Cheese (2005–2008)

[Abra]

It's a cow cheese, Pan, and is indeed super mild and creamy. It was cold when I cut it for the photo, as I was afraid I'd never be able to portion it after it warmed up, so it was really creamier than it looks here.

[gariotin]

Been on vacation and loved catching up on all the new beautiful cheese shots! Yum!

I went well-provisioned with some nice, middle of the road, crowd pleasers - Seal Bay Triple Cream from Australia, Grafton Stone House 6 yr ched, and aged Mahon. Also some sheep's feta and Roquefort for salad additions. A little something for everyone that did not disappoint.

Bard, your cheese plate at Artisinal was a nice mix of styles and milks. The tangy note you refer to in the Portuguese Serra d'Estrela can also be found in other soft cheeses from the region like Evora and the Spanish Torta del Casar and La Serena - they all are coagulated using natural rennet from a native thistle plant. It imparts a tart, herbaceous flavor to these otherwise rich and unctous cheeses - they are some of my favorites, but you are right - some people find them off putting.

No offense to the wonderful traditions of French, Italian, and British cheeses, but I think Spanish and Portuguese offerings are some of the most interesting right now. They run the gamut in flavors, but all the best have a wild, artisinal quality that comes through.

They are not too refined...more full of passion.

[Dave Hatfield]

No offense to the wonderful traditions of French, Italian, and British cheeses, but I think Spanish and Portuguese offerings are some of the most interesting right now. They run the gamut in flavors, but all the best have a wild, artisinal quality that comes through.

I agree. We'll be hiking in the Pyrenees for three days next week & hope to find some interesting cheeses on either side of the border. I'm hoping to take a trip to Galicia this winter & may find good stuff then.

Before that we're in England for a couple of weeks in October & I'm looking forward to eating the whole gamut of English cheeses. I'm told with no official backup that the UK now makes more varieties of cheese than France.

I find that hard to believe. Does anybody know for sure?

[gariotin]

Dave, I don't know for sure, but the Brits are in love with cheese with stuff in it at the moment. They have hundreds of different combo cheeses like Stilton w/Mango & Ginger

or Wensleydale w/Cranberry or Double Gloucester with Mexican Spices. It is mind-boggling! Any UK readers on this thread - who actually buys this stuff?? It must sell, b/c there is a ton of it. People do love it - over here Cotswold (Double Gloucester w/chive) probably outsells Stilton and English cheddar.

The "real" British cheeses are still products of distinction - Stilton, West Country Cheddar, Wensleydale, and the small production ones like Durras, Berkswell...fabulous!

One of the things I LOVE about food in general, and cheese is a great example, is how an area's cuisine is reflective of it's culture. Cheese is so like certain areas: British cheese is forthright, sturdy, simple on the surface yet complex underneath, hearty and no nonsense. French cheeses are distinctive, refined, sophisticated, sometimes a little mysterious, demanding your full attention. As just mentioned, Iberian cheeses are lusty, hugely flavored, wild and passionate.

OK, now I'll sit back and you can all throw smelly cheese at me for these glaring stereotypes, but I think they are true and one of the marvelous things about cheese and food and eating and culture and history.

[MarketStEl]

Dave, I don't know for sure, but the Brits are in love with cheese with stuff in it at the moment.  They have hundreds of different combo cheeses like Stilton w/Mango & Ginger

or Wensleydale w/Cranberry or Double Gloucester with Mexican Spices.  It is mind-boggling!  Any UK readers on this thread - who actually buys this stuff??  It must sell, b/c there is a ton of it.  People do love it - over here Cotswold (Double Gloucester w/chive) probably outsells Stilton and English cheddar.

The "real" British cheeses are still products of distinction - Stilton, West Country Cheddar, Wensleydale, and the small production ones like Durras, Berkswell...fabulous!

Cotswold! I thought it also had onion in it--I certainly recall it having an oniony note.

Agreed about the character and flavor of the best British cheeses, though "Wensleydale" sounds to me like the name of a shopping mall or suburban subdivision. What led the producers of that cheese to adopt Wallace & Grommit as spokescharacters, though?

One of the things I LOVE about food in general, and cheese is a great example, is how an area's cuisine is reflective of it's culture.  Cheese is so like certain areas:  British cheese is forthright, sturdy, simple on the surface yet complex underneath, hearty and no nonsense.  French cheeses are distinctive, refined, sophisticated, sometimes a little mysterious, demanding your full attention.  As just mentioned, Iberian cheeses are lusty, hugely flavored, wild and passionate.

