My gruyere was great. Not sweet at all, just not salty or tart. Quite yellow and hard with no holes as far as I could see. Rich and milky at first with a lingering nutty aftertaste of more complex and dirty flavours. Yum. Went well with a glass of medium-bodied dry red (Mount Langhi Ghiran “Billi Billi” Shiraz Grenache Cab. Sauv.)
I’ll be in non cheese-eating countries for the next fortnight, so if people would like to keep picking a cheese and comparing notes, you’re on your own.
[sub]Feel free to pick something I don’t like or something that’s the subject of a protracted customs dispute here in Australia, like Roquefort.[/sub]
Nevermind your fancy, hi-falutin’ furrin, imported cheeses. Any Cheesehead from Wisconsin (who, me?) would say fresh Curds are the best thing since Beer.
Gruyere is a cheese that I’ve been so so on previously. However, selected a good one, let it settle and it was a pleasant surprise. Decided the full bodied reds I have would only get in a death struggle for supremacy, so partook mine with a Marsanne (FWIW Chateau Tahbilk '96). Complimented each other beautifully.
Ambit claims for future consideration … Boursin and Haloumi
Anybody heard of “Mizithra” cheese? I have seen different spellings, like Myzithra, Mizythra.
Hard to find, but I once had it (shredded) on simple pasta in an Italian L.A. restaurant, and it was heavenly. Haven’t found it anywhere in Wisconsin, tho.
Well, I didn’t get any gruyere this weekend. My neighborhood store didn’t have any, and I was too busy to range further afield. I’m planning on stopping by Trader Joes today to get some.
However, I was really in the mood for some new cheese on Friday, so I decided to get another kind I had never tried. I selected Dubliner, a hardish white Irish cheese. Well…I think it was the first time I met a cheese I just didn’t like. It had a kind of vaguely unpleasant, sour flavor, a bland texture, and just a general lack of positive cheesy characteristics.
So now I have several ounces of the stuff sitting in my fridge. Do any of you SDMBCC members have any advice? Maybe this cheese is not meant to be eaten with crackers? Should I cook with it? Or did I just get a bad batch?