Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cheese: Abondance
Country: France
Type: Cow, raw

Horray, a new Pope! Congratulations to the Catholic world on the appointment of Pope Francis.

So this week I had the fine staff at Janice Beaton's pick me something random, and they handed me a 100grams of Abondance. Abondance is sort of like a strong scented havarti. Creamy, semi-firm, and buttery in texture. The rind is slightly crunchy, and a wee bit bitter. Over all for a cheese with a moderate amount of aroma to it the flavour is quite mild. A nice first step on the road to limburger.

Wednesday March 06, 2013

Cheese: Rougette
Country: Germany
Type: Cow, wash rind

Ah, another Wednesday is here and it's time for cheese!

Today I had a wash-rind soft cheese from Germany called Rougette. Like a lot of German cheeses it tastes a lot like butter, with a hint of pasture from the washed rind. Very mild in smell, which is nice if you happen to have coworkers around who aren't keen on the pungent stink that can come with some German cheeses. The texture was soft, creamy, and melted like butter on the pallet. If you're looking for something a bit different than brie this is a good place to start, it has almost none of the ammonia undertones you get with a brie.

I paired this with some elk terrine and a duck rilette with a bit of peppadews on the side.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano
Country: Italy
Type: Raw Cow

Today, the king of cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. The only cheese that I know has an entire series of television commercials and a show tune. Salty, slightly sweet, hints of grass and small crystals... delightful. Most people would use it as a garnish, or to boost a dishes profile. I just ate it in big happy bites. Right now there is a shortage of Parmigiano due to an earthquake in Italy, so production has slumped and price has gone up. This particular piece was quite a bit moister than I'm used to from Parm, not quite sure if it was a younger age or something else.

There along side it is a duck and hazelnut terrine, some olivers, and cornichon.

Not Wednesday, February 19, 2013

Cheese: Paillot de Chevre
Country: CanadaType: Goat

This week we went to Janice Beaton's early, one of our coworkers has his last day tomorrow so we are going out for a celebratory/mourning meal that will probably include all sorts of delightful meats. So today we do the last Janice Beaton Cheese run we'll do together for a while.

Paillot de Chevre is a lovely goat cheese, typically sweet and mild. I pared it with some dried pears and a beet salad, which was a lovely combo. The centre is a slightly dryer texture, so you get a nice range of smooth to crumbly as you eat the cheese. Pretty good for a Canadian goat.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Cheese: Parrano
Country: Holland
Type: Cow, hard



Parrano tastes like a cross between a cheddar and a gouda, slightly sweet with a hard mild rind. There are small holes in the cheese, giving it a slightly emmental-esque aroma. A good entry level cheese, nice for eating with crackers or a slightly sour preserve.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Cheese: Burrata
Country: Canada
Type: Mozzarella/Bocconcini

Today we have an amazing treat, it's a fresh soft mozzarella style cheese from Canada called Burrata, made by Santa Luchia. This version was made here in Canada, but I'm sure there are local versions all over the place. Normally I consider mozzarella something like cottage cheese, boring and useful for a crispy toping on something flavourful. Burrata though was a surprise, it had the typical chewy mozzarella outside but buried in the middle of the cheese was this amazing creamy slightly salty slightly sweet creamy awesomeness.

This cheese would be awesome melted on anything, and I ate it straight paired with some tiny olives and some sausage. Great for a salad, great for pasta. A really excellent cheese.

Wednesday January 30, 2013

Cheese: Monte Enebro
Country: Spain
Type: Goat

Today's photo courtesy of Mr. Peter Smith, because my phone was dead after playing Ingress in the freezing cold all lunch break.

The "Man With The Keys Tattoo" basically pushed this cheese into my hands. Enebro is an interesting goat cheese, the rind is pretty funky, a combination of ash and blue mould. The cheese itself is fairly neutral, the typical salty-sweet you get from most goat cheeses. The rind on the other hand is pungent, strong, and earthy. This one isn't for the feint of heart, but if you are into blue cheese and goat cheese it's a unique combination of the two.

I had some caper berries with it, probably not the ideal pairing.