Stinky Cheese Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

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Once again, Stinky Cheese Tuesday is upon us, and this particular SCT was amazing. Four absolutely wondrous cheese of the highest quality.

First off, I got my hands on some AOC Emmentaler Switzerland. This is actual, honest-to-goodness Swiss cheese. For my American readers, the AOC designation applies to European cultural products like cheese and wine. It is the reason that Parmigiano Reggiano is always produced in northern Italy, but is called Parmesan if it is produced elsewhere. AOC Emmentaler Switzerland is actually produced in the Emmental region of Switzerland and is the original Swiss cheese that all others are descended from. That pretty much sums it up. It is the Ur-Swiss that all others strive to be like.

Next is Wyngaard Mustard Dill Affiné. This is the third time that I’ve brought this particular cheese in to SCT. As an Affiné, it has a slightly sweet, very nutty flavor, but the mustard seeds, mustard and dill that encrusts it really ramps up the complexity of the flavor. The first two times that I brought it in my reaction was that there was a whole lot going on with it, but it didn’t make any sense. As such, I didn’t much care for it since its statement was too garbled for me. Most everyone else here really liked it though, so it has remained in the rotation. This time, however, I think that I finally was able to comprehend the differing flavors as a complete whole and found it to be quite an enjoyable cheese after all.

After that is the Sartori Rosemary and Olive Oil Asiago. This cheese is simply beautiful. The rosemary, which could quite easily overpower the flavor of both the cheese and the olive oil, instead provides a slight floral note to an otherwise sharp and nutty asiago. All of my previous statements about Sartori Cheeses still stand.

And lastly we have the crowd favorite, Clawson’s Cotswold. Cotswold is a double gloucester cheese with onions and chives, and it is such a unique taste among cheeses. You would figure that the onions and chives would be the star of the show, but the double gloucester is so perfectly suited to blending with those two flavors that it transcends the limits of its three parts and becomes a glorious, cohesive whole. It is certainly not a shy or subtle flavor, but it is delightfully fresh and light despite being so powerful. Clawson is typically known for their outstanding Stilton cheeses, but their Cotswold shows that they are not a one trick pony by any stretch.

All in all, this was in stark contrast to last week’s simple flavors and simple cheeses — an awesome contrast that was every bit as enjoyable as its counterpart.

Stay Cheesy!

Stinky Cheese Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

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This week I did not bring in any complex cheeses, cheeses with ulterior motives, or even any aromatic cheeses.  There are, however, four strong, delicious cheeses that everyone agreed was one of the best showings in a long while for SCT.

I suppose we’ll start with today’s favorite, albeit by a slim margin.  The Sartori BellaVitano is always a crowd pleaser.  It has a light flavor that is creamy, buttery and salty with a smooth texture and an aroma that is both nutty and floral.  I know that I’ve said it before, but everything that Sartori makes is splendid and you would be doing yourself a favor if you happen to find any one of their offerings.

First runner up is Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Cheddar.  My only issue with this cheese is that it calls itself Seriously Sharp, yet I did not feel it in the hinge of my jaw.  It is a damn fine cheddar.  One of the best that I’ve ever had, in fact.  But it does not aspire to Ginsu Knife level sharpness.

Tied with the cheddar is Parrano Originale.  This is a semi-hard Italian cheese that is almost like a hard, aged swiss.  Very nutty, and salty enough to have little crystals in it, this cheese is just amazing.  The rind is well developed giving it two distinct personalities depending on whether you take a chunk from the middle which is softer and milder, or one of the edge pieces for the full effect.

Lastly is the Landana Chili Pepper Gouda.  Landana makes some wonderful gouda and the base of this cheese is no different.  I had anticipated a spicy hot cheese, but the chili peppers provide a ton of flavor, but very little heat.  Scrumdiddlyumptious, but didn’t scratch the Flaming Food Itch.

Until next week, stay cheesy!

Stinky Cheese Tuesday, July 1st, 2014

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Stinky Cheese Tuesday is once again upon us, and this is a particularly stinky one indeed.  More like Rank Ass Cheese Tuesday.  Mighty tasty, but everyone in the surrounding cubicals is plotting their revenge.

Starting with the tamest, we’ve got a Singleton Dairy Double Gloucester.  Mild and creamy, soft and savory, this is a great all around cheese, especially for those who’s palates may not be as adventurous as others.  Interestingly enough, Single Gloucester cheese is a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) while the Double Gloucester is not.  Since the Double variety was more popular and produced in a larger area it did not qualify for the protection status.

Next is the slightly stinky BelGioioso Kasseri.  It is a Bulgarian cheese that is made from sheep’s milk, and has a flavor that is almost like an aged provolone mixed with a moist parmesan.  This one was a keeper, and the favorite of about half of the tasters.

Batting third is the Esprit de Liberté Comté.  This one has a mighty smell to it, reminiscent of a dank basement some weeks after a flood.  The taste, on the other hand, is exquisite.  It is almost like a sweet gruyere with an intensely nutty flavor that would have been elevated to perfection if eaten with a pear.

The stinkiest of the bunch was the Clawson Blue Stilton.  This is, without a doubt, the bluest cheese that I have ever brought in.  It is pungent enough for two cheeses, and strong enough to carry an ox up a mountain.  It is absolute heaven for anyone that has a love affair with blue cheeses.  This one was the winner for the day.  Unless you were too timid to try it.

Until next week, stay cheesy!

I Am The Luckiest Man On Earth

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I know that I married that most wonderful woman on the planet.  I know how lucky I am, and I am grateful every day for having Kristi as such a huge part of my life.  And then she has to go and do something that absolutely blows my socks off and reminds me that I will never fathom the depths of her awesomeness.

