Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Cheese: Cornish Yarg
Country: England
Type: Raw Cow

At Christmas time the fine folks at Janice Beaton's get in a bevy of seasonal cheeses, this year one of their tasty treats is a Cornish Yarg. Yarg is more or less a slightly sweet cheddar wrapped in nettles. The rind is surprisingly mild, I had expected something sharp but the nettles are well cured and aged and just added a grassy undertone to the cheese. I ate some with a salad, and also melted some over chili. It held up nicely to a moderate bit of melting, and was just slightly stringy with a nice texture when warmed. I would say it is good for both eating and melting over foods, but it won't hold up to punchy flavour companions. For fun I had a bit with Rooster Sauce, and the cheese lost the flavour battle.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Cheese: Double Gloucester
Country: England
Type: Cow - Raw

Cheese: Linconshire Poacher
Country: England
Type: Cow - Raw

Double cheese day! There are all these seasonal cheeses showing up at Janice Beaton's right now, so a co-worker and I shared. Up first is the Double Gloucester - a straight forward cheddar with a cloth wrap for curing. It's middle of the road in terms of sharpness, slightly dry, and sort of what one would expect from a cheddar. The Linconshire Poacher has a more robust flavour, slightly caramel in undertone, certainly more exciting an eat than the Gloucester. Both are excellent eating cheeses and I wager would go good with wine. I ate mine with some Elk terrine and olives.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Cheese: Bleu d'Auvergne
Country: France
Type: Cow

Today is a lovely mild blue from France, Bleu d'Auvergne. I wanted something that wasn't super strong and melted nicely, and this was the cheese recommended by the fine people at Janice Beaton's. I melted it over a giant pile of cabbage and roast beef. Delightful. The tangy blue goes so very well with beef.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Cheese: Raclette de Savoie
Country: France
Type: Semi-soft Cow

On the weekend I was able to identify a cheese in a restaurant from across the room, Morbier with an ash layer, and was hoping to score some today. Sadly, there was none about, so I grabbed a piece of Raclette de Savoie. Slightly pungent, soft and gooey when melted, and mild. A great cheese to eat with meat, in my case a big dollop of Bacon "Jam" (sort of a bacon based tapenade). Normally this cheese is melted, since it's an excellent melting cheese, but I also enjoy it as is.

The bacon jam was also awesome, as anything with bacon should be.

Wednesday, November 21, 2011

Cheese: Lappi
Country: Finnland
Type: Cow, partially skimmed milk.

Lappi, the Finnish cheese that's hard to pin down. Sort of like swiss, sort of like cheddar, sort of like emmental. I find it very mild, like a toned down swiss but there is a bit more creaminess to it. There is almost a buttery aftertaste similar to a havarti or german butter cheese. To be honest I'm not really sure whether this is best for making sauces or melting or just eating. Since it's such a neutral flavoured cheese I'd recommend eating it with some fruit compote or a nice tart jam.

To be honest it is so mild that I doubt I'd rush out and buy it again, but that could have been because I was pairing it with strong agressive flavours in the rest of my lunch. The cheese was really overpowered by the chorizo in heavy cream sauce that I was eating, so my palette may not have been doing justice to any subtle flavours in the cheese.

On the up side it has minimal stink factor, so is office friendly (unlike some of the other cheeses I bust out at lunch time).

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Cheese: Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese w/Basil
Country: Canada
Type: Soft goat cheese

Peter (a co-worker of mine) and I like to call the Salt Spring Island goat cheese cups 'low carb pudding'. The cheese is a pretty standard soft goats cheese, slightly sour, slightly sweet, quite creamy. Today I'm having the Salt Spring Island cheese with olive oil and basil, it's pretty tasty, but I find the basil is hardly showing up on my palette.

There in the background of the picture are the exciting things for today... terrines! They are making in-house terrines at Janice Beaton's now, which is awesome. I had, from the top going clockwise; Duck with pistachio and cherry; Lamb Merguez, and Pate de Campagne.  As much as I love pistachios and duck, I have to say my favourite of the three is the lamb. Quite lovely, a little spice to it. One comment I have about the terrines at Janice Beaton's is they are a bit dry, I think they need more fat in them... but I bet for the typical scared-of-fat customer it's just perfect.

Wednesday November 7, 2012

Cheese #1: Truffo
Country: France
Type: Soft rind cow

Cheese #2: Pont Leveque
Country: France
Type: Soft rind cow, washed rind

Double cheese, so intense!

We have a guest from France (our marketing manager at work, Benoit) so in honour of our visitor I'm having two cheeses from France. First, Truffo, a delightful soft rind cheese that is exceptionally creamy and sweet. It's like a really soft cream cheese and doesn't have that ammonia flavour I associate with a brie. Best of all it has a line of black truffles nestled right in the middle adding their earthy awesomeness to the flavour. For fun I melted some over the cabbage I had in the rest of my lunch, and it melted nicely and tasted fantastic. I highly recommend this one, it's delightful.

