Hey everybody! Sorry about skipping last week, but while I did bring in cheese, I did not partake since I was in the midst of a week long experiment with Soylent during which I discovered that I have an iron deficiency. Science!

Also, this week’s is a day late since yesterday was spent running around and cursing due to a narrowly avoided Locky outbreak at work. Distinctly not happiness. But now, on to the cheese!

Starting on the left, we had Appenzeller Classic. This was a tremendously good cheese! It is almost like Switzerland’s answer to Provolone. It is a smooth, firm cheese with a slightly nutty flavor and a very sharp, acidic finish. This one was a crowd pleaser, to be sure. The only thing that I hated about it was the foil that it was covered in was very thin and did not peel easily off of the cheese. I must have spent ten minutes just ensuring that the foil was all gone before I chopped it up for the masses.

Next we had Stella Mediterranean Parmesan. This cheese smells and tastes just like pizza. Very good pizza. It is Stella’s Parmesan, which is really good as it is, but crusted with tomatoes, oregano, garlic, and a whole mess of other stuff before it is aged. I could have gone through the whole block by myself if nobody had been watching me.

Lastly, we had Beecher No Woman. This is one of my top three cheeses of all time, and I have written about it endlessly. The reason that I brought it yesterday, though, is bittersweet. My friend Ben, who has run the Refectory at McCormick/LSTC for the last four years, is leaving us at the end of the week. He has found a new, shinier job that is closer to home, and has a boatload of paid time off. That is wonderful, and I’m ever so happy for him! But I will miss him a great deal and wanted his last Stinky Cheese Tuesday to be special, and remind him of me when he thinks back on it.

Until next week, stay cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+

Hello everybody!  This week, quite simply, was delicious.  We had four wonderful cheeses, each quite distinctive but equally tasty.

Starting on the upper left, we had Red Apple Cheese Applewood Smoked Gruyere.  This is a favorite around these parts.  It is more of a mild Gruyere, with a texture that straddles the line between semi-soft and firm.  The smokiness is strong, but not overpowering, and provides a wonderful match to the cheese.  Good stuff.

On the lower left we had Ski Queen Gjetost.  Damn, I love this cheese!  Gjetost is made from the whey instead of the curds, unlike most cheeses.  They boil it to caramelize the lactose which makes it taste like cheese and fudge combined into one divine bite.  I think that I ate half of this all by myself.  And I’m not ashamed.

In the middle we had Kaltbach Emmentaler.  This is Swiss cheese, made by the Swiss, in the original manner, and my goodness is it delicious.  It has a much stronger flavor and aroma than Americanized Swiss cheese, being much closer to a strong Gruyere or Comté than the stuff that gets called Swiss cheese by virtue of having holes in it.  Very yummy stuff, indeed.

Lastly, on the right is McCall’s Shamrock Porter Cheese, a beer cheddar.  They mix the beer in with the curds before making the cheese, which is what leads to the marbling that you see.  It has a bit of the bitter flavor that you’d get from the beer, but it is mixed with the mild cheddar bite, making for a nice combination of the two tastes.

There really was no clear winner today, although I am personally enamored with the Gjetost.  It was simply a yummy, yummy day.

Stay cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+

Hey everybody!  All three cheeses today were herb infused bundles of decadence, but one of them was wretchedly fantastic.  Not quite "Push-Your-Mom-Down-The-Stairs" good, but maybe "Push-Somebody-Else’s-Mom-Down-The-Stairs" good.

On the left, we’ve got Sartori Rosemary and Olive Oil Asiago.  Sartori’s Asiago is already a stellar slice of deliciousness, but add some rosemary and a bit of olive oil and it transforms into pure delight.  If you can find it, get it.  You won’t be disappointed.

In the middle is Dofino Dill Havarti.  If you like dill, this is a must try.  If you don’t like dill, then you should still try it since the dill flavor is really not that strong, and it pairs so well with the creamy bite of the Havarti.  A great cheese, but the clear loser of the day.

On the right, with bursts of light and an angelic choir, is Belton Farm Sage Derby.  Holy Moly is this an incredible cheese!  Derby cheese is a close cousin of Cheddar, but it is chock full of sage.  On first contact with your tongue, the cheese flavor is sharp and clear, but as time goes on the sage quickly blossoms through the cheese and comes to the forefront.  This is one of my all time favorites, up there close to No Woman and Humboldt Fog, though certainly no displacing either of them.  I am so happy that I found this one again after a three year search!

Until next week, stay cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+

Hey everybody!  Really long, really busy, really good day at work, so this is just a quick run down, from left to right:

Arla Dofino Muenster (good), Sartori BellaVitano Gold (ridiculously good), and Wyngaard Mustard Dill Affiné (uniquely delicious).

Until next week, stay cheesy!

@Cheese Forum+

Sorry about missing last week! I was at the dentist for routine maintenance. I think that I more than made up for it this week, ’cause it was amazing.

Starting with the wedge on the left we have Stella Aged Asiago. The only thing that I wish that I’d had was some honey to go along with it. It has all the nuttiness of Asiago, coupled with the saltiness that aging brings out. It was like the best of Asiago smashed together with the best of Parmigiano. Absolutely supurb.

