Cheese I can’t do without

[gfweb]

I love all cheese. 

 

But extra sharp cheddar, parmagiano reggiano,  and mozzarella , to a lesser degree , are irreplaceable . 

 

If if it weren’t for pizza I could live a somewhat happy life without mozzarella. There are places like St Louis and Scranton who put cheddarish stuff on pizza. But they will have to answer for this one day. 

 

Aged gouda and gruyere are valuable too.  But not in the pantheon of cheese. 

 

And crappy American cheese is great on a burger and has enough citrate in it to make Mac and cheese not separate as it cools. . 

Edited November 24, 2018 by gfweb (log)

[Duvel]

What about Roquefort ?

[Lisa Shock]

I'd like to point out that the family of blue cheeses (Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Cabrales, and the newer Maytag, etc.) have a unique culinary niche due to their unique texture and flavor. I can't see substituting another cheese type from a different family when a customer wants a bleu-burger or a wedge salad.

[liuzhou]

My cheese choices are extremely limited. Locally made mozzarella is easy to find in specialist bakery supply stores as there has been a bit of a pizza fashion in recent years. The pizzas are inedible, but I can get the cheese. Cream cheese is also available in bakery shops.

 

Cheddar cheese is available in  one supermarket at the moment, but that can change at any time. They have imported cheddar from Ireland, both regular and extra sharp. The also have "Dubliner" cheese - an Irish cross between Cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Not from Dublin, despite the name - it's from Cork. Gouda and "Swiss Cheese" are even less frequently available.

 

We used to get Danish Brie and Camembert until some clown in government misread a report, decided we were all going to die and banned all soft cheeses. It was reported shortly after that the ban had been rescinded, but the cheese has yet to return.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

25 minutes ago, Duvel said:

What about Roquefort ?

 

Taxed out of existence by our former government at the time of Freedom Fries,

 

[Martin Fisher]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

The also have "Dubliner" cheese - an Irish cross between Cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

 

Yes, I love the stuff!

I love all blues!

Good cheddar!

Brie and Camembert!

I love almost all cheeses!

I'm an umami addict!

I adore Limburger!

Limburger, anchovies, and onions! Magic! 

 

[CantCookStillTry]

Give me all the cheeses. 

I really miss the availability of good European cheeses and proper British cheese, particularily a super sharp crumbly cheddar - the kind that makes your mouth produce double the amount of drool as soon as it hits your tongue. I can't stand the generic cheese sold in Aus as 'Tasty' cheese. It's a misnomer. 

 

Hauling it back. Before I fall into a cheese hole. 

 

Mozzerella and Sharp Cheddar if I had to forsake all others.  

[Tri2Cook]

3 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

I love almost all cheeses!

Me too. But if I was forced to choose only one for the rest of my life it would probably be a good cheddar. I think it's the most versatile all-around cheese for my eating habits.

 

3 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

Limburger, anchovies, and onions! Magic!

I almost agree... I'll take mine without the anchovies. 

[Darienne]

We have two new cheeses in our life,  both from Costco: for Ed: Balderson Double Smoked Cheddar (I don't care for it) and for me:  imported from Wales, Collier's, a Welsh Cheddar.  

 

As for Canadian Cheddars: well they are excellent.  And we eat an old sharp Cheddar with Apple Pie (just an Apple Pie note).

 

As for American Cheddars: except for the northeast stuff, they are pretty awful.

 

I do have a funny cheese story (it seems that my life is a series of fairly amusing events):  We had an epileptic Rottie many years ago and after seizures we always fed him Breyer's ice cream.  In fact, our female, Chloe, would race to the fridge when Nigel had a seizure, knowing what was next.  For the car, we carried crackers and cheese slices.  Well, in time Nigel died from cancer and the crackers and cheese got buried under other stuff...no, our car is not a palace.  I found the stuff one and a half years after Nigel's death and it had come through two summers and a winter on the car floor.  And it was still like new!  I've read that chimpanzees will not eat processed cheese because they do not recognize it as food, which indeed it is not. 

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, Duvel said:

What about Roquefort ?

 

Alas, I am allergic as hell to all the blues. A no fly zone. But they do taste good.

 

 

[ElsieD]

I love a nice piece of Beemster or Double Gloucester.  As mentioned by @Darienne, we are also big fans of the Balderson Double Smokdd Cheddar and Collier's.  Brie is good too.

