Favorite Cheese

[Kris]

I've been on a cheese kick over the last year and have made it my business to try really good cheeses from different parts of the world.  Some of my favorites are:

English farmhouse cheddars (Quicke's, Montgomery & Keens - the one I choose varies with my mood)

Epoisses (classic French washed rind "stinky" cheese)

Brunet (soft Goat milk cheese from Italy)

Pyrenees Brebis & Ossau Vielle - sheep's milk cheeses from France

Tomme de Crayeuse (France)

Mahon (Spain)

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Kris, I've not had the tomme de Crayeuse - can you describe it a bit?

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It's salty, earthy with a buttery texture. It's a semi-soft cheese with a grey, mottled rind that smells like a damp cellar. But don't be put off by the rind, the cheese itself is delicious.

[gariotin]

Good description, Kris, especially the funky rind.

Crayeuse means "chalky" in French and the center of the paste often stays drier and, well, chalkier, than the more ripened area under the rind.

It is not easy to find here in the US, but a great cheese.

[Bueno]

I've spent the last 4 months in solitude, searching my soul for the answer, and eating nothing but cheese to come up with what I believe to be my single favourite.

Taleggio.

There, I did it. Phew.

[gariotin]

Very impressive, Bueno...a worthy choice!

[Malaclypse]

Vella Dry Jack. Hands down down my favorite cheese.

[heidih]

Possibly my favorite David Lebovitz post ever  https://www.davidlebovitz.com/comte-cheese-ripening-and-tasting/

[Margaret Pilgrim]

The one thing I've found is that my (our) tastes evolve.    I have, over time, had many favorite cheeses.    Most retire to a personal "hall of fame" where I store such disparate friends as gentle brie and exuberant eppois

Right now, Cowgirl "Red Hawk". well aged and runny at room temperature is a lust-after.     So good with fall fruits: figs, pears, apples, as well as alone, by the spoonful.

[gfweb]

Sharp Cheddar, parm, reg, aged gouda are atop a long list

[TicTac]

Can't have more than one favourite! 😛

 

If I was forced to choose, it would be one of the petite unpasteurized aged french goat cheeses (typically only found in France, sadly!)

[andiesenji]

I have several favorites - haven't been able to afford most of them during the past couple of years and some have changed during the decades that my tastes have evolved.

 

I like the stories about visiting cheese makers and such.  One of my earliest experiences was when I was a teenager and working at my mom's bakery after I graduated high school. I worked nights  and every Friday morning EARLY, I would box up an assortment of sweet rolls and hard rolls, three or four "rustic" loaves and haul them up to the Stella Cheese factory just outside the village for the morning meeting of the department heads and the foremen.  I never returned empty handed, I would be given a large chunk of gorgonzola or  a quarter wheel of fontina or a fiaschetta of provolone.  I would slice some so the bakers and the doughnut guy and I could have breakfast.  The main bread batch would have been out of the oven (usually me) for an hour so would be okay to slice.  Or the ryes would be about ready to pull, both the panned and the open.

Back then my favorite was the aged Fontina - they produced a one year old and a two year old.  The store at the factory sold only 1/4 wheels and larger.  A wheel of gorgonzola weighed approximately 8 pounds and a one-ear-old Fontina wheel was about 12 pounds and a two year old 9-10 pounds.  

A lot of people complained about the smells from the factory, when the wind was from the "wrong" direction but it never bothered me.  

[lemniscate]

15 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

Stella Cheese

Stella Gorgonzola is still my choice for my bleu cheese and apple/pear butter lettuce salad.   One of the Costco's still carries a big wedge at a great price.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Can't have more than one favourite! 😛

 

If I was forced to choose, it would be one of the petite unpasteurized aged french goat cheeses (typically only found in France, sadly!)

I could be happy with some of these cheeses from California artisan producers and certainly as well with the same from Vermont and New York.  

[TicTac]

1 minute ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I could be happy with some of these cheeses from California artisan producers and certainly as well with the same from Vermont and New York.  

Can't say I have tried Stateside interpretations - but I would be curious as to how they compare.

 

I still have fond memories of traveling to France with my (then) 75 year old grandmother and taking a large empty tupperware container with us, only to return with it filled to the brim with vac packed cheesy goodness!  Reblochon, Tomme, Epoisses, Brie de Meaux....oh how I love thee, let me count the ways!

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

My cheese intro was in Corsica as a young teen - brocciu - sold by a sheepherd going door to door. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocciu  My  Viennese friend was into the chesnut leaf wrapped  cheese - (Banon) I did not quite warm up to that though today I would enjoy. When your experience is plastic American singles there is an acceptance curve. https://www.cheese.com/banon/

Edited November 13, 2019 by heidih (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Corsican cheese is an amazing thing.    I bought a round in May in Paris, telling the seller that I wanted to eat it a month later.   He found me a green piece and told me to remove the cryovac when I got home.   Done.   But didn't use it as planned, unwrapped the inner paper several months later to find the herbal cover pretty skanky.    Washed it off in warm water,  dried well and coated with cracked pepper.   Rewrapped in paper and finally served at a dinner party at the end of September.    One guest, a cheese buyer,went bananas over it.   We sent the remaining half round home with him.    He was immediately leaving the country and only this week wrote to say that he was again home, had pulled out this cheese and had a fabulous time with it.    This 6 months after I bought it, and i have no reason to think that this guy was blowing smoke....

[haresfur]

Local grocery started carrying 36 mo aged Gouda. I was too cheap to try it when visiting Holland in my 20s, but man it is good as a nibbling cheese. Except for the cat who devoured most of a piece I left out and gummed the rest. He has good taste.

[shawarma_prince]

My favorite cheese is Cracker Barrel.

 

Just kidding.

Anything from Jasper Hill is good.

[acookinthecreuse]

I looooovvvvveeee cheese! When I go to our local weekly market, I often go a bit overboard at the cheese kiosk. I'm really trying to cut down on the amount of cheese I eat. I think it's addictive and would interested to know if there is any scientific evidence to prove this!

 

(Some of)My favorites are:

Beaufort

Pont L'eveque

Saint Felicien

 

The cheeses that I can't do without (yes there is a difference, as these are ones I use more for cooking, while the others tend to be dessert!)

Real Parmigiano Reggiano

Mozzarella (soft, di bufala if possible)

A good Gruyere or strong cheddar

A good Chevre (I love Rocamadour)