The block on the left is Les 3 Comtois Comté. Good grief was that an incredible cheese! It was not as strong smelling as Liberté’s Compté, but still had a very strong flavor that is almost like Emmental². Super nutty, with a slightly grainy texture, this cheese knocked my socks off.

The last cheese that looks like a layer cake is Clawson’s Huntsman. It is two layers of Blue Stilton sandwiched between layers of Double Gloucester, and the two go hand in hand. Clawson’s Blue Stilton is one of the strongest blues that I’ve ever had, so you get a really sharp, blue funk coupled with the creamy, buttery, mild cheddar flavor from the Double Gloucester and it adds up to a symphony of delight for your taste buds. This one was by far the best of the day, and that is really saying something given the quality of the other two cheeses.

Until next week, stay cheesy!

Sorry for the brevity, but today was exceptionally busy.

We had Cabot’s Tomato Basil Cheddar, Beehive’s Seahive Sea Salt and Honey Cheddar, Wyngaard’s Black Pepper Affiné, and Marcoot Jersey’s Creamy Havarti.  All of them were exceptional, but the Black Pepper Affiné and the Sea Salt and Honey Cheddar really stood out!

Stay cheesy!

Oh, and as an update, next week will be curated by Pastor Barb due to my having a dentist appointment.  I’ve already dubbed next week Stinky Teeth Tuesday.

I went a little crazy this week.  Well, a little crazier, I suppose would be the proper term.  Not just cheese, but crackers, mini-toast, and even fancy salami!  It was worth it.

Starting off with the soft ripened cheese on the left, we have Port Salut.  Far and away the favorite of the day, this rich, buttery, tangy cheese was absolutely delightful when spread on toast or crackers and paired well with the salami.  A whole mess of people came back for seconds or thirds on that one.  It was a good thing that we had both crackers and toast!

To the right of the salami and toast we have Van Kaas Mediterranean Gouda.  It is a standard (yummy) gouda with tomatoes, olives, garlic, and a few other herbs thrown in, leaning heavily on the garlic and tomato for its flavor.  Guaranteed to keep away vampires, your enjoyment of this cheese will really depend on how much you like garlic.  I happened to love it.

Lastly, we have Manchego, a firm sheep milk cheese from Spain.  It has a very mild, salty flavor, with a smooth texture.  This one also went quite well with the salami, and there are a couple of people here who claim it as their all time favorite.  While I don’t go that far, it is a lovely cheese, and I look forward to chopping it up and having a couple of cubes every time I bring it in.

Stay cheesy!

Thanks to Sam’s generous donation last week, I did not have to choose between gasoline and cheese, so we had quite the spread for SCT this week!

Starting on the left, we have Président Brie in log form.  This is a wonderful way to present the cheese since every slice gets the full range of flavors and you don’t have to worry about someone coming and taking the tip of the wedge.  As for the flavor, Président makes a very nice brie, with a small amount of tanginess and a very smooth texture.

Next up is Sartori Sarvecchio Parmesan.  Since it is made here in the USA, they can’t call it parmigiano, hence the parmesan moniker.  That said, it is every bit as salty, nutty, and slightly sweet as the real deal.  This is an awesome cheese.

After that we have Saint Angel, a triple creme brie from France.  This was the winner today.  Good grief!  It is so buttery, and it just melts away in your mouth….  Simply an incredible, delightful cheese.

Lastly we have Castello’s Saga, a blue brie that is the best of two delicious worlds mashed up into one, single party in your mouth.  The blue is definitely there, but the funk is not overpowering.  The brie is a tad “footy”, but again, not overpoweringly so.  Combined with the smooth creaminess that the brie imparts, this is one of my favorites.

Thanks again to Sam, and stay cheesy!

We had decadent grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night.  We used a blend of Marco Polo, Skellig, and Fontina.  We even threw bacon crumbles into a couple of them, but this is one of the few cases that I think that bacon actually detracted from the meal.  A light drizzle of honey on the inside of the bread really makes a grilled cheese something special!  If you haven’t tried it, it is my biggest recommendation for really adding some zing to a pedestrian sandwich.

Well, we are still trying to deal with the fallout from the last couple of weeks, so this was another adventure in cost effective cheese procurement.  Unfortunately, it was also an exercise in basic literacy that I failed.

Starting off this week’s selection is Heini’s Lacey Baby Swiss, not only the best of the three, but also the only one with a website.  Being a baby swiss, it is not aged so it has a much softer texture than typical swiss, the bubbles are almost non-existent, and the flavor is much more buttery than nutty.  It is almost like a swiss cheese for people that don’t like swiss cheese.

Next up was May Bud’s Edam.  What can I say?  It is a passable Edam cheese.  I had fun taking off the wax.  Not entirely memorable.

Last, and most certainly least, we had Williams’ Hot Pepper Pasteurized Processed Cheese Food.  My failure to read the fine print on the label proved to be a quite a blunder.  It had the texture of Velveeta, and the flavor of Cheez-Wiz with a couple of jalapeños thrown in.  Not my finest find by a long shot.

Once again, my patron Sam has come to the rescue, and next week’s SCT should be a return to form, and not the completion of a trilogy of quantity over quality.

Stay cheesy, and thanks, Sam!!