[kayb]

I have yet to find a cheese I do not like. I may have been a rat in a previous life.

 

Cheddars probably top the list, followed closely by Gouda, Idiazabal, Edam, Gruyere, Tallegio, Manchego, Fontina, Butterkase, Brie, all the blues....Must have American for mac and cheese and pimiento cheese.

 

[Duvel]

Back when we were still living in Germany, we would go once every month to Alsace and spend an evening shopping in Strasbourg. Getting great food was always my treat for the day and cheeses were on top of my wish list. Typically I bought:

 

- St. Marcellin / St. Felicien or a similar soft dauphinois cheese.

- Munster, overripe or alternatively a ripe Epoisses

- Soft goat cheese in ash

- Brie de Meaux

- Comte

- Bleu de Auvergne or Roquefort, whatever was on offer

 

Gewürztraminer, pain de campagne and some terrine or foie and I was a happy camper for two days ...

 

I have to live now without most of these cheeses, but I will religiously buy one good cheese per week for our Weekend breakfasts. Doesn’t compare to those above, but having a ripe raw milk Brie is still one of the best ways to start the day for me (or end it) ... 

 

 

 

 

[suzilightning]

If you have never had WSU's Cougar Gold cheddar it is worth a try.

It is my favorite cheddar and don't be put off by the fact it comes in a tin.

Bayley Hazen blue.

Aged asiago.

 

 

[MelissaH]

Agreed that Cougar Gold is terrific. It travels well in its can.

[blue_dolphin]

My thoughts are best expressed by adding some punctuation to the thread title:

 

Cheese?  I can't do without!

[pastrygirl]

I like a nice ripened goat cheese along the lines of bucheron or humboldt fog. 

[suzilightning]

oh, yeah.... I did like the goat cheese with Dalmatian cherry preserves on some toasted dark bread.   Not too sweet!

[TicTac]

France and Italy still crank out the best cheeses - IMO.

 

Whenever a family member is traveling there, an empty Tupperware container goes, and a full one returns with 3-5kg of the good stuff!

 

Some favorites include (which can also be sourced locally)

 

- Reblochon

 

- Various aged Comte's

 

- The little mini unpasteurized goat cheeses (from France).

 

- Brie de Meaux

 

- Various types of Peccorino

 

The list goes on. 

 

Oh cheese, how I love thou - let me count the ways!

[lemniscate]

I love Cahill's Porter Cheddar from County Limerick, but can't find it anymore.  Costco had it for a while, then Whole Foods carried it, but now that's gone out of their case also.  TJ's carries a inferior knock-off once in a while.  It's not good.

 

I think its mosaic look is one of the prettiest cheeses also.

[Porthos]

I enjoy many cheeses, most of them on the more mild end of the spectrum. But the one cheese that I can't live without is very humble. Costco Sharp Cheddar. I shred 2 pounds of it at a time, packaged into 8 oz ziplocs and frozen. I use it quite often in my cooking.

[kayb]

42 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I enjoy many cheeses, most of them on the more mild end of the spectrum. But the one cheese that I can't live without is very humble. Costco Sharp Cheddar. I shred 2 pounds of it at a time, packaged into 8 oz ziplocs and frozen. I use it quite often in my cooking.

Do you do anything to keep the cheese from clumping together? Do you freeze it in the quantities you expect to use, or is it fairly easy to scoop out how much you want? I'd LOVE to have the convenience of pre- shredded cheese that wasn't...pre-shredded cheese.

[Porthos]

@kayb  I accidentally left out a detail. I keep a bag in the refrigerator and pull another out from the freezer when the previous one is empty.

 

I use my Cuisinart with a DLC-837TX Medium shredding disc. I work in 1/2 lb increments, bagging each 1/2 lb and then shredding the next 1/2 etc. I don't pack the cheese down, just drop each 1/2 lb in to an individual  quart Ziploc. I gently flatten out each bag and close. I don't have problems with clumping.

[CantCookStillTry]

 

Today was heavenly.

Stinkier than I imagine heaven to be but still. 

[nickrey]

Ossau Iraty. Hands down. The cheese eaten in Paradise.

 

Although I love all the others also. Cheeses I can't do without is a long list.