Friends, I have tasted heaven. And it’s called Leydon with Cumin. It’s hearty, flavorful and slightly smoky from the cumin seeds. I plan on pairing it with thinly sliced roast beef and whole wheat bread.
Any discussion of wonderful cheeses, new and old, are encouraged. Excuse me while I go make yummy noises in the kitchen.
Wallace? That you?
That sounds amazing. All I have here are some mozzarella string cheese sticks.
Don’t be knockin’ the string cheese. There’s a time for stilton with dried apricots, a time for brie, and there’s a time for string cheese. 
Don’t get me wrong, string cheese ain’t bad, but what I wouldn’t do for some sharp provolone or smoked gouda or pepper jack… and I’ve never even heard of leydon (a cheddar?), but it sounds awesome.
I love those cheese balls and/or logs with nuts all over them, especially the Port Wine ones.
And I am egerly anticipating the Hickory Farms kiosks opening in the malls so I can walk by numerous times to sample.
Inquiring minds want to know - Is it, or was it, wrapped in cloth and is it a young (firm) or aged (rock hard) version? There is also a pepper version of the cheese in addition to the cumin varity and a raw milk, unpasteurized version (which I’ve never seen). I have had the aged pepper version (also have never had the cumin version) and it was very good.
Der hey? Like, at the Brewer’s game with some MGD and a brat?
I wasn’t too hungry tonight but since I haven’t eaten much today I threw some smoked salmon on an onion roll with sliced red onion and tomatoes, topped with some very thinly sliced gouda with mustard seed. The gouda might have been a bit much for the salmon but I picked it up at the Whole Foods last week and have been slicing away at it ever since. I’ve also got a Pyranees with cracked pepper and a couple types of bleu cheeses along with the standards of smoked provolone, asigo, and parmigiano reggiano in the cheese bin. Curiously enough, I don’t seem to have any cheddar or Dubliner (Kerrygold’s extra sharp chedder) about, which is atypical.
I guess cheese is my chocolate.
Stranger
I’m no cheese expert, so take this with a grain of salt. It was wrapped in cloth & dipped in wax, and seemed to be a young cheese. As for the milk… I can’t say. My tastebuds scream COW! COW! COW! But I don’t know if it was raw or not.
Lou, it was so amazing it was almost orgasmic! 
Your gouda sounds yummy, even with the smoked salmon. I’ve had that Kerry Gold. It’s one of my new favorites. Especially with some Fuji apple slices or a Woodchuck cider.
Another new favorite is Sage Derby. ::drool:: It’s especially yummy on a turkey sammy with cucumber slices.
I think the next frontier is a gorgeous cranberry cheddar imported from England. Has anyone ever tried that? I’m quite curious.
My recent cheese kicks have been aged Gouda and Morbier. I’ve gone through several different varieties and ages of Gouda, and have decided that I most like the 5-year-old Gouda. The 3-year-olds still taste very young and very Gouda-ish. By 5-years, though, the cheese just changes character completely. I used to poo poo Gouda, but now that I’ve had it aged, I will champion it. An aged Gouda is complex, with fruity and nutty flavors. I taste port, whiskey, and raisins, in it. It’s absolutely fantastic. At 7 years, though, I feel the cheese is past its prime. It loses some of its sweeter and fruitier overtones and, while still good, becomes a drier, less flavorful cheese. At least in my opinion. It’s still damn good, but just not as well balanced as a 5-year Gouda.
And Morbier. Well, it’s just a standard, classic cheese. Pungent, but smooth, with a beautiful layer of ash in the middle. It’s a very pretty cheese.
I like Heini’s Amish Lacey Baby Swiss and their Caraway Cheese. Good stuff. Haven’t had it in years though.
About twenty years ago Heini’s had the world’s largest wheel of cheese in their shop. I shit you not, it was a wheel of cheese the size of a small room. Like 7 ft. high and about 14 feet around. They had it in the middle of their shop in a special climate controlled display room. I guess it cracked and started to go so rancid and was so horrible smelling that they had to scrap it. It was in Guinness…don’t know if anybody ever beat it.
::Homer Drool:: Oooh…Giant Cheese. ::Homer Drool::
Oh, and by the way. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried cheese fudge!
Your tastebuds are 100% correct. I also screwed up in saying pepper rather than caraway seed as the other variety of the cheese.
I’ve not had any cranberry cheddar but I have had Appleby Cheshire which is an outstanding farmhouse chesire. Look for examples wrapped in cloth as the factory made plastic wrapped drums or blocks should be avoided. Also look for any of the farmhouse English cheeses as they all have good taste and the more aged the better.
Mmm… I’ve been on a perinoco fix for the last few weeks. The local cheese monger had a beautiful wheel of buffalo perinoco. Aged so long there were tiny orange spots where the lactose had crystalised and hit you with an intense burst of cheesy goodness. I was eating that just with some great sourdough and some slices of apple. Fantastic.
The second perinoco was studded with black truffles and this intense truffle flavour infused the entire cheese. I made some fresh fettucine, ultra thin and just dipped it in boiling water, rolled it a few times in some brown butter and sprinkled with sea salt and copious amounts of thin shavings of the cheese. Utterly intense.
::shakes fist:: You taunt me with your sophisticated gourmet cheeses and meals!! ::shakes fist::
Um? perinoco or pecorino?
Champignon (German Brie) with Mushrooms. Yummy.
Caerphilly is a nice alternative to Cheddar when you’re in the mood for something different.
I’ve had cranberry stilton, which is deeeeelicious. Sweet, tart, crumbly, sharp, creamy . . . Mmmmmm. I used to eat it on crackers, but decided that the crackers were just getting in the way.