Cheese (2005–2008)

[nakji]

Very, very interesting. Sudan, you say? Huh. Well, it is scrumptious. So scrumptious, in fact, that every time I open the fridge and see it sitting there, I think, "Oh, just one little twist..."

In this manner, it has been reduced to a little lump of the top part of the braid. It goes really well with cheap beer, such as Halida.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Very, very interesting. Sudan, you say? Huh. Well, it is scrumptious. So scrumptious, in fact, that every time I open the fridge and see it sitting there, I think, "Oh, just one little twist..."

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I can relate. I'm really wanting to make some, now... but as I no longer work in the restaurant business, I wouldn't know where to get hold of those big white plastic trash-can like 25-gallon barrels, which is what I used before. Hmmm.

[Brian B]

Sorry to get off the russian/vietnamiese cheese topic which is fascinating, but thought id share some highlights of the salone del gusto in Turin.

I was working on the Irish Raw Milk Cheese stand which is the the only active Presidia in Ireland at the moment(the wild salmon presidia being suspended due to sustainability issues and very keenly missed) and it was a busy fascinating 4 days. If one could imagine an Italian food heaven the salone could well fit the bill and combined with terra madre the sense of community was real and genuine.

As busy as we were (we got through over 240kgs of cheese in 4.5 days) people were interested in the cheese's and really quite well informed, was suprised at the large north american turnout and felt positive at the end of the weekend that there is hope for real food in this at times unreal world.

Am digressing from the main issue which for me was the cheese,highlights were a tasting of Puglian cheese and wine,Portugese soft Sheeps milk cheese(with a naturalthistle coagulatant in place of rennet),Cravero's 2 year old Parmesan,The 3 English cheddars Montgomeries,Keens and Westcombe, Tuscan Peccorino, a selection of affineured cheese's from the Valle D"Aosta which I can only say were memorable as I lost my notes. but I could go on there was so much happening.

If anyone can try to get to Slow Cheese in Bra next yeat it is a good experience and bring a spare bag as you will want to take everything home.

[gariotin]

Thank you for the update, Brian. It sounds like it was a wonderful event. I had a couple friends who went and could not stop talking about it. Bra is supposed to be just as great - is it also in Sept?

[Catriona]

Brian

What Irish cheeses did you bring?

[Brian B]

We brought 7 cheeses, which is strange for a presidia as the majority of the stalls had one item,be it Chaam chickens from the Netherlands,Einkorn from Provence or Stockfish from Norway aswell as over 200 presidias from Italy alone.

The seven were Cooleney,a soft camembert style bloom rind cheese.

Durrus, a wash rind cheese,shaped like a Toma but with a fuller flavour.

Diliskis, similar in style to the Durrus not as robust flavoured with seaweed.

St. Gall, a matured(5+ months) alpine style cheese,dense forest flavours.

Drumlin,a hard aged cheese,small tomme de savoye size yet firm textured.

Mt Callan, traditional Irish cheddar(15+ months),more buttery than the english cheddars but with a good cheddar bite.

Bellingham Blue, a like a piquant gorgonzla nicely rounded.

The cheese's were very well received we sold out of everything by monday(the event ran from thur-mon)save the Drumlin and Mt. Callan which were suffering from being very close to the english cheddars and the Dutch Gouda

[Brian B]

Sorry Gariotin, Bra is usually in the last week in sept, there are some great discussions and some bad ones,eah one has been better organised than the last but the cheese is fantastic, and with Barolo and Alba only a short drive away a great food and wine holiday. Am already making plans.

[Catriona]

I haven't had any of the last 3, so this is a good "shopping list" for me - thanks!

[gariotin]

Brian,

I help Breda sell her Cooleney here in the US. It is a wonderful cheese and I am trying to get some promotions set up for next St. Pat's day over here.

Do you know another cheese she represents, called Daru? It is beautiful and tasty and I wish I could get a US distributor to give it a try.

[gariotin]

Brian,

I help Breda sell her Cooleney here in the US. It is a wonderful cheese and I am trying to get some promotions set up for next St. Pat's day over here.

Do you know another cheese she represents, called Daru? It is beautiful and tasty and I wish I could get a US distributor to give it a try.

[jess mebane]

Sorry to interrupt, but I feel honor-bound to mention that I bought some brillat savarin brie today that makes you want to fly 8 hrs just to kiss a French cow. 'course, it's only a few more bites of this stuff until you can stick a beret on me and I'll be une bovine francaise, but there you are.....

[KarenSherwood]

I'm new here and after browsing 4 pages, I couldn't help myself, I just had to mouth off. DH and I are serious cheese-heads (I've corrupted him well).

I've loved British cheeses for years, my favorites are Huntsman and Cotswold. I also love Wensleydale cheese, but most of what I've been getting lately has been US-made.

We recently discovered Spanish cheeses. Oh my! Manchego is our new all-time favorite. It's lovely grated on salads, Caesar-style, or thin-sliced in an omelette, or just munched on by itself or with crackers or good bread. Then there's Cabrales, a Spanish blue (intense and amazing), Iberico, and Drunken Goat (too fun!).

