Cheese (2005–2008)

[tamiam]

Suzi....I feel your pain. That is actually my situation as well. In addition to not having any cheese counters in town, there is not much in the way of jobs either. So now I commute to the city. Access to good cheese and a wonderful market is the silver lining.

Upthread, some folks mentioned igourmet and zingerman's as good mail order sources. Great selection, but it does bring you back to large quantity purchases.

[moreace01]

I'm wondering if you guys could help me out - I need help selecting a blue cheese. I cannot stand blues, but spouse loves them. I'm hoping to serve with a steak (either blue cheese butter on top or in mashed potatoes on the side - something along those lines). So I guess I am looking for the mildest blue out there (for my sake) or perhaps a good substitution.

For what its worth, I love strong cheeses - like aged goudas and sharp cheddars. There is just something about blues that I dislike. I will keep trying though...

[MarketStEl]

tamiam,

at least you have cheese counters where you can purchase cheeses by a few ounces.  yeah, i can go a few miles and buy italian cheeses by the wedge but if i want something more interesting like a nice bleu like even a maytag i have to go about 20 miles to the nearest good cheese counter for fresh cut.  that's why you saw all the i bought was prepackaged.  now if you want cooper american by the slice or jarlsberg you can get that anywhere.  whine, whine, whine.  ok the pity party is over now and back to my real life with a wonderful man who wouldn't know kraft american from velveeta.  oh, is there a difference?!

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Water content and emulsifiers, dear. Velveeta has more of both. That's about it.

I'm wondering if you guys could help me out - I need help selecting a blue cheese. I cannot stand blues, but spouse loves them. I'm hoping to serve with a steak (either blue cheese butter on top or in mashed potatoes on the side - something along those lines). So I guess I am looking for the mildest blue out there (for my sake) or perhaps a good substitution.

For what its worth, I love strong cheeses - like aged goudas and sharp cheddars. There is just something about blues that I dislike. I will keep trying though...

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If you want a versatile, reasonably priced domestic blue, I'd go with Buttermilk Blue if I were you. It has a nice balance between creaminess and bite thanks to the buttermilk and is good as an ingredient in dishes. Point Reyes from California and Maytag from Iowa are both outstanding domestic blue cheeses as well, even better than Buttermilk Blue (especially for eating straight), but I'd consider Buttermilk Blue the best value in good blue cheese. (I pay about $10/lb for it at Salumeria in the Reading Terminal Market. By comparison, both Maytag and Point Reyes run about $15-18/lb.)

Now on to my Christmas cheese story, wherein I find out that I have a connection in the business. That part of the story begins with a diversion.

While working on the PGMC holiday concert program, I got a call from our Vice President for Production complaining that I had the DiBruno Bros. ad in the program running in black and white. "Mrs. DiBruno wouldn't be too happy with that, as they wanted it in color." Okay, that was a simple fix -- just tell the designer not to convert the image to grayscale.

But who was this "Mrs. DiBruno"? Patrick seemed to know her well. I didn't realize I knew "her" well until I ran into both "DiBrunos" at the Chorus' holiday party. "Mrs." DiBruno, it turns out, sings baritone--his real last name is <mumble> and he's a jeweler--and is a really nice fellow. "Mr. DiBruno," in this case, is Billy DiBruno. Cousin Emilio DiBruno and nephew "Billy Jr." DiBruno I also know, and all three work at the Chestnut Street store regularly. (Edited to add: Here's a picture of the couple taken at the party. Billy DiBruno is on the right.)

When I went to the store the Saturday before Christmas Eve, though, only Billy Jr. was around. Emilio was at the Italian Market store, and Billy had just left.

The staff were just as helpful. They recommended to me a semi-soft cheese from France (Langostolle Vieux? I forget) and a Spanish cheese whose name I also forget; I really need to start taking notes if I'm going to share my experiences with all of you. This is what remains of those two cheeses:

But those weren't all I served.

I also bought an aged goat milk Gouda, a pound of Buttermilk Blue -- half of which went into a blue cheese dip -- a Rustico with black peppercorns (from Whole Foods) and several cheese spreads. I know that some of you don't consider cheese spreads legit subjects to discuss in a cheese thread, and the cold pack Cheddar spread in the picture is ubiquitous, but DiBruno's own recipe cheese spreads are very good. The Abbruzze -- spicy, with lots of red pepper -- is my personal favorite. Their Boursin is more garlicky than the spread of the same name you find in supermarkets. They also make an herbed spread, a Dijon-horseradish Cheddar spread, a Gorgonzola spread and -- of course -- a port wine Cheddar spread.

