Favorite Cheese

[AzRaeL]

I know that for many of you, having to pick your favourite cheese is tantamount to saying: who is your favourite child, but if you had to pick...ok 3 top fav Cheeses, which would they be?

3 Cheeses you can't live without.

Mine are:

Buffalo Mozarella

Cambozola

Parmesean - the REAL stuff in a block, not the cardboard tube from Kraft at Safeway.

[Fresser]

Stilton on top of a baked potato or latke is heaven.

Gorgonzola is also yummy.

[AzRaeL]

Stilton on top of a baked potato or latke is heaven.

Gorgonzola is also yummy.

Blue Cheese!

yup Gorgonzola is GOOOD so is Stilton but I live alone and I can never seem to finish my food before it goes all icky. I have this saturation point with Blue Cheeses.

Try Gorgonzola sliced thinly on a thickly sliced Bacon & Scrambled eggs open faced Sarnie

[PopsicleToze]

Parmesan, the real stuff

Goat Cheese rolled in herbs

Cream Cheese for my bagels and salmon

[cheeseandchocolate]

Mmm...Colston Bassett Stilton, Langres, a perfectly ripe St. Maure...and I'm sure there are more. I can't possibly narrow it down to only THREE!

[Schneier]

Epoisse

Pont L'Eveque

Roquefort

I suppose that's favorites, not ones that I can't live without.

[docsconz]

fresh mozzarella di bufala

really good cheddar such as bobolink or aged Ontario cheddar

gorgonzola vs. really good roquefort

honorable mention: boucheron, parmaggiano-reggiano, epoisses, manchego, pecorino di Pienza, gruyere

[Cusina]

hmm... tough choice, however.

Parmesan

Cheddar, preferably white and aged

Gruyere (as in fondue, yum.)

Havarti would be next in line.

[Pan]

Here are some previous threads on cheese:

On discussing cheese..., Favorites, where to get and wine

Stinky Cheese Anyone?

Hello Cheese! (more recommendations)

Cheese recommendations

I got these threads by doing a search of all forums, any date, on keyword "cheese," with the "Search titles only" button pressed. Ain't the search feature wonderful?

[Edited to add] My favorite cheeses are the fantastic Comte' cheese I had at Grand Vefour in June of 2002, a really high-quality Parmegiano, and ditto for extra-sharp Cheddar. Some other excellent cheeses are Asiago (believe it or not, I had some really fine asiago at an art opening) and really good Provolone. As you see, I like sharp hard cheeses, but that's not to say that I can't enjoy a really good Brie/Camembert-type cheese, and Ricotta is also a delightful cheese.

[SobaAddict70]

Cheese is a wonderful thing....except for certain of the odiferous variety. (hmpf)

my top three are: Parm-Reg, fresh ricotta and brie. In general, I prefer soft/fresh cheeses over hard ones, although a wedge of Romano is a thing of beauty.

Oh, and add queso blanco to the list. Yes I know that makes four, but it's all good anyway.

Soba

[mighty quinn]

valdeon cabrales blue- so yummy and makes mouth/throat tingle and my cheeks red (i enjoy the thrill of eating blues because of a slight allergy!!)

parm-reg- in hunks, shaved on salads, by the pound, off the small of my boyfriend's back (ok-tmi)

raclette-melty, stinky, off the grill on potatoes/mushrooms

aged gouda-this is sublime

fresh goat feta... yes.. i know that's too many choices, but i really can't stop- i think i once spent an entire weeks pay at the cheese counter at dean and deluca

[Ling]

I love:

-brie

-goat cheese

-havarti

Basically anything mild and creamy I like. I also like blue cheeses if they're in a pasta sauce, in a salad, or with some sort of dense, nutty bread but I haven't started to appreciate the stinkiness on its own yet.

[Craig Camp]

1. Parmigiano reggiano stagionata

2. gorgonzola piccante

3. see number 1.

[Line Cook]

I'd like to give a shout-out to cheddar cheese.

[Carlovski]

I'd like to cheat slightly and have two top threes - one for cooking and one for eating.

Cooking

1 - Taleggio

2 - Fontina

3 - Gorgonzola

with honourable mentions to Parmesan, pecorino and gruyere (Really cheating now!)

Eating (In no order these ones)

1 - Stilton

2 - Kirkhams Lancashire (Great for cheese on toast too!)

