Sorry for the horrible lapse in posts as of late. The SCT blog server took a dive for three weeks, and things had just been too damned hectic with the holidays and all of the end of the year stuff for work. I am, however, going to try to get back into the habit of posting the delightful delectables that grace our palates every week.
Today’s Stinky Cheese Tuesday, along with January 6th’s was provided by TeamWorks Media, the company that McCormick Theological Seminary has brought on to help redesign and rebuild the website. On their first visit here, they heard tales of Stinky Cheese Tuesday and just before Christmas we received a box full of lovely cheeses from them with a note stating that the next SCT was on them. They are truly, a wonderful bunch of people over there!
First off, the one cheese that I brought in today, Henning’s Fire Mango out of Kiel, Wisconsin. This is a quite spicy cheese with a very mellow cheddar flavor. Put head to head against Great Midwest’s Fire Mango, Henning’s would come in a distant second. It is really no contest. The flavor of the cheddar in Great Midwest’s is so much more developed and the mango sweetness is more noticeable. That said, Henning’s is still a good, hot cheese for those who like their spice.
Secondly we have Fiscalini Cheese’s Extra Mature Bandage Wrapped Cheddar from California. This is an amazingly well aged cheddar, with a sharpness that goes straight for the hinge of your jaw. It has that wonderful grittiness of tiny salt crystals that is the hallmark of cheddars aged for more than a year. One of the best cheddars I’ve ever had, hands down!
Saving the best for last, we have Beecher’s Smoked Flagship out of Seattle, Washington. I have praised the virtues of Beecher’s Flagship cheese here multiple times, so I won’t rehash that too much, but adding the smokiness to the equation elevates it from the divine to the I-Will-Push-You-Down-The-Stairs-For-This. It is just smoked enough to give it a faint aroma and a positively lovely flavor. I’m so deeply enamored with this cheese!
Stay cheesy!