Cheese (2008– )

[JB_Cada]

JB - can't help with much here, as I've never heard of the first and third.  The second does sound like a commerially produced Fontal - light years away from a real Fontina Val d'Aosta, but can be a mild likable cheese.

Iberico is a delicious cheese from central Spain and you should be able to find out lots about it by googling it by name.  Buenalba is the brand name and is a very good one - smallish production - they make a great artisinal raw milk manchego as well. Can I ask what part of the country you are in - I haven't seen their Iberico here in the Northeast, only their manchego.

Good luck!

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I am from the Philippines. As you can imagine, good (western) cheese is much harder to come by here. We do have a local brined fresh cheese called kesong puti ("white cheese") made from unpasteurized carabao (water buffalo) milk that is very good. This cheese is very similar to western cottage cheese and usually comes wrapped in banana leaves. Production is largely artisanal. I have spotted some commercially produced vacuum packed versions in the grocery store but have been loathe to try them.

I suspect the Philippines doesn't have much of a cheese-making tradition because we didn’t have a lot of cows, sheep or goats with milk and the tropical weather makes (non-commercial) safe storage of dairy products very difficult.

Thanks to those who helped with my homework. The Iberico was indeed tasty, and the commercial Fontal was forgettable. Someone else brought very nice manchego. I was most blown away by the Taleggio, Port Salut and the Gorgonzola though. I've always been crazy about cheese but have never known where to get anything good. After Chef's "cheese hunt" homework though I now know where to get my fix. Oh the money I'll blow hahaha!

[Peter B Wolf]

Just participated in a Cheese & Wine Tasting at " The Cheese Iron " in South Portland ME.

Theme was Portugal & Spain.

Nine Cheese were tasted with some very excellent 'Bleus'

My Favorite turned out to be "Mitebleu"

New to the US, also new to Spain, where it came from.

Sheeps milk, hardly any blue veins, full bodied and fruity.

One word: Terriffic

[tamiam]

I am headed to a Spanish wine tasting tonight. For a small bite I am bringing prunes and pilquillo peppers stuffed with Valdeon, pine nuts, golden raisins, and flavored with a little bit of sherry. It is tough not to sample all the filling.

[Katie Meadow]

Does anyone know Lou Peralou? No, it isn't a cheesemonger, it's a cheese, a Basque sheep's milk brie. It hasn't been sold in my neck of the woods for years and once I was told that it's no longer imported, but I don't know if that's true. It's terribly yummy.

[gariotin]

Wow - that is a blast from the past!

You are right, Lou Peralou has def fallen off the radar - wonder if it is raw milk and hence, not avai.

Maybe next time Dave Hatfield checks in, he can confirm for us.

[Dave Hatfield]

Wow - that is a blast from the past!

You are right, Lou Peralou has def fallen off the radar - wonder if it is raw milk and hence, not avai.

Maybe next time Dave Hatfield checks in, he can confirm for us.

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Going to Limogne market this morning & will check.

I'm about 90% certain that my favorite guy sells Lou Peralou.

Let everyone know later.

[Dave Hatfield]

Well despite my confidence I was 100% wrong. Lou perawho? Can't find it in any of my cheese books or on line. All is not lost, however.

Over in the Basque country at Mauleon where they make chaumes from ewe's milk in season they make a cow's milk cheese called Lou Palou out of season. Could this be our elusive Lou paralou? Apparently its coated in black wax. (side note: the cows milk used to go to Roquefort as this is technically part of the AOC; but in the 80's Fromagerie de Chaumes took over.)

Closer to home, for me, they make a number of cheeses called 'perails'. These are brebis milk and in the old days they were the milk that the ewe's kept producing after the Roquefort co-op quit collecting. Now then, according my cheese bible (Patrick Rance's "The French Cheese Book") a Madame Soulie made a cheese in Villefranche de Rouergue named - Lou Peraillou! Villefranche is only 20 minutes from where I live so I can check to see if its still in production.

I've had fun even if not much luck researching this. And, of course, all is never lost because I did manage to buy a bit of cheese today around the theme of lou & perail.

This one is Lou Caussinhol. Its cows milk and is made near Villfranche. Its very mild, but I'm going to let it mature a bit before finally judging it.

Here we have La Gayrie from Villeneuve, again very close to Villefranche, This one is ewe's milk and the cheese monger had labeled it as "parail de brebis". Again, mild & I'll reserve judgment.

