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Favorite Cheese


AzRaeL

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were a gun held to my temple with the threat of imminent death if i failed to name my three faves, i would do it. here, no way!!

however, i can actually name my # 1 fave with no trouble whatsoever!

that would be idiazabol.

the bestest cheese ever!!!!!

xo

Edited by ElfWorks (log)

"Animal crackers and cocoa to drink

That is the finest of suppers, I think

When I'm grown up and can have what I please,

I think I shall always insist upon these"

*Christopher Morley

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epoisses.jpg

montdor.jpg

Well, it says "Show Me the Cheese", and I couldn't resist. My two favorites are Epoisses (top) and Mont D'or. I'm also quite fond of creamy, runny (and very stinky) Munster.

Edited by markk (log)

Overheard at the Zabar’s prepared food counter in the 1970’s:

Woman (noticing a large bowl of cut fruit): “How much is the fruit salad?”

Counterman: “Three-ninety-eight a pound.”

Woman (incredulous, and loud): “THREE-NINETY EIGHT A POUND ????”

Counterman: “Who’s going to sit and cut fruit all day, lady… YOU?”

Newly updated: my online food photo extravaganza; cook-in/eat-out and photos from the 70's

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Munster is supposed to be runny and smelly? My only munster experience is the kind availible at the grocery store: fairly firm, orange edge, not at all smelly, mild creamy flavor. Do I need to experience a new type?

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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Although both have been mentioned already I thought I'd just add my votes for

1. Gjetost - thin slices on crackers or in little cubes on its own. I think its really a savoury fudge.

2. Crottin de Chavignol with a good Sancerre

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Munster is supposed to be runny and smelly? My only munster experience is the kind availible at the grocery store: fairly firm, orange edge, not at all smelly, mild creamy flavor. Do I need to experience a new type?

Yes, my dear, you need to experience a new type. Order it from fromages.com. You won't be sorry.

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And to think Acme has been selling me false Munster for all these years...

Actually, today I had to buy up some new spices, which took me by the Newark co-op. Having heard that they offer some quality cheese, I took a look, ended up picking up a Goat's Milk Cheddar, a garlic and basil infused Gouda, and a wedge of Manchego.

Wow oh wow, what have I been missing, what a world exists beyond Acme and Cabot brand cheese...

The Goat's Milk Cheddar is perhaps the best cheddar I have ever had, it had a nice sharp bite, but no acrid taste to burn the back of one's mouth such as other sharp cheddars I have tasted. It also had a nice dry firm texture, very flavorful.

The basil and garlic infused gouda was creamy, full-flavored, and had sweet overtones due to the basil, a cheese I could eat a whole wedge of without anything else...

But the star of the show was the Manchego... Dry in texture, almost like a parmesan, with a dark rind (that I probably shouldn't have eaten, but did anyway, it tasted good), and such a nice flavor! I lack a cheese vocabulary, but I tasted something almost citrussy, as well as peppery, and just good dry cheese taste to top it off.... I Am a big fan of this one.

I think I will have to sample some of my good local cheeses now.... but maybe fromages.com isn't so far off.

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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My very favorite cheeses are the English

Caerphilly, Lancashire or Leicester, Stilton

Then there is the Ricotta Salata

Buffalo mozzarella from Italy

Spanish Manchego

Pierre Robert from France

and a true Wisconsin Brick cheese

which is really difficult to find anywhere outside that state.

Fortunately there is a Wisconsin cheese purveyor who ships.

Good on you!

I have recently 'rediscovered' the cheeses I was brought up on, Lancashire, Cheshire etc. I remember a cheese stall at a local market that only sold Lancashire cheese, either crumbly or creamy.

They don't have the big wow appeal of aged cheddars, or the luscious texture of the french soft cheeses, but what they do have is a marvellous refreshing 'tang'.

They are also remarkably versatile cheeses, just the thing to always have in the house, good for sandwhiches, excellent toasted and make reasonable substitutes for mexican queso blanco (similar melting and crumbling qualities, and clean fresh taste). I even used some lancashire as a substitute for feta cheese in a salad the other day. Obviously not the same, but was still good.