She had a set of crackers and cheese delivered to me at work and now I know how it must feel to be a woman getting flowers as a surprise!  All four cheeses are from Beecher and one of them, the Hollow Dulcet, is impossible to find out here, and it is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to try it.  Damn is it yummy!  It is like a cross between butter and cheddar with a bit of swiss thrown in for good measure.  I haven’t had a chance to bust open the crackers yet, but I’ll let you all know how they are in due course.

We’ve been best friends for 12 years and been together for eight and she amazes me on a daily basis, but today was really special.

Spreadable Cheese Tuesday, June 24th, 2014

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So today was the first themed Stinky Cheese Tuesday that we’ve thrown so far and we figured that doing spreadable cheeses was the way to go.

Président Rondelé Garden Vegetable was simply yumminess on a cracker.  It is a spreadable made with cream, milk, and cheddar.  It is then whipped together with carrots, chives, and bell peppers.  It is a bit on the sweet side, but it did not last the day.

Boursin Garlic and Herb was the fan favorite today.  It is a whipped Boursin cheese with garlic, onions and carob beans.  Quite savory, but not enough garlic that you’ll wilt flowers at fifty paces.

Alouette Crème de Brie rounded out our selection today.  It is basically the center portion of a brie without the rind.  It was a lot like a camembert in flavor due to the lack of a rind, very buttery and sweet.  For being a brie, I actually quite enjoyed it and actually went back for seconds.

My apologies for the craptastic photo today.  I was in such a rush that I just grabbed a frame with the cell.  I guess you could say that I "phoned it in".  And now I feel dirty after that horrible pun.

Until next week!

Stinky Cheese Tuesday, June 17th, 2014

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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!

A Sudden Outbreak Of Common Sense

The FDA has backed away from their ban on wood aged cheeses!  Unfortunately, they are stating that they never issued such a rule clarification although it is plainly stated in FDA’s Branch Chief Monica Metz’s published statement from Monday which contained the following tidbit:

The use of wooden shelves, rough or otherwise, for cheese ripening does not conform to cGMP requirements, which require that "all plant equipment and utensils shall be so designed and of such material and workmanship as to be adequately cleanable, and shall be properly maintained." 21 CFR 110.40(a). Wooden shelves or boards cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized.  The porous structure of wood enables it to absorb and retain bacteria, therefore bacteria generally colonize not only the surface but also the inside layers of wood. The shelves or boards used for aging make direct contact with finished products; hence they could be a potential source of pathogenic microorganisms in the finished products.

Either way, it is good news, and a rare thing to see a governmental entity decide not to double down on their stupidity.

Stinky Cheese Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

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Hello everybody!  Today we have two fairly pedestrian cheeses and one that is just plain amazing.

Starting with the far right, we have a Country Connection Farmhouse Parmesan.  Yet another cheese from our unGooglable friends from Wisconsin with no web presence, this is a wonderful Parmesan.  Salty, nutty, dry and hard, this is as good a parmesan as you’ll find anywhere.

Next is Locatelli’s Pecorino Romano.  I have never tasted a finer Romano cheese, quite frankly.  It is a very salty cheese, and Locatelli is pretty much the gold standard of Romano cheeses.  This would have been the clear winner had it not been for the last one.

Ski Queen Gjetost is spectacular!  Gjetost (YEH-toast) is a Norwegian cheese that is made from the whey instead of the curds.  The goat milk whey is boiled until it is caramelized which gives it a sweet taste, combined with the nutty flavor from the goat milk yeilds a flavor that is more akin to Nutella than a normal cheese.  I can’t wait to make a dessert fondue with this one!  It made my mouth very happy, and everyone came back for seconds if not thirds.

Have fun, and happy cheesing!

Really Bad News And Government Stupidity

The United States Food and Drug Administration has "clarified" their rules and deemed that cheese aged on wooden boards is not to be produced or sold here in the USA.  That is basically all cheese made in overseas and everything made here except for but the huge processed cheese companies like Kraft.  We have had several S.W.A.T. team raids on Amish farmers selling unpasteurized milk.  Are we going to start seeing the same things happen to the artisanal cheese makers and international cheese importers now?

Stinky Cheese Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

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Yet another Stinky Cheese Tuesday is upon us, and today has seen some beautiful stuff, indeed.  It has been a bit busy today, so the picture was rushed, on a Christmas plate, and just plain ugly but you take what you can get.

First off, in the back, is Cabot’s Smoky Bacon Cheddar.  If that isn’t self-explanatory, I don’t know what is.  This is a cheese that really marries the flavor, saltiness, and all around beauty that is bacon to the sharpness of a great cheddar.  My taste buds are a-flutter!

Front left is Carr Valley’s Cranberry Chipotlé Cheddar.  This cheese really surprised me.  Most of the chipotlé and habenero cheeses that I try are focused on the heat of the peppers.  This one was almost devoid of heat (except for the piece that Scarlet tried that must have been hiding most of a pepper inside of it), and concentrated mainly on the smokiness and earthiness of the chipotlé.  The cranberries kind of snuck in on the back end with more of a bitter note than a sweetness.  Excellent cheese, and a happy surprise!

Front right is Artequeso’s Manchego Semi-Curado.  This cheese is amazing.  It is a manchego that hasn’t been completely aged, so you have the mellow, salty-nuttiness that you get with a typical manchego, but the consistency is more like a cheddar than a parmesian.  A very enticing cheese, indeed!

In addition, my buddy Ben at the Refectory brought in another manchego, and some wonderful buttermilk blue cheese that I ate way too much of.  In all probability, the buttermilk blue wins as the best cheese of the day.  If I had known I was going to be competing against a blue I would have made sure that my cheeses had an 80’s montage so it would have been at least a more even competition.

I’m looking forward to next week!

Sharing Space With The Tacos