So, I got Lou & I got Perail, but I'm still looking for Lou Paralou.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks so much, Dave. I have a little more help for you. I surfed about this morning and came upon one mention of this cheese. It was in what appears to be a local cheese newsletter of last August called Le Tranche Caille. Down at the bottom, under a heading that loosely translates as "cheeses available in the summer if the sun would only shine" (at least that's how my husband translated it). the spelling is indeed Lou Peralou. Also mentioned are Cocagne, I'itxassou and le Gabieton. Any of those familiar?

The newletter is from Bearn. Where are you?

Edited February 24, 2008 by Katie Meadow (log)

[Dave Hatfield]

Thanks so much, Dave. I have a little more help for you. I surfed about this morning and came upon one mention of this cheese. It was in what appears to be a local cheese newsletter of last August called Le Tranche Caille. Down at the bottom, under a heading that loosely translates as "cheeses available in the summer if the sun would only shine" (at least that's how my husband translated it). the spelling is indeed Lou Peralou. Also mentioned are Cocagne, I'itxassou and le Gabieton. Any of those familiar?

The newletter is from Bearn. Where are you?

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Hummmm.... The Cocagne is a ewe's milk cheese from Albi, not far from us.

Can't find the others, but I'itxassou sounds Basque and, of course, Bearn is an old French province in the Pyrenees - Basque country. Maybe some connections there.

We live just outside the village of Parisot in the Tarn et Garonne. (Not to be confused with the Parisot located in the Tarn.) We are just a few kilometers into the old Rouergue area which is East of Quercy.

[gariotin]

I think Dave is the winner here, whether he tracks it down or not, b/c he ends up with these great looking cheeses!

[suzilightning]

after my back-crackers appointment, johnnybird asked me to check out a supermarket near the office for some specific soy milk. found that but also found these three cheeses. i see a cheese platter tomorrow...

[Dave Hatfield]

after my back-crackers appointment, johnnybird asked me to check out a supermarket near the office for some specific soy milk.  found that but also found these three cheeses.  i see a cheese platter tomorrow...

Looks good. You might be interested in the Cashel Blue website. Interesting that the bacteria is the same as Roquefort which means that it also the same as Stilton. A comparative tasting might be interesting as both are from cow's milk.

The Blue d'Auvergne is bound to be a hit and has the advantage of being the 'nomme de plume' of a famous eGulleteer from here in France.

Enjoy & report.

[Dave Hatfield]

Two weeks with no posts! I think all the cheeseheads must have retired to their caves to age for a while.

Just to get you going a bit here's a picture of the cheeses I bought today.

These are all from a stand at Villefranche market. He makes nothing but cheeses from ewe's milk. All raw milk of course. Today I concentrated upon the older, stronger varieties even though he sells much fresher (younger) types like Rouelle as well.

The little bite sized guys at the back were 2.4 Euros for a little basket full, probably about 20 of them. They're fairly hard & have a sharp taste.

The round shaped one in the middle (I broke it apart so you could see the texture) is stronger yet. Delicious.

The one in the front is the strongest of all. A whole one is dough nut shaped, but I just bought a small piece so I could taste it. This is a very powerful cheese.

I didn't really succeed in getting names; at least in getting names I could understand. According to the vendor they don't really have names in French. They're just called "Country cheeses" or sometimes "Fromage de Vendage". Their real names are only in Occitan, the local language. All I know is that I really like them.

Let's hear what everyone else is eating & discovering.

[LindsayAnn]

Dave, YUM!

So unfair...your statement "All raw milk of course"...the words 'of course' was emphasized in my mind as I read your posting....because you are SOOO lucky that you get to utter those 5 words in into one complete sentence "all raw milk of course". I would never (not in my lifetime at least) be able to utter those words...not truthfully at least. Here in the U.S. of A.....I have to seek out raw milk cheese varieties.... most of what we have available are pasteurized milk products. I can find quite a few raw milk varieties (although, my 'quite a few' would be a very scarce, pathetic, amount for the likes of someone like you!!!) but I have to search for them, and only certain cheeses are available in raw milk form, and they are NEVER aged very well.....stupid government regulations. I mean, come on! The gov't should be focusing on issues like immigration, the wars we are fighting, taxes, healthcare, VIOLENCE, and all of that jazz....NOT cheese. leave our cheese alone. Freedom....we have freedom....to limits. Our freedoms do NOT include purchasing and consuming raw milk cheeses (not many at least).....PATHETIC! It makes me laugh, we have the right to bear arms (own guns), however we cannot make up our own minds as to what cheeses we each choose to consume.

Ok, my rant is over. Sorry.

