Stinky Cheese Tuesday, May 27th, 2014

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It’s my first Stinky Cheese Tuesday after vacation and this one is a doozy.  While we were away a new store opened up about a mile down the road from our apartment.  They advertised a monumental cheese selection so I was quite keen on checking it out.  I got more than just a wee bit carried away but have enough cheese for next week, too.  Their selection is quite different from everything else in the area, but their prices will guarantee that I don’t go there more than three or four times a year unless I win the lottery.  Without further ado, the cheese!

In the back we have Mustard Mélange Gouda from Holland’s Family Farms in Wisconsin.  It is a cheese that is mild in every way, yet displays quite a complex set of flavors.  I couldn’t even begin to decipher what all of the spices are that have infused this particular cheese, and even though it gets top billing the mustard seed is quite a tame note.  I was, however, thoroughly disappointed that it did not give me the ability to fold space-time.

To the left is Cabot’s Hot Habenero Cheddar.  This is a three alarm fire, at least.  Easily one of the hottest cheeses that I’ve brought in, or tasted for that matter.  There is some flavor there as well, but it is mostly just plain heat.  Nothing wrong with that.  As an aside, I just learned that pronouncing habenero as habeñero is something that is typical of Americans and is a hyperforeignism.  There is no accent on the n and I have made another small step in reducing my appalling ignorance of other languages and cultures.

To the right is today’s winner, Little Dragon from Zingerman’s Creamery in Michigan. This is a very fresh, spreadable  goat cheese crusted with fresh tarragon.  It gets its name from tarragon’s older moniker, dragonwort, which is still present in its scientific designation, Artemisia dracunculus.  It tastes like a slightly goaty cream cheese at first, but the lovely sweetness of the tarragon is a quick follow up.  It would have gone really well spread on a baguette or toasted bagel, but was delicious all by itself as well.  A lot of people were also using it to tame the burn from the habenero cheese.  Because they are wimps.

I’m looking forward to next week!