Some good ideas for new cheeses to try, thanks!
I bet that goes good with a Bishop’s Finger ale 
Reblochon is my favorite soft-ripening cheese. I also like taleggio.
People have already mentioned gouda. There are many gouda-like cheeses - one of my favorites is Ewephoria, which is made from sheep’s milk.
Cave-aged emmental is really good, but hard to find (at least for me).
If you haven’t tried already, have a go at Tartiflette, the quintessential Reblochon dish.
[Julie Andrews] When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling bad
I simply remember
My favorite cheeses
And then things don’t feeeeeeeel
Soooo…baaaaaaad!
[/Julie Andrews]
Parrano - the Dutch cheese that thinks it’s Italian.
Thanks! I’ll keep an eye out for it when I’m at the usual places I go for cheese. Hopefully, someone has it out here. I’m always happy to try new blues!
I adore cheeses, but, like classical composers, I have a hard time remembering the exact names. This winter we bought an embarrassing amount from igourmet, and I really meant to review them all, but…
Soft: One of my favorites is really hard to find. It’s a Balkan feta that spreads like cream cheese. No brand name, so I’ve been fooled by various “Bulgarian feta.” Seriously, though, the real thing is the bomb. It is not crumbly at all, and not as salty as your typical Greek feta–it’s more like chevre without the barnyard flavor. I’ve faked it before by mixing plain full-fat yogurt with salt and lemon juice, then straining it in cheesecloth overnight. Delicious.
I’m also very fond of double and triple cremes. Here are two I managed to review this winter:
"Robiola Bosina-- Cow/Sheeps milk blend from Italy. Was very ripe and soft, ate it warm (4 hrs out of fridge) Immediate hit of chemical/ammonia, but not overpowering. Possibly overripe; the paste was extremely runny and buttery. A bit sweet, too. The rind was the perfect texture; thin and yielding, not rubbery like some Bries. Might try this again with roast duck or the like.
Explorateur: Extremely rich and creamy, buttery, cold but melting…a confusing blend between pure cream and cheese….somehow addictive. Tried pairing it with polish cherry jam, which overwhelm it. Needs to be solo with good bread."
I’ve since purchased Explorateur and St Andre several times since. I also enjoy Port Salut as a cheap snacking cheese that has some of the flavors of the above, but not as decadent. Pont l’Eveque and Tomme de Savoie, same. I will try any runny cheese, but I prefer the rind to not coat my fingers with funk for two days. Somewhere on SDMB I believe I have a story of a particularly ripe cheese that my tipsy hubby was eating, and must have touched every surface of the dining room. I seriously thought we had a dead mouse in the fireplace!
Blue cheeses: For some reason I don’t like these as much as I used to. Many of them burn my tongue now, so I must use sparingly. But my favorites (again) are the softer ones. Cambonzola is very good, but my Holy Grail are the old French cheeses that are Brie-like with greenish veins…the white paste is semi-soft, but the veins themselves are runny. Forme d’Ambert and Bleu d’Auvergne fit the bill, but I’ve only rarely found them at the perfect degree of ripeness. Am so tempted to buy a wheel one of these days!
Harder cheeses: Have recently tried and liked a really old Gouda. I didn’t care for it at first, but after letting it sit out all day, it grew on me. Not sure what to pair it with, though…will have to try again. Of course, I like aged cheddars, but there are so many I don’t remember which are the best. I believe some recent goodies with a brand name were Barber’s Reserve and Grafton. Another good cheddar-like that I can actually get at the supermarket is Montamore.
I’m also extremely fond of those English cheeses that look like a torte cake. They’re tasty and lots of fun on a cheese plate while entertaining. Like this, but I bought a half-wheel of Saxonshire (?) once that had 5 different Gloucester/Cheddar type cheeses.
My guiltiest pleasure, though, is Cotswold, with all the oniony bits in it.
For some reason, I am not fond of the stereotypical “Swiss” type cheeses. They’re just…bland, and there’s this bitter almond undertaste that I don’t care for. Maybe if I found a saltier one. But I’m reluctant to try new ones because I’ve had too many lackluster varieties. Same with many Spanish cheeses. I haven’t explored Italian cheeses too much yet, other than the typical supermarket offerings.
Chefguy, is that an “official” cheese? If I go to, for example, The London International Cheese-off ;)
will a judge come down the aisle and holler “Oregonzola”? That would be GREAT! Fab name.
If you ever are in London Burpo, we shall both sally forth to Paxton & Whitfield*:
Where we’ll make utterly cheesy messes of ourselves.
–
- Guaranteed bouzouki-player free.
It’s a date! :eek: Pip, pip, cheerio!
My personal favorite is Cougar Gold, made by the WSU Creamery. Perfect for nibbling while watching a British movie.
- It was 30 years old.
Excellent cheeses are mentioned here, I won’t belabor those points by adding my opinions about those that are already thoroughly discussed below.
I will just say that I do adore a nice Norwegian cheese like gjetost (sweet, creamy, and sort of burning). And you’re right, really aged gouda is a delight. As is smoked marisa cheese, a sheep product.
I endorse this thread! 
You forgot “evil.”
I just can’t get behind gjetost!
Hard to find here in the US but in France… a ripe, soft, highly pungent Camembert. Divine!
I adore an aged Brick cheese, it’s flavor is like a young limburger mixed with an old cheddar.
Cambozola, Sylvan Star Old Grizzly Gouda, Goat’s milk Brie and Camembert (which puts the goo in gooey!), and my absolute favourite, Bellavitano Gold accompanied by a nice Rose wine and charcuterie platter.
And Collier’s Welsh Cheddar.
My local grocer carried Peppermint Bellavitano for a little while. It was great. The peppermint really added a whole new dimension. When they hadn’t had any in for a couple of months I asked about it and they said it didn’t sell well. I told them I was buying a wedge every week. And the manager joked that I might have been the only one buying it because they ordered a tiny batch just to test it out.
http://www.sartoricheese.com/our-cheese/limited-edition-cheese/peppermint-bellavitano.html
I came in to say how much I like gjetost, but the cheese I had was firm, easily sliced into very thin pieces. It was sweet and looke like caramel.
Aw, I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to ever get my hands on 20 year old cheddar, so I was planning to buy some good young cheddar, store it in a cool dry place, and wait for my 70th birthday. I don’t think I can hold out till my 80th…
I do see some 12 year old cheddar for sale online- think I will pick me up some of that!
As for the 1000 day old Gouda, I bought a 3rd wedge yesterday and looked forward to trying it last night. It was OK, but it didn’t seem as amazingly good as the second wedge. I thought maybe it was me, but I still had a very small amount of the second wedge, so I tried it, and it was much tastier- just as good as I remembered. So there’s plenty of variability, just like aged wine. I ended up gnawing on the rind of the second wedge like an animal :rolleyes:
Breaking news! Had the local news channel on in the background and coincidentally right after I made the last post…