OK, now I'll sit back and you can all throw smelly cheese at me for these glaring stereotypes, but I think they are true and one of the marvelous things about cheese and food and eating and culture and history.

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And American cheese...well, like so much else about America, it's a technological marvel and very convenient, but not terribly authentic. (It may or may not be interesting to note that the only two well-known cheeses indigenous to [what is now] the United States, Colby and Monterey Jack, are both very mild--mild to the point of blandness, some might say about Monterey Jack. Of course, there are now scores of American cheesemakers producing worthy cheeses of many types, but none represent new varieties--at least none that I am aware of.)

[Dave Hatfield]

I like your analogy. The philosopher of cheese no less.

We'll see who buys these combo cheeses when we're over.

We'll mainly be in Shropshire. Know any partiularly good cheese makers in the area?

[Simon_S]

The "real" British cheeses are still products of distinction - Stilton, West Country Cheddar, Wensleydale, and the small production ones like Durras

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Hate to jump in with such pedantry, but Durrus is an Irish cheese, not British.

As you were...

Si

[Ylee]

....

I'm told with no official backup that the UK now makes more varieties of cheese than France.

I find that hard to believe. Does anybody know for sure?

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Would the British Cheese Board and BBC News be considered official enough?

http://www.britishcheese.com/news.cfm?page_id=74

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4245534.stm

Or maybe they're just tooting their own horn

[Dave Hatfield]

Or maybe they're just tooting their own horn

given the British penchant for understatement who could doubt them.

Amazing though that the British themselves don't seem to know/ Then? who buys all of these varieties.?

My investigation starts in early October.

[Andrew Fenton]

Of course, there are now scores of American cheesemakers producing worthy cheeses of many types, but none represent new varieties--at least none that I am aware of.

Which in itself might point to a national characteristic (and by "characteristic", I mean "stereotype"); the American propensity for adopting, adapting and remaking other peoples' products.

Oh, in other news: according to British scientists,

mice don't actually like cheese.

[MarketStEl]

Or maybe they're just tooting their own horn

given the British penchant for understatement who could doubt them.

Amazing though that the British themselves don't seem to know/ Then? who buys all of these varieties.?

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Whole Foods Market customers, maybe?

I've noticed that WFM cheese departments usually have a decent selection of cheeses from the British Isles and especially Britain itself. I usually see more varieties of British cheese at WFM on South Street, for instance, than I do at Philadelphia's premier cheese emporia, DiBruno Bros. and Downtown Cheese in the Reading Terminal Market.

Included among these is a variety that is obviously aimed at small children called "Charlie Cheese." It's a combination of mild Lancashire and red Leicester shaped into a rectangular loaf. The red Leicester is injected into the Lancashire (the Lancashire is formed around the red Leicester?) so that each slice of this cheese contains a smiley face.

[LindsayAnn]

Or maybe they're just tooting their own horn

given the British penchant for understatement who could doubt them.

Amazing though that the British themselves don't seem to know/ Then? who buys all of these varieties.?

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Whole Foods Market customers, maybe?

I've noticed that WFM cheese departments usually have a decent selection of cheeses from the British Isles and especially Britain itself. I usually see more varieties of British cheese at WFM on South Street, for instance, than I do at Philadelphia's premier cheese emporia, DiBruno Bros. and Downtown Cheese in the Reading Terminal Market.

Included among these is a variety that is obviously aimed at small children called "Charlie Cheese." It's a combination of mild Lancashire and red Leicester shaped into a rectangular loaf. The red Leicester is injected into the Lancashire (the Lancashire is formed around the red Leicester?) so that each slice of this cheese contains a smiley face.

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I freguent whole foods (one of the 4 WF we have right in the city) quite often, and I know exactly what youre talking about (the smiley face cheese aimed at children, obviously). I do enjoy many of Whole Foods cheese selections (I got a massage today on North Ave, with a gift certificate I have had lying around, and I walked across the street after to the Whole Foods right there), I got a nice goat cheese...cut right off the rind for me right there - of course I sampled it first to make sure I liked it. The name escapes me, as I am actually watching my neighbors child for a few hours and am not at home...but its a creamy variety, firm yet soft and buttery in the mouth...has a deep, olivey flavour undertone (as noted on the cheese card at the market - and that olivey flavour reference was RIGHT on). Its great.

