Was driving home from a visit to Memphis and needed gas and lunch, and found Grandpa’s Cheese Barn and decided to stop. I mean, who can resist something like that.
Pricey, but I gave it a taste there - had that wonderful scattered crystal of tyrosine accenting the cheese that I absolutely love. Bought a pound and a smidge [couldn’t see making the nice lady cut off a thin chunk just to make it an even pound] Got home and treated myself to paper thin slices layered onto wedges of Granny Smith apple.
Calcium lactate. That’s the Cheddar cheese crystal, tyrosine’s more characteristic of Romano or aged Gruyere or that ilk. You get both kinds in a nice Parm.
Sorry to hear that. I’m about an hour drive from Mars Cheese Castle. Though some of those cheeses can be pricey I must say they have plenty of creamy yet crunchy cheddar available. The 10 year Sharp Cheddar is amazing.
We get Tillamook cheddar here, says “aged over 15 months”. The stuff in the black wrapper - I think it’s Special Reserve Extra Sharp - definitely has crystals in it. I’ve had a couple of people who weren’t used to the crystals caught out by finding them in there.
So nothing close to 10 years (!), but it’s got the crystals.
I really like the Australian Old Croc cheddar, but I don’t find it around any more.
Nice. I took a plunge on my last trip to Wisconsin and bought a chunk of 15yo cheddar. I think it was about a half pound and ran about $23. That was some good stuff.
Also just north of the border in Kenosha is Tenuta’s deli. In addition to a great muffaletta, they have a good variety of cheese. It’s been a while but I think they had an 18 year cheddar. I couldn’t justify the price of that but did get a chunk of a nice 12year.
Not this trip, but I have hit there before and probably will on another trip I was in a bit of a hurry, I got tanked in Nashville by my SUV’s alternator kissing off. I don’t mind visiting a city when it is planned but getting stuck in a hotel with nothing much to do isn’t particularly fun. I had more fun in Memphis comparing BBQ =) [the commissary won IMHO]
Funny, I tried some of that. I think they might have been sampling it during one of my visits. I’m ashamed to say that it kicked my ass. I thought I liked strong cheese but that was just too much funk.
A friend once got some very aged white Cheddar from Trader Joe’s - supposedly 7 years old. It had those flavory crystals in it. Fantastic.
I went there a week or so later to try to find it again and they didn’t have any.
I’ve since bought 5+ year cheddar from Wegman’s, and it has crystals, but they’re just odd crunchy bits that just mess up the texture, no burst of flavor. Not nearly as good.
The stuff from Trader Joe’s also tasted just a bit like Parmesan (though it wasn’t). So are those crystals more likely to have been tyrosine than calcium lactate?
I assume it’s just a traditional beaker shape in Chinese glassmaking tradition. But I have to admit, it makes me wonder whether the Chinese aren’t getting freaky with their cheese crystals.
Shopping the other day at the “cheese” section I spied some Kraft aged cheddar. I looked at the package. Reading aloud I said “18 months? This shit is barely legal!”
Mmm. Cheddar. I just bought a sampling of goat’s milk cheddar while at Eataly with a friend tonight. Haven’t tried it yet. Not sure how old it is, either. I’m too full from dinner/drinks/dessert to try it now but will report back if anyone’s interested.
I was in a bit of a hurry, I got tanked in Nashville by my SUV’s alternator kissing off. I don’t mind visiting a city when it is planned but getting stuck in a hotel with nothing much to do isn’t particularly fun. I had more fun in Memphis comparing BBQ =) [the