I am confused by the listing on the menu - for example, the following appears:
Drunken Goat
marinated in red wine, mellow-LaMancha, Spain
Mauston, WI
My interpretation is that they are offering up an imitation of authentic “Drunken Goat” cheese that is made in Mauston. All of the cheeses appear to be Wisconsin or, in one or two cases, California made. Don’t get me wrong because there are many American made cheeses that I love but none of them are on the menu.
I lived in Wisconsin for 15 years and among the cheeses offered that I have personally tried the Belgioioso Creamy Gorgonzola and Roth Kase cheeses and the Carr aged cheddars suck big time.
The prices listed are also very expensive for what you are getting!
You have me thinking in terms of Wallace and Grommit and the Cheese Shop Skit from Monty Python. Now I am Confused and hungry for cheese. A nice Gouda would be perfect. Sounds like a fun and filling event. Enjoy.
I have a Raclette question I’ll toss out . I recently bought raclette cheese for the first time in my life. I had had proper raclette, as a teen and enjoyed it.
I don’t have a raclette iron (Heater thingy) so I used my fondue pot. Upon opening the package, I couldn’t help but noticing the distinct Funk coming from the cheese. Tasted a bit, and found it rather nasty. Now I’m torn, Can heating this stuff make it any more edible? I’m thinking not , but as I paid a moderate
price for a chunk, and I was hungry, I decided to at least give it a try. Melted the cheese, and lo-and-behold…it was edible. More or less what I remembered for taste. This was a French version of the cheese. and I gotta assume what I had before was Swiss ( as I was in Switzerland) . I’ll allow for differences in locale.
So, I guess the short version of the question is…Is it Suposed to taste like that?
Why did heating it help So much?
What Does Limburger taste like? I’ve always seen it, smelled it in the store,
seen it as the butt of Stinky jokes since i was a kid…
but I can’t bring myself to try it or know what to do with it.
Yes, but none of those cheeses ring a bell. We eat at least one hunk of good cheese per week. Our local wine shop has a couple cheese “stewards” and we try out one of their recs once a week or so. But, I don’t take notes on it (I don’t mean that sarcastically. I think it’s a reasonable thing to do to take notes on your cheese-eating, and it would probably help me remember what I’ve had).
Something you MIGHT be able to find in Wisconsin (although maybe there are regional quarrels) is cheese put together by a Michigan fancy-food store called Zingermans.
At the end of the last W&G movie, Wallace is knocked out. Grommit brings him back to his senses by putting a hunk of a cheese called Stinking Bishop under his nose.
When the movie came out I was listening to an interview on NPR with one of the guys who makes Stinking Bishop, and he was worried that there would be too great a demand on him. He said he only makes like 600 pounds per year or something (maybe he said 60 pounds. I can’t remember.)
Anyway, there was a short-lived cheese shop in Baltimore one year and I went in one day and asked them for their stinkiest cheese. I was having a party. The guy hooked me up with some Stinking Bishop. Yes, it stunk. Bad.
What was funny was that this little girl got some on her shirt, and it smelled so bad she started crying and she made her mom take her home.
If any of you ever see Stinking Bishop, try it. You might not get another chance. And, it was good.
Anyone want to recommend me an aged cheddar? I’m looking for something old, say 4-10 years, and preferably white (the yellow aged cheddars I’m able to get in my big box grocery stores here - aged 2 years only - I don’t really care for). Recommend me your favorites! Anyone try cave aged cheddars? Are they good?
The Evolution of Cheddar looks great. I think I’ve mentioned before on the boards that I think cheddar peaks at 7-8 years of age, it would be interesting to try that platter with a group and see if others agree when contrasted with the 10 year.
What bothers me is that I see that they have a wine list, but no beer available? Even a sommelier will tell you that cheese is a very tricky food to match with wine. Whereas many beers are a natural match.
Last weekend I supervised a 5 course dinner for about 70 people in which each course was matched with a beer and gave a presentation during the dinner explaining the history of beer, the brewing process, and matching beer with food. I would give an arm for the chance to match some of the world’s finest beers with some of the cheeses on that list.
Kohler is only about 20 minutes from me, I should contact them sometime.
Prices are what they are because the cheese is served in the “Immigrant Room” at Kohler’s American Club restaurant. It’s right up there with the big boys in terms of quality AND price.
And I’ve been favorably impressed with a number of the local cheese producers that they list on their menu. In fact, my aunt works at one of the cheese factories. So I’d see it as an opportunity to sample a nice bunch of other local ones.
And yes, I could probably closely duplicate the experience for about one tenth the cost by stopping at the Cheese Haus in Beaver Dam, but think of the lost ambiance!
Cool. I regularly cruise thru Boltonville and St. Michael on the way to work. If the roads are bad, that is. When the roads are good, I take a more direct, but more rural route. That way I avoid the traffic jams of Boltonville. That and the sheep.
I think the old gas station in Boltonville had more charm. A seedy charm, but charm nonetheless.
Don’t know if it’s available down there, but Baldersons from Ontario is good white cheddar - nice and sharp, and comes in 1, 2, 3, and 5 year agings. They also have recently come out with a white cheddar intended to be paired with white wine, and another for red wine.
Okay, this thread is making me hungry. My aunt and uncle took me to Tillamook on an Oregon visit a few years ago, and it has been my goal to get back there at some point for the cheese curds.
I’ve started to love trying different cheeses - I’m starting to get some ideas from this thread.