However, at the same time I seem to appreciate the variety a little bit more at other cheese shops in Chicago, many whom are soley devoted to cheese (and artisan (sp?) breads and the like. Shops such as Pascal (AMAZING), Fox and Obel, and Binny's and Sam's Wine depots have great cheese selections. The above cheese shops seem to have a little bit higher quality, larger variety, more rare (in the U.S at least), or less known about cheese's....which I appreciate because I love nothing more than trying a new cheese only to discover its a soon-to-be favorite!!!

In conclusion though, I have to admit I love whole foods for a variety of foods, and I too enjoy there cheese selection!!!

[davebrown]

Dave, I don't know for sure, but the Brits are in love with cheese with stuff in it at the moment.  They have hundreds of different combo cheeses like Stilton w/Mango & Ginger

or Wensleydale w/Cranberry or Double Gloucester with Mexican Spices.  It is mind-boggling!  Any UK readers on this thread - who actually buys this stuff??  It must sell, b/c there is a ton of it.  People do love it - over here Cotswold (Double Gloucester w/chive) probably outsells Stilton and English cheddar.

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You can get these cheeses in the UK but they are generally bought by people misguidedly trying to impress guests at dinner parties.

Most cheese bought in the UK by people who like cheese is farmhouse produced and has not been mucked around with: there is a thriving body of small producers.

You do though sometimes come across flavoured cheese that works: an example would be Teifi, which is a Gouda-like cheese made in Wales that comes in nettle, seaweed and cumin versions, all of which when tasted seem to have a point. And none of them resemble smiley faces.

[davebrown]

Agreed about the character and flavor of the best British cheeses, though "Wensleydale" sounds to me like the name of a shopping mall or suburban subdivision.  What led the producers of that cheese to adopt Wallace & Grommit as spokescharacters, though?

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It was the other way around!

W & G themselves chose Wensleydale as the obvious answer to the question: "More cheese Grommit?". Naturally this publicity did have a positive effect on sales of the cheese. In fact it was so significant that what Dairy Crest (a former UK national milk product sales board) announced that they were stopping production of the cheese in Hawes, North Yorkshire (in the dale or valley known as Wensleydale), local dairy farmers set up their own co-operative to make and market the cheese locally, with W & G's help. So Wensleydale cheese is still made in the dale itself. You can go and look around the creamery in Hawes and taste the cheese too.

The latest W & G film "The curse of the Wererabbit" also gave some publicity to Stinking Bishop, which is a superb rind-washed semi-soft cheese from Gloucestershire. I remember reading an interview with the bloke who makes it. The interviewer suggested that all this W & G world-wide publicity would be a perfect trigger for business expansion etc. The Stinking Bishop man pointed out that his was a cheese whose rind was washed with perry, and he only had so many pear trees to make his perry from, so expansion was out of the question.

Long may he do what he does well.

[davebrown]

IWe'll mainly be in Shropshire. Know any partiularly good cheese makers in the area?

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You could do worse than starting here. Some useful ilnks to follow as well. Also look west to Wales, and keep an eye out for smoked versions of local cheeses.

[gariotin]

Yep, Dave's story tells it all - when y visit Hawe's Dairy, the gift shop is full of W&G paraphanalia. I might add, that the area around the dairy is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I have ever seen - the hills and the dales. We apparently visited during one of the "3 sunny days in North Yorkshire" every year, but I was smitten. I think real, mature Wensleydale is a very underappreciated cheese and was happy to hear that they are applying for a PDO designation.

I agree with the comments on retailers - Whole Foods definitely does the best job in quality and selection for a national chain, and they are committed to supporting small, traditional cheesemakers. But your good small retailer, if you have one, can often get new cheeses in the case more quickly. And because they can hand-sell each item, they are more likely to take a chance on some wildly expensive fabulous new cheese that they have fallen in love with. I think there is definitely room for both. That being said, I generally drive the 5 miles to my local WF, rather than 20 miles to go to a smaller store.

[MarketStEl]

W & G themselves chose Wensleydale as the obvious answer to the question: "More cheese Grommit?".  Naturally this publicity did have a positive effect on sales of the cheese.  In fact it was so significant that what Dairy Crest (a former UK national milk product sales board) announced that they were stopping production of the cheese in Hawes, North Yorkshire (in the dale or valley known as Wensleydale), local dairy farmers set up their own co-operative to make and market the cheese locally, with W & G's help.  So Wensleydale cheese is still made in the dale itself.  You can go and look around the creamery in Hawes and taste the cheese too.

