Blue Cheese, Whats your favorite kind

[mpav]

Let me weigh in with Maytag. I find the taste clean and crisp.

[Mottmott]

Stilton's my current favorite. A local cheese shop carries several, including the raw milk. But I think I'll revisit and/or explore those y'all mention.

[slkinsey]

For me it's Shropshire Blue from Nottinghamshire. Similar to Stilton, but saltier with a more assertive edge. It's like super-Stilton!

[HungryChris]

I get Gorganzola from Trader Joes that I am crazy about, but can't remember the name. I just look for a little blue and red circle on the label.

A salad with leafy green and red tipped lettuce, homemade croutons with lots of thyme and garlic infused olive oil and carmelized shallots, julienned beets and plenty of crumbled Gorganzola cheese, dressed with vinegrette makes it happen for me! Throw in a hot buttered sourdough roll and a crisp white wine and I am weak at the knees.

Edited January 29, 2004 by HungryChris (log)

[hjshorter]

I know this may not be as "gourmet" as some of you like...But I make a blue cheese, bacon and creamy minute rice dish that everyone I have made it for loves....Its simple and takes about 8 mins....Just melt some butter with shallots and garlic, stir in the raw minute rice, then add cream or half and half and cook, add the blue cheese crumbles and bacon crumbles....stir till its the consistancy you want and eat....mmmm good stuff...but about a million calories!

That sounds delicious, like a savory rice pudding. Mmmmmmmm.

[hjshorter]

Forme Sauternes - a Forme d'Ambert that's been ripened in Sauternes for 2 months. Heavenly.

I love Fourme d'Ambert, and that sounds fabulous. Do you make it yourself or buy it somewhere?

[Kim WB]

I prefer a Cabrales, with figs or dried apricots. I prefer a Maytag in a salad. Humboldt Fog is extraordinary as well.

[Okbrewer]

Maytag is my favorite!

[Carlovski]

I too am a fan of shropshire blue, tends to be a safer bet then stilton too, far too many bad 'industrial' ones around, dry, too salty etc.

I love the soft blues too, Roquefort, Gorgonzola especially. I don't like the generic 'Danish Blue' on offer in supermarkets though.

Other notable ones I can recommend are Dorset Blue Vinny and Cashel Blue (Irish).

[Pitter]

I second the Fourme au Sauternes as the most heavenly blue. The cheese originates in France, then is sent to an affineur in Belgium who washes it in Sauternes and ages it in his cave.

This is hard to find, so I usually reach for the best Roquefort I can find -- Vieux Berger or Carles.

I am also fond of Bleu de Gex, Cabrales and Valdeon.

[budrichard]

I view the different types of blues as really different cheese categories. There are the blues that are made to be combined with other ingrediants in salds and such, Maytag is certainly th best of the lot. A true roquefort is hard to find but an excellent cheese.

The English blues such as Stilton or Shopshire are just made for Port and cigars.

The soft blues such as a gorganzola are great with crackers or a crusty bread.

What i don't care for is the factory blues produced in the US that bear no relation to anything or than the name. -Dick

[rickmartin]

Maytag always sets the bar for me. Point Reyes (their cheesemaker is a Maytag former). Great Hill on the east coast, they use Guernsey milk which is creamier and yellow. Neals Yard stilton, one of the best cheeses I've had period. Yum.

[Arey]

Just to burst everyone's bubble here, I have to say that I hate any and all blue cheeses in any carnation whatsoever. I can't even describe how vile they taste to me.

So why post this remark? I despise the Lima Bean and if I saw a thread on loving Lima Beans I would ignore it. I might murmur "Erring eaters go in peace" but I would respect their right to love Limas and expect them to respect my right to detest limas, and I wouldn't flaunt my feelings in their face.

[Jason Perlow]

For me, its a toss up between crumbly Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Spanish Valdeon (with Cabrales coming in at a close second to Valdeon).

[Mottmott]

Just to burst everyone's bubble here, I have to say that I hate any and all blue cheeses in any carnation whatsoever. I can't even describe how vile they taste to me.

So why post this remark? I despise the Lima Bean and if I saw a thread on loving Lima Beans I would ignore it. I might murmur "Erring eaters go in peace" but I would respect their right to love Limas and expect them to respect my right to detest limas, and I wouldn't flaunt my feelings in their face.

Don't be harsh with JAZ, it leaves more for us.

And I will look for the Fourme au Sauternes and a couple others I've never had. I'm enjoying this thread.

[Susan in FL]

And I will look for the Fourme au Sauternes and a couple others I've never had.

Same here, Mottmott.

Love your avatar, Arey. Did you photograph it?

[cdh]

Onetik Bleu de Brebis too.

[dave harper]

My two favorites are Fourme d'Ambert and Colton Bassett; Great Hill Blue is my domestic choice.

[Carlovski]

I must admit my ignorance and say I have never tried any of the spanish blues.

I might go on a cheese hunt at lunchtime, but I don't remember ever seeing them anywhere local.

Anyone know where I can get them in the UK? (And the fourme au sauternes)

[Chris Cognac]

I have not tried them either..I guess when I think "Blue" I am not thinking "Spain" off the top of my head. I would like to try some and think I will make a point of looking for some over here in California

[Arey]

Love your avatar, Arey.  Did you photograph it?

Yes. It was such a handsome Oyster Mushroom cluster I decided to photograph it before I ate it. So I propped it up on my dining room table and snapped it.

http://images.egullet.com/u7869/i2611.jpg

Getting back to cheese, my favorite is Roquefort. I like Maytag, but I never feel I'm getting all out of it that I should. It's my fault, years of smoking, chronic year round allergies, anosmia.

I did like the California form of Maytag. I use it on a portobello and endive salad. I can't bring myself to crumble Roquefort and use it in salads and dressings. It seems so unnatural.

[Pitter]

Arey, many people have a hard time crumbling Roquefort onto salads. Hey, the wholesale price is 9-14 dollars right now, so the retail price is twice that. May I recommend either Bleu D'Avergne - a really reasonably priced, DOP cheese from France, which should wholesale for about $5.50 per pound, and retail for about $10, or a Fourme D'Ambert, also from France as a DOP, in the same price range. These will not be your Danish blue cheeses (crap) or the expensive Roquefort, but something very good for very good salads.

[mysticonnie]

Forme Sauternes - a Forme d'Ambert that's been ripened in Sauternes for 2 months.  Heavenly.

I love Fourme d'Ambert, and that sounds fabulous. Do you make it yourself or buy it somewhere?

Forme Sauternes is produced by a Belgian affineur, Jacquy Cange.

I discovered it at the Cheese Board in Berkeley. I also saw it at the Cheeseworks booth at the Fancy Foods Show a few weeks back, but I haven't seen it anywhere else. Good luck finding it - you're in for a real treat!

[KAPDADDY]

Cambazola

Regina Blu

[rlibkind]

This is like asking which of your children you love the most!

Okay, I'll pick one: Bergere Bleu, produced by Northland Sheep Dairy in Marathon NY. It's sold at the Ithaca Farmer's Market. Their website doesn't have much about the cheese, but alot about Karl and Jane's philosophy of workng the land.