I just purchased a very good 2 year old vintage white cheddar.....I cannot remember the name - let me go look for you really quick! Ok, back from the kitchen, its a 2 year aged white cheddar by a company called Black Diamond, Grand Reserve. Ingredients are Milk, culture, rennet, salt, annatto (if colored, and mine is not, so omit that ingredient then!). This particular cheddar is not a normal purchase for me....actually I don't think I have ever purchased it before... there were samples at the store, Treasure Island (Chicago chain, about 5 locations I think. Smaller store than the big market Jewels, Dominicks, etc, that we have in Chicago....they have a lot of specialy products from different states and regions....a larger variety of hard to find products, cuisines (indian, japanese, greek, i.e. and more) and a nice cheese/deli meat selections (all deli meats are Boars Head, most at least).

Anyhow - the sample was VERY good, I was surprised...I woulda never grabbed this guy on my own.

I also got a fresh goat chevre, its rolled in herbs. Very good and creamy cheese if I do say so myself.

Neither of these are raw milk cheeses, unfortunetly ....I wont even go there....I promised you all my rant was over

P.S A little off topic...but related (cheese is dairy, yogurt is dairy, that counts, right?). I also picked up two 6 oz (individual serving sizes) plain yogurts - by The Greek Gods company. Very yummy. I got the 0% milk fat variety....imagine how good the 2% or 4% milk fat wold be! These were wayyyy too expensive thou - $1.89 each (for an itty bitty 6 oz! I eat two at once anyhow - that's like $3.78 for my portion at one sitting). As you can see, I will pay good $ for GOOD food

[LindsayAnn]

BTW - Black Diamond, as stated on the cheese label, is a product of Toronto Canada, just thought I would mention, FWIW.

[LindsayAnn]

One more thing...I am SOOO excited for May. FARMERS MARKET...which means Capriola farms, the BEST goat cheese producer I know (and I love knowing I get these fresh goats cheeses, AND aged raw milks goats cheeses, FRESH from the farm!). That is not something I can say for most things I put in my mouth!

The first week of the market, sometime in mid May (cannot remember the date at the moment)....I will miss! But it's okay - I will be in Hawaii for my honeymoon...I will jsut have to wait for my FAVORITE cheese until the next week rolls around. It sure is a LONG winter without my capriola cheeses....a few of their cheeses I can get at Whole Foods or Marcy's Market inside of Sams Wine Depot....but not all of them. Not many of my favorites ;(

And - I like them better when purchased from the famrers market....they taste different - for real!

[tamiam]

P.S A little off topic...but related (cheese is dairy, yogurt is dairy, that counts, right?). I also picked up two 6 oz (individual serving sizes) plain yogurts - by The Greek Gods company. Very yummy. I got the 0% milk fat variety....imagine how good the 2% or 4% milk fat wold be! These were wayyyy too expensive thou - $1.89 each (for an itty bitty 6 oz! I eat two at once anyhow - that's like $3.78 for my portion at one sitting). As you can see, I will pay good $ for GOOD food

If you like the no fat, you gotta try the good stuff. Buy the big one - it costs less per unit, plus you get more.

I will be in Hawaii for my honeymoon...

Happy Honeymoon! Not much cheese being made in Hawaii that I know of, so you will just have to find something else to occupy your time.

[tamiam]

Cook's Illustrated rates blue cheeses. Stella beats Bleadauverne, Roquefort, and Cabrales.

To be fair, they were rating cheeses for how well they work in a blue cheese dressing recipe, so how good they are eaten out of hand mattered less. Nonetheless I find their rating system odd. Heck, I find putting items treasured for their distinct flavor profiles in a ratings contestas though they were jars of peanut butter or someting to be odd.

What do you think?

[gariotin]

I think the blue cheese ratings surely must be related to how they perform in a dressing, not overall quality. I can't imagine that one would choose a Wisconsin blue over roquefort, stilton, and blue d'auvergne in a tasteoff!

I am futzing with a scalloped potato recipe for ham dinner tomorrow - the recipe called for cheddar, pre-crumbled blue, and parm. In my sample fridge, I am lucky enough to have some Cashell Blue from Ireland and a wonderful new American cheese that I can't name b/c it is not out in the market yet. But it is semi-soft with a likable sweet flavor. I am mixing the shredded cheese with the crumbled blue and layering with potatoes. I'll report on how it turns out.

Dave - your cheeses are beautiful and make me sad that I cancelled a vacation to Paris this June. The dollar is just getting too weak - I am sure things will be better next year and I can eat some real cheese.

Lindsay - have a great honeymoon and congrats on getting married! I'll bet you are serving cheese at the reception!

