Help me confront the Mystery of Cheese

Cafe Society
1

I was at Harry’s Farmer’s Market the other day (think Whole Foods, you’ll be pretty close) and was astounded at the variety of cheeses they have on offer. They had a LOT of cheeses I had not only never eaten, but never heard of. And I thought, you know, if I won the lottery, I’d come back here and buy a chunk of every one of these strange cheeses and, well, eat them.

Then it occurred to me that if I bought two or three small sample wedges of different cheeses every week when I run by the Farmer’s Market, I’d eventually have tried them all, just as if I’d won the lottery, and also I wouldn’t be lugging around a gazillion pounds of cheese weight from gorging on Gorgonzola and whatnot.

So that’s what I’m trying over the last couple of weeks. I spend about $10-12 on cheese at the store every time I go in. Over the course of the week, I eat them. Generally I’ll have a chunk or so of each on the day I buy them. Today I’m having Sage Darby, a black wax aged cheddar (why the presence of the wax, or for that matter its color makes a difference, I have no idea) a cave-aged Emmenthaler (once again, why a cave would make a difference?) and a Leerdammer. (We bought a big wedge of Leerdammer because we all liked it.)

So any recommendations on cheeses I should be looking out for. I’ve already tried most domestic bries, cheddars, monterey jack, swiss cheeses, etc. Any significant differences between them and foreign cheeses? Do some cheeses travel well and some not.

I gotta tell you, I’m liking that Sage Darby. Good mold. Too bad it’s so pricey.
emmentaler

2

Ooh, I love the Sage Derby, too.

Some of my favorites are:

Port Salut: A semi-soft mild cheese that is perfect for eating plain or on crackers.

Red Dragon: A Welsh cheddar with ale and mustard seeds that is probably my favorite cheese.

Dorothea: It’s a goat cheese with potato skins.

Gorgonzola: You’ve already mentioned this, so you’re probably familiar.

There’s another blue I had fairly recently, but I can’t remember the name of it. Simliar to Gorgonzola, but a little lighter, a tiny bit fruity.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a Leerdammer.

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How you doing?

Would you like too?

::hides::

Rob, who happens to be a Leerdammer. Honest…

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Well, Leerdammer does have a certain nuttiness to it …

5

Try goat, sheep, and cow’s milk cheeses. Soft (like brie), semi-soft like emmanthaler (swiss), and hard (like parmesean reggiano). Also try out blue cheeses like Stilton, Maytag Blue, and Gorganzola. As a rule foreign cheese is better. Also, you get abetter idea of what a cheese ios supposed to taste like if you get it from the place that gave it its name; e.g., Cheddar from Cheddar England vs Tillamook Cheddar.

6

We do the same on our biweekly trips to Whole Foods, and coincidentally happen to be big fans of both Sage Darby and Red Dragon. Our son’s favorite cheese of all (he’s 8) is Arina Goat Gouda.

And please correct me if I’m wrong, but the green veins in the Sage Darby aren’t mold, they are sage.

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Paging Dr. Qadgop! Dr. Qadgop, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

I do the same sort of thing every time we’re in Bevmo. I’ll wander past the cheese cooler and just grab a small wedge of something that sounds good. Haven’t been disappointed yet.

The Ultimate Dessert is a good Stilton, so smelly that it sends the dog into hiding under the bed, and a good port. Add a handful of walnuts and you’ve got what the Gods have for a midnight snack…

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I would suggest you go out and pick up a copy of The Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins. He is quite opinionated, which made things much easier for me when learning about different cheeses. This guy was one of the first people to bring several different European varieties to the US.

Also, I’ve never been a big fan of Harry’s/Whole Foods cheese sections, since they typically don’t cut from larger pieces to order. There are some great cheesemongers in town (Star Provisions, for one), though I realize they may quite a drive from your home.

That being said, I highly recommend anything from Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville. One of the very best dairies in the Southeast.

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Look out for Pont L’Evecque. Tastiest cheese EVER. It looks like a brie, but it fucking stinks. Should be stored at room temperature until it’s runny, then spread on bread. You can also bake a whole one in its wooden box for about 45 minutes, then slash the top rind and use it as a mini-fondue (don’t forget to remove the wax paper first).

Also worth trying is Vacherin, which is my wife’s favourite cheese; super-creamy and very tangy.

I also tried Saint Marcellin in Lyon last week for the first time. IT had the texture of a soft rind cheese - ripened to the point of liquidity - but a very intense, tart flavour - almost like a goat’s cheese. Highly recommended.

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I’m always quick to reference this site. Not only do they carry almost everything cheesy, there are descriptions that you can carry to your local fromagerie to look for a taste.

