It is with great sadness that I post the first objectively crappy cheese in the history of Stinky Cheese Tuesday.  While the other two cheeses make up for it, it was still embarrassing to put out a total turd.

We’ll start off with the abomination.  Hoffman’s Super-Sharp Cheddar was located in the specialty cheese section and had a specialty cheese price on it.  "Super-Sharp?  Cheddar?  Who could go wrong with this?"  Alas, it has the taste and texture of a slightly fancy Velveeta.  It is neither sharp, nor cheddar.  Although it shared space with actual cheeses, it is actually a processed cheese food product.  While I am certainly not above partaking of such things and even bringing them in for others, this was still just plain wrong.  If I bring in Easy Cheese, Velveeta or Cheez-Wiz, I will own that transgression.  I will be up front with the fact that we are taking a little trip to the down and dirty side of Cheeseville.  However, when something sells itself as being an item of refinement but turns out to have more in common with the flavored salt packets in boxed macaroni and cheese than anything else, I feel a bit betrayed.  Hoffman’s Cheese is on my list.

So on to much more pleasant fare!  BelGioioso Sharp Provolone is both sharp and provolone!  Yippee!  It has a great, slightly grainy texture and that sharp tang that is indicative of a good provolone hits you right behind the jaw.  BelGioioso makes quite a diverse range of cheeses, and I’ve been fairly impressed with all of them that I’ve tried.  I’ll be bringing another one next week!

This week’s winner, hands down, was the Port Salut.  It is a very soft cheese, almost but not quite spreadable.  It looks and feels like a rind-less brie which made me very apprehensive about trying it.  Surprisingly, it has a very creamy and slightly acidic flavor to it with none of the characteristic "footiness".  In this respect it was almost like a camembert.  This cheese I just put out as a whole block with plastic spoons that people could use to take a chunk since cutting it would have been an exercise in futility.  It was a mighty fine selection, and I’m glad that I wasn’t scared off by its form.

Next week is going to be Spreadable Cheese Tuesday, so we’ll see what I can come up with for that!  Until then, stay cheesy!