[LindsayAnn]

I think the blue cheese ratings surely must be related to how they perform in a dressing, not overall quality.  I can't imagine that one would choose a Wisconsin blue over roquefort, stilton, and blue d'auvergne in a tasteoff!

I am futzing with a scalloped potato recipe for ham dinner tomorrow - the recipe called for cheddar, pre-crumbled blue, and parm.  In my sample fridge, I am lucky enough to have some Cashell Blue from Ireland and a wonderful new American cheese that I can't name b/c it is not out in the market yet.  But it is semi-soft with a likable sweet flavor.  I am mixing the shredded cheese with the crumbled blue and layering with potatoes.  I'll report on how it turns out.

Dave - your cheeses are beautiful and make me sad that I cancelled a vacation to Paris this June.  The dollar is just getting too weak - I am sure things will be better next year and I can eat some real cheese.

Lindsay - have a great honeymoon and congrats on getting married!  I'll bet you are serving cheese at the reception!

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Gariotin,

Thanks! There will in fact be a cheese platter at the reception...although I am sure the guess will like it (I even would, I love when wedding receptions have a cheese course/platter during the cocktail hour) it wont be anything too special....whatever offerings the golf club has....not my choice (at least I don't think so, we will see as the time nears to choose our cocktails - in a few weeks I think). The wedding receptions that I have been to (which has been a TON lately...we are at that age, last year it was 12 weddings thoughout the summer/early fall (one was in the winter)...our summer was anything but our own *but of course fun and I love weddings...just a lot of traveling that is all*) usually have an offering of (if there is a cheese tray, that is): swiss, a brie, cheddar, and usually one other....along with crackers, fruits and the like.

[Dave Hatfield]

LindseyAnn

Congratulations! Hope the wedding & all the attendant events go well.

If those rats in our government would only let me I'd love to send you a cheese platter to end all cheese platters for the reception. Unfortunately they won't allow it.

I'll think of you & your husband as I polish off the last of my little 'brebis' later today.

[gariotin]

For my daughter's wedding, I brought the chef a wheel of Great Hill Blue, Humboldt Fog, and Vermont Shepherd. First I had to explain to him that these were not to be cubed and presented on a mirror! According to my instructions, he set up a cheese station with the whole cheeses and cut wedges from them for people to cut from. They were the hit of the reception and I had to station a friend who is also in the cheese biz to tell people the stories behind them. Afterwards the chef came over and thanked me for turning him on to good cheese - of course this was 10 years ago, when it was still pretty esoteric.

Everybody does love good cheese!

My scalloped potatoes were not cheesey enough - I would double the amount next time.

Our cheese board had pieces of Cashell Blue, Seaside Cheddar, Aged goat gouda, and the artisinal cheese from Wisconsin. People chowed down enthusiastically - I built a nice platter with 3 colors of fresh grapes, marcona almonds and Spanish hazelnuts, and organic dates...not much left over to enjoy today!

[gfron1]

My favorite accessible brie continues to be Demon du Midi, but I'm also enjoying Exploreteur. Its very creamy and last night I had it with fig jam.

[suzilightning]

after my back-crackers appointment, johnnybird asked me to check out a supermarket near the office for some specific soy milk.  found that but also found these three cheeses.  i see a cheese platter tomorrow...

Looks good. You might be interested in the Cashel Blue website. Interesting that the bacteria is the same as Roquefort which means that it also the same as Stilton. A comparative tasting might be interesting as both are from cow's milk.

The Blue d'Auvergne is bound to be a hit and has the advantage of being the 'nomme de plume' of a famous eGulleteer from here in France.

Enjoy & report.

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i really liked the cashel. i'd buy it again in a hearbeat. the taste lingered in my mouth for what seemed like 5 minutes or so. the bleu d'auvergne was ok - just not as intensely flavored as that cashel was.

course i was the kid whose favorite mid-afternoon snack was 3 ritz crackers with blue cheese on them so go figure.

[tamiam]

Swung by the cheese shop today on my mission to work my way through all the blues. There are two huge shelves worth, not counting the gorgonzolas, so I have my work cut out. Picked up a Roquefort called "Papillon". Sharp, tangy, mold spots evenly spaced throughout the white colored paste, a finish that lasts like two weeks.

Then the cheeseguy turned us on to Montcabrer, an amazing Spanish goat cheese with a semi-firm consistency and a coating of black ash. I hear it comes from goats who lunch on lichens in the mountaintops of Catalunya. Those must be some very happy goats. We really like this cheese.