It's just a shame how many of these cheeses are undervalued. Any UK supermarket cheese section tends to have about 30 'different' (quoted as they aren't really different at all) varieties of cheddar - nearly all rubbery and either tasteless, or harsh and one dimensional, and very little else.

Don't get me wrong, well made cheddar is one of the worlds great cheeses, but the UK makes a lot more good ones too!

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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Good on you!

I have recently 'rediscovered' the cheeses I was brought up on, Lancashire, Cheshire etc. I remember a cheese stall at a local market that only sold Lancashire cheese, either crumbly or creamy.

They don't have the big wow appeal of aged cheddars, or the luscious texture of the french soft cheeses, but what they do have is a marvellous refreshing 'tang'.

They are also remarkably versatile cheeses, just the thing to always have in the house

Don't get me wrong, well made cheddar is one of the worlds great cheeses, but the UK makes a lot more good ones too!

My favorite way to eat Caerphilly, Cheshire, Wensleydale, etc., is with fruit.

Lunch at work is often an apple or a pear, sliced, each slice eaten with a slice of cheese about the same size as the piece of fruit.

The flavors enhance each other.

For a simple dessert I cut apples or pears into bite size pieces, place in a shallow dish then crumble cheese over the top and put in the microwave for 2 -3 minutes.

I love cheeses of all kinds but these pair with fruit better than any other, in my opinion.

When I was a child my grandfather always had cheese and fruit at the end of a meal.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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wensleydale with cranberries.... toooooo delicious!!

try it sometime!!!

xo

"Animal crackers and cocoa to drink

That is the finest of suppers, I think

When I'm grown up and can have what I please,

I think I shall always insist upon these"

*Christopher Morley

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Very difficult to name just three but:

1. Vacherin Mont d'Or - There are few things better than a perfectly ripe Vacherin. Cut off the top of the rind, grab a spoon and experience the glory, it will make your toes curl.

2. Cashel Blue - A mild, sweet blue cheese, with the creaminess of butter, it is from Tipperaray Ireland.

3. Humboldt Fog chevre - Made by Cypress Grove in Northern California. Humboldt is creamy, sweet and tangy, it melts in your mouth. It is also very pretty, covered in ash, stark white inside, with another layer of ash that runs through the middle in a thin line.

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:unsure: Oh gosh I can't choose...but now that i have the luxury of trying anything on a daily basis (I work in a wine and cheese shop now in Miami), it changes on a daily basis.

But, here are my favorites today!

Ossau Iraty - Istara with sour black cherry preserves for breakfast.

Humboldt Fog

Munster d'Alsace

I also love White Stilton with mangos and ginger and morbier.

but...i love them all :wub: can't wait till I visit my inlaws in France for some unpast. cheeses

Any cheese lovers out there in Miami, Florida? I would love to do a cheese club.

Oh yea and check out the cheesediaries.com fab site.

Laura

Laura Langlois-Zurro

http://movingtoargentina.typepad.com/

"People who know nothing about cheeses reel away from Camembert, Roquefort, and Stilton because the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the sordid and the sublime."

Harvey Day

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  • 2 weeks later...
Lucy, after reading your other post and knowing of your appreciation of cheese, I will try your recommendation of anything I haven't tasted.  Please tell me about Epoisse, St. Nectaire, and St. Marcellin.

The best place to buy these cheeses considering where you (and I) live is fromages.com. Overnight delivery from France. I've ordered from them many times. They're reliable - and their cheeses are wonderful. Robyn

I currently have an order in with fromages.com that was supposed to be delivered today, but I'm now being told by FedEx that it's being held up by the FDA in Newark. I have no idea when I'll receive the cheese...I was told it could be as long as a week from now. I hope this is an anomaly.

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I currently have an order in with fromages.com that was supposed to be delivered today, but I'm now being told by FedEx that it's being held up by the FDA in Newark. I have no idea when I'll receive the cheese...I was told it could be as long as a week from now. I hope this is an anomaly.

This is happening to me also. I ordered one of these:

http://www.fromages.com/board.php?id=329

And it should have been delivered Wednesday. Still no sign of it.

FedEx just said it was being held up, but no details where.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Lucy, after reading your other post and knowing of your appreciation of cheese, I will try your recommendation of anything I haven't tasted.  Please tell me about Epoisse, St. Nectaire, and St. Marcellin.