3 - Blue Vinny

Again with honourable mentions to Good aged cheddar, an artisnal brie, roquefort and most young goats cheeses.

Not bad going, asked for a top three, and come up with 12 cheeses, and an entire family of cheeses.

[Bux]

Parmesean - the REAL stuff in a block, not the cardboard tube from Kraft at Safeway.

Right, neither the cardboard tube nor the stuff in it should be called Parmesan.

I think I'm going to bow out from naming three cheeses for the simple reason, that I have favorites for different uses; my favorites have have changed over the years and will continue to change; but most of all because what I enjoy most, whether in cheese or wine or food in general, is discovering new tastes. My early favorites were the soft runny and very creamy French cheeses such as the ubiquitous Brie and Camemberts and the hard Gruyere and Emmenthaler. (I'm leaving out the abominations of industrial processing experienced in my childhood.) From there it was a small step to the odoriferously riper Munster, Pont-Leveque and Livarot. Later I began to discover other ranges of textures and flavors particularly goat cheeses and then sheep cheeses. Blues came in along the way--a really good Forme d'Ambert is still a favorite. All of these were French cheeses and for a long time, I limited myself to French cheeses and good Parmesan and Peccorino for pasta--the former on meat sauces in particular. The hard sheep's tommes from the Pays Basque were a good introduction to the Spanish cheeses on the other side of the Pyrenees when we started to travel in Spain. Spanish cheeses rekindled an earlier interest in cheese as snack, rather than as a course after salad and before dessert as had been the rule in France. We haven't traveled much in Italy, but a great New York Italian food store--DiPalo's, for those here in NYC--has alerted us to yet another range of cheeses. Oddly enough DiPalo also carries some of the best Manchego I've had in NY. Louis says he carries it because Manchego is a big seller in Italy.

I'm not even sure if my current favorites should be the ones I eat most regularly because I can get good examples in NYC, or if they should be the ones I crave most, but don't eat unless I'm in the area where they are made because they are either unavailable here, or so much better there. All I know is that I really don't have to pick only three and that the variety itself is part of what makes cheese wonderful.

[tryska]

!. Havarti

@. Huntsman (best of both worlds imo)

#. a nice smoked gouda - bonus points if it contains bacon

[Bicycle Lee]

I can only pick three? hehe

uhh...I love a good Irish White Cheddar

tete du moine is pretty good when it's fresh.

there is this Spanish cheese that is covered in Ground cinnamon and scented with black truffles and white truffle oil...that isht is good...I can't remember the name though

[forever_young_ca]

1. Mont D'or

2. Mont D'or

3. Mont D'or

[tammylc]

1. Real parmesan, of course

2. Soft goat cheese (Coach Farm is a favorite, but most any kind will do)

3. Whatever tastes good at the cheese counter that visit. Lately I've been really grooving on a triple cream from Burgundy, but I'm trying not to get that _every_ time I go...

[Jinmyo]

Three favourite cheeses?

1) Hard

2) Semi-soft

3) Soft

That was a tough question.

[Chris Cognac]

Cave aged Guyere

A good Stilton

A Neals yard Chedder.

MMMM I love me some cheese

[Comfort Me]

1. Epoisse -- without a doubt. I have had dreams where I'm eating it.

2. Gorganzola. I remember having a babysitter (33 - 34 years ago) who knew how to keep me quite. She would bring a big wedge of gorganzola, a box of garlic crisps, and pour me a big glass of milk. I wouln't make a noise all night!

3. Cream cheese. I know it's boring, but I couldn't live without it. Again, starting when I was a kid, I would eat a toasted bagel or bialy spread with a schmear and topped with pepperoncini or other hot pepper.

Now I'm hungry for cheese. I've got to walk over to Fox & Obel at lunch and pick up some Epoisse.

[curlywurlyfi]

in no particular order

Vignottes

Gouda

Roquefort

OK, I lied - I like Roquefort most. With walnuts. or pears. or on toast. with watercress. or in a tart. or on Sally Clarke's hazelnut + raisin bread.

Fi

[Suzanne F]

Damn, this is impossible. Especially because I try new cheeses (to me, anyway) every chance I get. Just had some Red Hawk, a washed rind cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, and oooooooh And then there was the Perail at Artisanal, and the 4-year-old stuff from Grafton, and and and . . . Does that make me fickle? Or just hungry?