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For US-made cheese I should also big up (again) Sugarbush Farm, Vermont, for their astonishing cheddar.

Cheddar is an English cheese, and I should be waving the flag here, but I admit we have to hand our crown to these guys; they’re simply amazing.

Their “Super Extra Sharp Cheddar” is aged for six years in wax, and is without a shadow of a doubt the best cheddar I’ve tasted in my life. This admission should be taken with the fact that I actually made a pilgrimage to the original village of Cheddar, Somerset, to buy some of their super vintage stuff.

Sugarbush do mail order, including sample packs. You will not be disappointed.

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:eek: Is european cheese always that expensive in the US? I looked up a few kinds that I like and the prices seemed very similar - then I noticed that it’s per pound and not per kilo.

One of my favourites is the Appenzeller. It’s very nice alone or on bread and also a perfect ingredient for a fondue.

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I used to eat Stilton years before, and I did like it. Your notion that foreign cheese is better is, of course, un-American, even if you are right. I would assume that most foreign cheeses are better because they have had more time to perfect their craft than US cheesemakers. Or maybe there are differences in manufacturing. Is there any kind of labelling to distinguish between cheeses that are still made using actual cow’s stomachs versus cheeses made with genetically produced rennet vs. cheeses made with rennet derived from vegetable materials?

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Well, one of the big appeals for me here is that it’s convenient – part of my normal weekly routine. I probably will not be driving long distances for cheese, but I’ll definitely get a Yahoo map for Star Provisions and also, if I head out Thomasville way for any reason, will definitely swing by Sweet Grass Dairy if the opportunity should present itself.

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[QUOTE=jjimm]
Look out for Pont L’Evecque. Tastiest cheese EVER. It looks like a brie, but it fucking stinks. Should be stored at room temperature until it’s runny, then spread on bread. You can also bake a whole one in its wooden box for about 45 minutes, then slash the top rind and use it as a mini-fondue (don’t forget to remove the wax paper first).

[quote]

That’s the way we like to eat brie, alternating it with slices spread with baked garlic.

It’s really weird you can get so many distinct flavors from cheese. I have read it’s the bacteria … I gotta wonder how they figured out which bacterial enhanced flavor and which ones made you sick to your stomach.

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There is good, artisanal cheese made in the uS, but as a rule cheese from large manufacturers is not that good. I love Vermont cheddar and will try the Sugarbush (another name for Sugar Maple, BTW) cheddar.

I know that rennet-less cheeses are labeled such. I’m not sure about the other distinctions. I eat veal and foie gras, so I’m obviously not that concerned with such niceties.

17

If you’re ever in Québec or at a shop that sells Québec cheeses, please buy some! They are fantastic, and according to my father-in-law (who I don’t really have much reason to doubt) there are so many good cheeses being made here that France and other countries have experienced massive dips in sales in this province. Most of the time I don’t even remember the names of what I pick up at the stores and shops around here but I have never been disappointed.

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OK, if I’m in Quebec I’ll check out the cheese.

I noticed Whole Foods has a selection of Amish cheeses. I generally like the Amish approach to food … anybody up on Amish cheeses?

19

Ahhhh… ‘outdoor cheese’.

Have you tried Vignotte? - it looks like a very small, thick Camenbert, and stinks. It’s very creamy, but packed with flavour.

20

Ooooh - something I know a bit about! (I used to be a food and industrial microbiologist. If you have the flu, I know nothing, but if your glucose syrup is exploding, I’m your gal!)

The flavours in cheese are a combination of the original milk flavour, plus the bacteria, yeasts and moulds which have fermented that milk, and the times and temperatures of the fermentation stages. Plus any additives, such as salt, sage, lavendar, whatever.

Cows milk cheese will taste different to goats or sheep milk cheese, given identical starter cultures, additives and incubation conditions.

For a given type of milk, using different bacterial and fungal innocula or incubation times and/or temperatures will give rise to different textures and tastes in the cheese which is produced.

There are also physical effects from the inital stages, such as cheddaring, which is cutting the curd (rennet precipitated mass) into small pieces and salting it, to remove the whey. Cheddaring is a very physical process. Cheesemakers do NOT look like Kate Moss.

Cheese making is also susceptable to contamination by unintended microorganisms - called adventitious contamination. Occasionally the effect is good. More often, not!

The reason for a cave is temperature stability, plus the microflora in the cave may form part of the innocula.

And if you have a nice salami, it will often have a white coating on the outside which can be rubbed off. Please don’t - it should be yeastie beasties or moulds working on the flavour. However, if it is a hairy looking mould, you should throw the food out.