is low fat, low this andthat, stuff like that,I tried one chunk,totally unsuitable for pizza...now I am gonna have to drive to the other side of town that back in the olden days was totally Italian folks,,,and hope I can find some real ...mozz

Bud

[Ashen]

enjoying some halali limburger with bread and a dark beer. so tasty.

[Dave Hatfield]

Found my special cheese guy at St Antonin market this morning and sure enough he had some Bresse.

Its Domaine de Bresse though not Blue de Bresse. It is, however, the real deal. Nothing like the cardboard stuff sold as Blue de Bresse.

Here it is. You can see that its creamy and has blue veins running though it. Its tasty with a bit of bite, but not too strong.

You probably can't read the small print, but it says that its made from veined 'pâte'. Pâte in this case being the curd. The cheese is from pasteurized cow's milk.

It comes from the Department of Ain which is in the Rhone-Alps region. Another hard to find blue cheese from the region is Gex; unpasteurized milk in this case & a different bacteria.

Interestingly, the bacteria in Domaine de Bresse is the same as that in Roquefort. It is, therefore, a close cousin of Stilton from England although I think Stilton is made from unpasteurized milk. Taste wise there are some similarities.

While I was buying I also bought some Jefou which I'd never seen before.

When I looked this up it turned out to be from my friends at Le Pic in Penne. Its new creation of theirs. Not bad, but I don't think it will go on my list of favorites.

Anyway Rotus I seem to have cracked the Blue de Bresse mystery for you.

[rotuts]

Im dying here with cheeze lust! the DDB is exactly what I remember. Yum!

thank you for not showing the crusty FR. bread and the glass of plonk!

[FrogPrincesse]

And now, for our moment of cheese...

Swiss gruyère, Tumalo Farms' Rimrocker (a semi-hard cheese which is a blend of cow & goat milks), and some dates. On the side, Cocchi Americano on the rocks.

Not convinced about the Rimrocker. Some nice flavors but it's way too subtle to be a repeat purchase. The aged gruyère is more interesting in comparison.

[Dave Hatfield]

How were the dates with the cheese? I've never tried that.

Aged Gruyere is great as is aged Gouda. Both favorites & obtainable here even though they're not really French. ( The French might claim Gruyere, but I think the Swiss have a better story.)

[naguere]

Today Thursday 29th November, both the channels and the newspapers are full of the news that British cheese is full of salt, too much and unnecessarily so . 'More salt in cheese than potato chips'. Is this a world wide phenomena ? :www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20524931

[rotuts]

this is an odd article, as it says the recommended daily intake of 'salt' is:

Recommended daily maximum: 6g

[radtek]

There's a lot of salt in cheese as a preservative and for flavor. Always has been. Always will be if one wants quality. Just another thing for the uninformed fearmongers to complain about.

[naguere]

There's a lot of salt in cheese as a preservative and for flavor. Always has been. Always will be if one wants quality. Just another thing for the uninformed fearmongers to complain about.

Well hush my mouth !

[radtek]

Sorry! I wasn't singling you out!