The goat Gouda, the Rustico, the Buttermilk Blue and the baked Brie (not pictured) remain in the fridge. As the baked Brie has sat there for about nine months, well past its sell-by date, unopened and still in its vacuum-sealed package (it was a gift from a fellow cheesehead friend), I may have to simply give it a decent burial. How long will Brie keep under refrigeration, anyway?

(Edited further to add: The pepperoni in the photo is gone. The chorizo is in the fridge. I have a habit of buying too much food for Christmas Eve parties, but I'd rather do that than buy too little.)

I think the Buttermilk Blue will find its way into the mac and cheese I plan to prepare on New Year's Day to accompany the ham, black-eyed peas, and greens.

Edited December 30, 2007 by MarketStEl (log)

[gariotin]

I think that the Roaring 40s might be a good blue to try as well. Many many people who say they don't like blue cheese, find it to be delicious. Altho, I must say that the Australian milk shortage has taken its toll and there has not been enough Roaring coming into the US during the holidays, so it may be hard to find.

I think everyone's comments on cheese buying etiquette are spot on. I also think that any serious cheesemonger will be more than happy to offer you tastes of things, Tamiam, so don't ever hesitate to ask.

I just purchased a new cheese book - new ones seem to be coming out every day - that I think is great. It is "Cheese Essentials" by Laura Werlin, who is a great writer and very active in the American Cheese Society. It is organized very well, and talks about groups of cheeses, as well as pairings and recipes. Great color photos too. It's the best book I've seen come out all year, and in paperback too - I got it on Amazon.

Cheese spreads....much as I love great cheeses, I am never above a good schmear of cold pack ched or garlicky boursin style cheeses. They are admittedly not too sophisticated, but deliver a good creamy burst of flavor - I love to dip veggies or pretzels in them.

[suzilightning]

sandy is right of all the ones i have had the Buttermilk Blue is one of the mildest.

give me Cowgirl Creamery, Point Reyes or especially Maytag any day, though.

good luck with your search for that blue.

[VPF]

Now, I am going to get off my butt and go to Pastoral cheese shop. I wasn't planning on it, nor do I need to (my stock is pretty full at the moment) - but you have motivated me to go there...I haven't been to that particular shop in a while.....over a month actually. I have been sticking to Marcy's Cheese counter in Sam's Wine Depot and WHole Foods as of recently....they are a bit closer in distance. But, Pastoral is well worth the 3 mile drive (in the city that can take 15 mins, driving!).

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Do you still live downtown? There is a Pastoral on Lake east of State (might be east of Wabash.)

[MarketStEl]

I think that the Roaring 40s might be a good blue to try as well.  Many many people who say they don't like blue cheese, find it to be delicious.  Altho, I must say that the Australian milk shortage has taken its toll and there has not been enough Roaring coming into the US during the holidays, so it may be hard to find.

Completely forgot about Roaring 40s, which is merely The. Best. Blue. Cheese. I. Have. Eaten. All. Year.

Cheese spreads....much as I love great cheeses, I am never above a good schmear of cold pack ched or garlicky boursin style cheeses.  They are admittedly not too sophisticated, but deliver a good creamy burst of flavor - I love to dip veggies or pretzels in them.

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DiBruno's ran a promo a little while back in which they recommended pairing Buffalo Wing Flavor Pretzel Crisps with their Gorgonzola cheese spread. It was a match made in heaven. I think this trick might be worth trying with actual Buffalo wings as well. (With celery sticks at hand, of course.)

[tamiam]

I think everyone's comments on cheese buying etiquette are spot on.  I also think that any serious cheesemonger will be more than happy to offer you tastes of things, Tamiam, so don't ever hesitate to ask.

That is great to hear. The best thing of all would be to go to one of Gariotin's awesome cheese parties.

I just purchased a new cheese book - new ones seem to be coming out every day - that I think is great.  It is "Cheese Essentials" by Laura Werlin, who is a great writer and very active in the American Cheese Society.  It is organized very well, and talks about groups of cheeses, as well as pairings and recipes.  Great color photos too.  It's the best book I've seen come out all year, and in paperback too - I got it on Amazon.

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Laura Werlin talked about her new book on The Splendid Table a few weeks ago. The way she communciates and teaches is really great.

And in the December 22 podcast, Steve Jenkins tells a wonderful and evocative story about the making of Roquefort. Its fascinating. I'd share, but he tells it better than I ever could.

[moreace01]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I found the Roaring 40's (I live in Chicago, so it's pretty easy to find cheese - local whole foods had it), but chickened out and grabbed the Maytag instead. We'll see how it goes!

[Moderator note: This topic continues in Cheese (2008– )]