# Help me confront the Mystery of Cheese **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467 "2006-10-22T18:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/21 "2006-10-23T13:02:50Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] 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. [/QUOTE] Just to clarify, many of the Sweet Grass products can be found at Harry’s. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/22 "2006-10-23T13:52:00Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] monterey jack [/QUOTE] Is this even cheese? The farmers market version may be different, but the only time I’ve encountered it I thought it was some sort of semi-digestible plastic 😕 For a genuinely eye-watering experience, get a block of well-aged Danish Blue, and another of genuine Roquefort. Place the two close together and the air between them will start to congeal. Roquefort is my favourite, although I’m also fond of Jarlsberg. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/23 "2006-10-23T14:49:43Z")
I’m coming around to the view that the cheese shop is almost as important as the cheese. A lot of cheese - particularly brie, washed rind and semi-hard blue - is sold either really under-ripe or close to rotten. Having a cheese shop that sells these cheeses when they are at their best is a big deal. Brie should pout after 30 minutes at room temperature. It should still be pouting an hour later. If it’s running away, it’s well past its best. Stilton should be creamy, not crumbly. Even the sharp version of Gorgonzola should have no hint of bitterness. IMHO, it’s the cheese shops that make French cheese great as much as the cheese itself. They bring the stuff to perfect condition. If you can find a cheese shop with a good relationship with a local cheesemaker, you’re likely to find really good cheese. Harder cheese are more forgiving. But the really good stuff is to be found outside wax, which cuts off the ageing process. Cloth-wrapped cheddar and wedges cut from whole wheels of Beaufort or Comte offer another level of goodness. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/24 "2006-10-23T17:48:58Z")
I dearly love a good, smelly Camembert. My favorite is Le Chatelain, sold in a tan-and-red circular cheesebox at Whole Foods. But here’s a tip: If the inner wrapping is a lighter, papery wrapping with the Le Chatelain trademark printed on it, it will have the full cabbage-y Camembert flavor. But if it’s a plastic-y wrapping and is plain and unprinted, it will be flavorless. I’m sure this has something to do with either the milk’s rawness (a shady legal area at the moment), or the fact that the plastic does not the cheese to age further once it is wrapped. So if you like your Camembert stinky, check to make sure this brand has the writing on the wrapper. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/25 "2006-10-23T18:50:09Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > Brie should pout after 30 minutes at room temperature. It should still be pouting an hour later. If it’s running away, it’s well past its best. In your culture (pun intended) maybe, but tell that to the people who eat it in the country where it’s made. I’ve never had a soft cheese in France (or indeed the Netherlands) that was anything less than a translucent, slightly viscous liquid. And it really tastes much fuller and stronger at that age too. > [@](#): > > close to rotten. No such thing! 😉 Anyway, if it’s sold too young, just keep it (at room temperature) until it’s ready - about a month or so should do. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/26 "2006-10-23T18:53:20Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] 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. [/QUOTE] Ask if they’ll give you a sample of any of the cheeses to try while you’re there. The worst they can say is “no”, and a lot of cheese shops will let you try samples. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467/27 "2006-10-23T20:21:21Z")
Try the Venezuelan beaver cheese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-confront-the-mystery-of-cheese/377467.md?page=1)