Our other recent favorite is Cambozola....what could be better than a creamy camembert married with a mild blue????

I have a recipe to share, one of our 'not dieting tonight' family favorites. NOT for the faint of waistline!

This serves 4 with leftovers if you can actually behave yourselves.

5-6 red skin potatoes, boiled until soft

1/4 lb Huntsman cheese, roughly cubed

1 cup light cream or half & half

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Smoosh potatoes (with skins) until slightly creamy. Stir in cheese, cream and nutmeg. Scoop into baking dish (I use a glass souffle dish). Dot with butter and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, until top is lightly browned and cheese is melted. Terrific served with roast beef or pork tenderloin.

[Dorine]

...We recently discovered Spanish cheeses. Oh my! Manchego is our new all-time favorite. ...

Have you had a chance yet to try manchego that has been wrapped in grape leaves and soaked in olive oil for a year? Bliss!

In the manchego DO area, in the province of Cuidad Real (south of Madrid, in Castilla la Nueva, in La Mancha--Don Quijote land--you can still see the white windmills there), if you are at a market in one of the villages, you can even get very fresh manchego, so fresh it is as white as feta but not as salty and much smoother in texture--none of the lttle holes, but a tad grainier than the aged kind. It's a very special treat!!!

Your recipe sounds delicious; I'll have to try it soon.

[Dorine]

I've recently read about a new (maybe 4 years?) cheese from a monastery in Tibet made from yak's milk. Apparently it failed the first year but got help from Slow Food and as been coming to the US in small amounts (1500kg/year).

It was created by a monk for a good cause; he had started a school to educated Tibetan nomads' children in Tibetan language, culture, literature, rhetorical styles, etc. (rather than the Chinese system imposed by China), and didn't want to charge fees to the very poor nomadic families. He decided to try making cheese from the yaks that are essential to their culture, and selling it to support the school. The nomads always use the yaks' fresh milk, butter and yogurt but these do not keep well enough to sell in the west (Chinese do not traditionally consume dairy so China itself is not a market) so he looked into aged cheese. Long story--he had a year 1 failure but with help from Slow Food volunteers, he has produced something nice in small but increasing quantities and ships to the US, which--surprise--has better laws than Europe for importing Tibetan products. The price here is comparable to that of parmigiano reggiano.

I have never seen or heard of it befroe, and I always keep my eyes open for new cheeses to try at the cheese shops around here. Have any of you heard of it or tried it?

[gariotin]

I used to sell the yak cheese, although the story I was told was not nearly as romantic as yours, Dorine. The history of my project was that a NGO was trying to help Tibetan farmers come up with a value-added product that could be exported and hit upon cheese. They brought over a cheesemaker (one time I heard he was American, another time that he was French) to work with the milk and come up with a cheese with long shelf life that could be shipped in refrigerated ocean containers. It was true that the first year's production had consistency problems - some of the cheeses were delicious but some tasted like the barn floor. We had a pretty good market going and could sell everything we could get - went into high end cheese shops in major cities, as well as Whole Foods. It got attention as it was written up by Florence Fabricant in the NY Times Wednesday food page.

I haven't seen or heard of the cheese in a couple years - I'll ask around and see if it is still being sold. When good, it was very interesting, with a tangy acidity to it. The paste was yellowish white - sort of straw color.

[Dave Hatfield]

Lots of cheese to report on. See today & yesterday's posts on the Cheese Board thread for the Thanksgiving extravaganza. Here I'm going to do 3 posts; the food fair cheeses, more on Jacques amazing collection and one on the cheeses we didn't eat. (or not yet anyway.)

I was frustrated last week because L had all the cameras. (Must say she came back with some very high quality pics, but none of food.) Finally got to take my pictures, but Thanksgiving intervened. Anyway, here we are.

Pretty little cheese. Looks like a chevre, but isn't. Its a brebis (sheep's milk) cheese. Very mild, but with a bit of tang.

These are the other two I bought from the same stand.

The one on the left is cow's milk. Strong with a lots of punch & a great after taste. On the right is a chevre that is very strong. From the taste I think it had been soaked in some kind of apricot liqueur. Powerful!

Must visit these people. They're over near Bordeau so are only a couple of hours away. They had a lot of different cheeses. I need to spend time finding out more about them. Like, for instance what they call the cheeses.

Nice touch; as she wrapped these cheeses the girl behind the counter numbered each one & told me I should eat them in that order; 1 then 2 then 3. I did , she was right.

[Lore]

Such tempting raw, soft cheeses abroad!

I've heard separately from two importers that the FDA is reviewing a lighter method of pasteurization used in Europe. Anyone heard anything about this?

I don't know if it's a high-temp, short-time or a higher-pressure method. Or even if it's really being seriously reviewed. BUt I'm sure curous. I'd love to have more choices available here.

[gariotin]

Wow, Dave, those chevres are beautiful and look intense and interesting.

I like that numbering touch!