The best place to buy these cheeses considering where you (and I) live is fromages.com. Overnight delivery from France. I've ordered from them many times. They're reliable - and their cheeses are wonderful. Robyn

I currently have an order in with fromages.com that was supposed to be delivered today, but I'm now being told by FedEx that it's being held up by the FDA in Newark. I have no idea when I'll receive the cheese...I was told it could be as long as a week from now. I hope this is an anomaly.

I've ordered from the website almost a dozen times and have never had a problem like that. Perhaps customs protocols/terrorist alerts/whatever are a lot different in the northeast than they are in the southeast. Robyn

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I've ordered from the website almost a dozen times and have never had a problem like that. Perhaps customs protocols/terrorist alerts/whatever are a lot different in the northeast than they are in the southeast. Robyn

My order did not arrive today and FedEx says they are unable to track it at the moment. I live in southern California.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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FedEx claims the FDA needs documents of origin of shipment. Then it has to clear customs. I don't expect we'll see our cheese any time soon. FedEx went as far as asking for my social security number so they can start a file on me. I started to feel like I did something wrong by buying friggin' cheese :wacko: .

Mods: Sorry to take this OT...maybe it should be a new topic?

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There for a while I was sorry I didn't give fromages.com a try, but now I'm glad I remained loyal to DiBruno.com. :wink: I like to try it all though, so I'll follow this thread (here or a new one), and when there is clear shipping, place an order with them.

BTW, new to me this order was the St. Nectaire and St. Marcellin, and the Gouda aged 6 years. Gouda wasn't new to me, but that aged was. I think maybe I need to acquire a taste for that. It surely tastes of caramel... quite sweet. Does anybody have any ideas to share of your favorite uses for it? Certain fruits or drink you enjoy it with in a cheese course?

The St. Nectaire was a slight disappointment, and the St. Marcellin is one of my new favorites now.

I started to feel like I did something wrong by buying friggin' cheese  .
F'real! :laugh:

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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FedEx claims the FDA needs documents of origin of shipment. Then it has to clear customs. I don't expect we'll see our cheese any time soon. FedEx went as far as asking for my social security number so they can start a file on me. I started to feel like I did something wrong by buying friggin' cheese  :wacko:  .

Mods: Sorry to take this OT...maybe it should be a new topic?

I would write email to fromages.com - let them know what's going on (it's not a big impersonal operation). And let us know what happens. Robyn

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Since I still haven't received my cheese from fromages.com (thanks FDA!), I went to Murray's this weekend. The hands-down winner of that trip was the Pleasant Ridge Reserve (from Wisconsin), a semi-hard cow's milk cheese. It was fantastic. You can either get it delivered from Murray's or buy it direct from Upland's Cheese. Truly excellent cheese.

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My current fave that no one has mentioned: Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam, a soft ripened triple creme.

oh that is so good. i'm banned from buying it as i cannot stop eating it once i start.

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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Since I still haven't received my cheese from fromages.com (thanks FDA!), I went to Murray's this weekend. The hands-down winner of that trip was the Pleasant Ridge Reserve (from Wisconsin), a semi-hard cow's milk cheese. It was fantastic. You can either get it delivered from Murray's or buy it direct from Upland's Cheese. Truly excellent cheese.

Have you exchanged email with fromages.com? What did they say (if you did)? Robyn

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  • 1 year later...

Ok, so I admit it. I'm a cheese novice. I grew up in India where cheese mostly meant paneer or cottage cheese used in cooking. The concept of eating cheese just by itself or cheese thats aged as opposed to freshly made was very foreign to me till recently. A few months ago, I mustered up the courage to walk up to the cheese counter at the grocery store and point to things, ask for samples and buy the stuff I found interesting.

Some conclusions...I seem to enjoy all sorts of blue cheese. These seem to me the most flavorful and interesting. I also really like most of the Gouda I;ve tried. I like the texture of soft, creamy cheese varieties (as I suspect most beginners would?).

I want to try some new varities and learn more about this wonderful world I'm yet to explore. So share your knowledge with me, if you will and tell me not just what you enjoy eating but also describe it a bit if you can so I know what to look for :).

thanks in advance,

-w@w

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