And where is the Wensleydale that gets exported made? Still in Wensleydale? Or somewhere else now?

The latest W & G film "The curse of the Wererabbit" also gave some publicity to Stinking Bishop, which is a superb rind-washed semi-soft cheese from Gloucestershire.  I remember reading an interview with the bloke who makes it.  The interviewer suggested that all this W & G world-wide publicity would be a perfect trigger for business expansion etc.  The Stinking Bishop man pointed out that his was a cheese whose rind was washed with perry, and he only had so many pear trees to make his perry from, so expansion was out of the question.

Long may he do what he does well.

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Which, I guess, means that we won't see no Stinking Bishop in the States. Great name for a cheese, though. I vaguely recall reading how it got its name, but indulge me and share the tale with the rest of us if you can.

I agree with the comments on retailers - Whole Foods definitely does the best job in quality and selection for a national chain, and they are committed to supporting small, traditional cheesemakers.  But your good small retailer, if you have one, can often get new cheeses in the case more quickly.  And because they can hand-sell each item, they are more likely to take a chance on some wildly expensive fabulous new cheese that they have fallen in love with.  I think there is definitely room for both.  That being said, I generally drive the 5 miles to my local WF, rather than 20 miles to go to a smaller store.

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I generally pass up Whole Foods' cheese counter in favor of DiBruno's, but as I noted before, it strikes me that WFM has a wider variety of English cheese than our homegrown cheesemongers.

However, DiBruno's makes up in quality what it lacks in variety: they carry many of the best English farmhouse Cheddars--more than WFM does.

[gariotin]

Yes, real Wensleydale is still made in North Yorkshire, in the old market town of Hawes. The area is right in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales Natl. Park, and as I previously babbled about its beauty, you'll just have to go some day to see for yourself.

They make a regular Wdale, mature one which I think is the best, (sharper and more aged), and a blued version which is interesting.

I defer to Davebrown about the Stinking B question - sounds like he has actually spoken w/the cheesemaker. I do know it is washed w/pear liquor (perry, as he calls it), which gives us a clue to the "Stinking" part.

It is still dribbling over - as he noted, the cheesemaker never fills orders 100%, but he sends what he has. It is a great and beautiful cheese, but not for the timid.

[gfron1]

I served some Roaring 40s at a recent party and it was a nice blue. Tonight at my monthly cheese party we're featuring blues - Pt. Reyes and Rogue Gold - Blue Oregon. If they're tasty I'll post pics.

[gfron1]

Another great cheese party....

Here is the Oregon Blue - the more popular of the two. Smooth, but strong blue bite.

and the Pt. Reyes Blue - sharp and bold.

and finally a really wonderful plum tart made from plums from our local trees...a nice treat.

[gariotin]

I'm a big fan of the Roaring 40s - it has a great story regarding the name. It is made on King Island, which is between mainland Australia and Tasmania, and supposedly has more cows than people. It is situated at the 40th parallel, and the ocean winds that come off the water are called the "Roaring Forties". The waxing makes it a rindless blue and helps it age in an interesting way.

And the Rogue cheeses are delicious - they have a smoked blue that is very interesting.

[Simon_S]

Didn't I read somewhere that "Stinking Bishop" is actually the name of the pear used to make the perry, and the cheese took its name from that?

Si

[davebrown]

Which, I guess, means that we won't see no Stinking Bishop in the States.  Great name for a cheese, though. I vaguely recall reading how it got its name, but indulge me and share the tale with the rest of us if you can.

There is more Stinking Bishop information here.

The name comes from the varity of pears used to make the perry that the rind is washed with. But the cheese does indeed stink: to the extent that you probably wouldn't want it in your fridge.

[gfron1]

Last night it was a game of bridge and Chaource. It was close to its expiration date, but still very good. It had a bit of a tang, but was soft and creamy and melted throughout the evening. It was in the "aged" stage - creamy, runny around the edges.

[Dave Hatfield]

Gfron1

Who's jealous now? Those pictures are wonderfull!

The cheese looks divine.

Think I'd even play bridge (which I dislike) to get a taste.