[Dave Hatfield]

post #2 Jacques extravaganza. The French are so generous. I could not believe it when Jacques showed up with two panniers of cheeses. Sacre Bleu!

And what an exercise in tasting goats cheese. They're all chevres, different ages, different shapes, different affinages & differet herb treatments. Here are some more pictures & some tasting notes.

The four donut shaped cheeses. The uncut one on the left was the youngest & mildest. The big one on the right was slightly riper, but still mild & creamy. The little guy at the back was considerably older with a nice bite. And whats left of the one in front was very sharp.

A couple of logs & the edge of a brick. All pretty mild although one of the logs has a very distinctive taste.

I'm saving these beauties & will report in a few days on what they tasted like. (They're so pretty that I think our guests were a bit leery of cutting into these.)

I love the looks of these. Where but in France? Hope they taste half as good as they look.

Again, my thanks to Jacques for providing us this feast of cheeses.

[gfron1]

Just to whet your cheese whistles...I have an order coming in on 12/5 that will include:

Fiscalini 30 month cheddar

Rogue Creamery Choc Stout Cheddar

Belgian Chimay Grand Cru

Belgian Wynendale

Danish Esrom

A bunch of flavored stiltons

Blue D'Auvergne Empereur

Fourme D'Ambert

Coulommiers Rouzaire

Explorateur Mini

Banon Chalais

Gaperon

Tomme Crayeuse

3 Year Gouda from Holland

Putzulu Pecorino in Walnut

Taleggio

Quinta da Boavista

Cabrales

Mahon

Appenzeller Extra Aged

Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue

Firefly Buche Noir

How's that sound I'll post pics as I eat them!

[gariotin]

Sounds pretty freakin' great, gfron.

Don't you just love those Rogue River cheeses - I think the Smokey Blue is delish.

At the recent SIAL food show in Paris, the ONLY American cheese producer that I saw was Davie Gremmel from RR. He said that European buyers were very impressed with his cheeses.

[LindsayAnn]

Hey, Lindsey Ann - don't leave us hanging - what are the other 15 cheeses in your fridge?

At the moment, I have Point Reyes Blue, Spanish goat cheese coated w/rosemary,  and Comte.  Oh and also Quicke's cheddar from Devon - one of my faves.

That Neal's Yard Stilton is a special age that is done for them by Colston Basset, I believe.  It is outstanding.

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Gariiotin, So sorry this response is this late....Thanksgivings been busy busy.

In response to your question - let me take a stroll over to my fridge right now and see which chesse's I still have the label for (many are already open, thus in saran wrap or wax paper - their original label removed...I will list as many as I can)

Ok - back from the fridge...I had more cheese's with labels than I realized...yet there are about 5-6 that are labelless (due to my repackaging).

So, here we are.... Most of these I wouldnt even know how to pronounce...So I just basically am going to type in the main portion of the label....hopefully for all of my cheese's I am getting the name straight - cause there are other things written on many of the labels...descritions/manufactorer/farm/location, etc...

1.) Chevre du Poitou Framage (Goats cheese)

2.) Chaource rouzaire (Cow's milk)

3.) Robiola Bosina (langra) Sheep and Cows milks)

4.) Capriola Farm O'bannon (Goats milk -I get this gem from my farmers market. There are also multiple specialty stores in the chicago area that carry some of this farms (capriola) varieties of goats cheeses...Judy is the farm entreprenueal and she is soooo sweet. This cheese is a soft/crumbly goats cheese that is wrapped in bourbon soaked oak leaves...I hate bourbon but I LOVE this cheese)

5.) Munster gerome le prefered Alsace

6.) Redwood Hill farm camellia

7.) Cana de Cabra Pasterdized Goat Milk from Marcia Spain

8.) Tommw Basco rau Goat milk Basque region France

9.) Cabot Cuvee (An award winning (2004) cheddar cheese - this is so flavourful and yummy)

10.) Gros Tomme Agour (goat/sheep blend)

11.) Gariotins Raw Goats Milk France

12.) Garrotxa Goats Milk

I also have other cheeses that arent 'specialty' per say...cheddars, swiss's mozerellas.....etc...

[gariotin]

Nice choices in there - you have access to good cheeses.

I am particularly fond of number 11 - hence my screen name!

[LindsayAnn]

Nice choices in there - you have access to good cheeses.

I am particularly fond of number 11 - hence my screen name!

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AHHH Ha ha I did not even notice that. My oh my...I am not as perceptive as I thought I was!

nice screen name...you really are a cheese fan aren't you! Cool in my book

[Dave Hatfield]

Here's a post on the cheeses we were going to eat, but didn't. At least not at Thanksgiving.

I had put these together as a more modest cheese plate.

This pechegos was to be the centerpiece. Lovely to look at & with an in your face taste.

Here's some bouyesset (creamy goat) and a St Nectaire Fermier. Yummy

We were going to have a nice Bleu de Causses to finish off with. Milder & creamier than a Roquefort.

So many cheeses, so little time.

I'm now going to see if I can find a gariotin, but I suspect I'll have to wait until the next time we're up in Burgundy. Something to look forward to.