Up next is Pont Leveque, another soft rind cow cheese. This one seems to be slightly fermented (washed rind), and it has a punchy stink to it. Flavour wise it's surprisingly strong, almost yeasty and sour. I like it, but I'd only eat it in smaller amounts and with something to break the flavour up. In my case some trail mix (almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and raisins). Paired with the fruit and nuts it was nice, but I'd say not for the feint of heart.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Cheese: Etorki
Country: France
Type: Sheep Semi-Hard

I had appointments at lunch yesterday so I had to do my weekly pilgrimage today.

Etorki is a mild semi soft creamy cheese, I find it has a nice neutral palette half way between a gouda and a mozzarella in flavour, and melts in your mouth like a nice brie. What makes this cheese fun is the rind, which has a slight stickiness to it and a bit of a pungent punch. A little leathery in flavour, but not so overpowering that it drowns out the mild taste of the cheese itself. Etorki is an awesome eating cheese, and I wager it would melt nicely and hold up to a wee bit of baking.

Wednesday October 24, 2012

Cheese: Avonlea Cheddar
Type: Cow, Raw
Country: Canada

With a mild fruity aroma and a nice sharpness this is a lovely eating cheese. It isn't a super old cheddar, but it has been aged just long enough to get those delicious crunchy crystals in the body of the cheese. Today I paired it with some sweet pickled chipolini onions and a big hunk of pate. If you want a cheese that isn't to funky and low risk (and raw milk, a rarity in Canada) this is a good bet.

Wednesday October 17, 2012

Cheese: Dragons' Breath
Country: Canada
Type: Live Unviened Blue

So I'm back from vacation and it's time for CHEESE!

This week they have a new cheese that I have never seen before, or heard of, it's a blue cheese that has not been ripened or veined, but is still active (live). Basically they coat the cheese in the bacterial culture that causes the moulding, and you open it up and the air activates it. Over a week or so it gets progressively more 'blue' as it ripens before your eyes! Unfortunately for the bacteria I'm not that patient, so I ate the whole thing in one sitting. It's a delicious cheese, creamy and slightly hard, a bit salty and fairly mild. Because the cheese hasn't gone blue yet it doesn't have those sharp overtones that a blue usually has, but you do get this interesting sour/tart hint in there from the bit of brine that the cheese has been waxed with. A fun cheese for kids and party tricks, and those who pace themselves while eating.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Cheese: Gorgonzola
Country: Italy
Type: Cow, soft blue

I had a hankering for some Gorgonzola today, I haven't had it in a couple years. It's mild, sweet, and creamy. I think it goes smashingly with nuts (cashews in my case today) and in the past I've found it to be an excellent cooking blue cheese.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Cheese: Queso Valdeon
Country: Spain
Type: Goat & Cow blue

I love blue cheese. Valdeon is a lovely sharp blue, creamy and slightly salty-sweet with a good kick for an after taste. The rind is sharp and bitter from the sycamore leaf wrapping (don't eat the leaves, they are toxic). There are some grassy undertones, and the cheese melts on the tongue nicely. Goes great with something fruity and slightly acidic, like a plum. Also lovely with apples, dried or fresh. I can eat a big block of it (the one in the picture is about 150 grams and I polished it off at lunch), but most people probably would prefer it on a tasting plater with something else.

Wednesday September 05, 2012

Cheese: Chaumes
Country: France
Type: Cow, soft washed rind.

So I went in today with a specific role for my cheese, to be melted over fresh beans from my garden. The lovely people at Janice Beaton hooked me up with a big chunk of Chaumes, a washed soft-rind from France. This cheese was perfect for melting over something crunchy. It melted into a smooth gooey mess over my beans, and the soft rind broke up into delicious tangy bits. The texture was delightful, but not half as lovely as the salty creamy flavour. Totally wicked cheese.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Cheese: Brie de Meaux
Country: France
Type: Raw cow soft rind

I am not the biggest fan of brie, I find them boring. Brie de Meaux is all right, it's quite mild with a soft ammonia taste to it and the rind has a slight hint of earthiness. I paired it today with some castelvetrano olives (which are crack) and it worked well, but I think you could also eat it with some nice jams. Normally it is best to eat a brie at room temperature, it changes the texture and flavour profile. In this case I was impatient and hungry so started in while she was a bit firm, as the cheese softened the texture became quite pleasant and creamy and the ammonia flavour softened.

Wednesday August 22, 2012

Cheese: Les Fleurs des Monts
Nation: Canada
Type: Medium-Hard Sheep

I've had Les Fleurs des Monts a couple times before, I find it a nice dry sheep cheese. I love the rind, it's a bit funky and sometimes has hay stuck to it, I figure they age the cheese in a barn or something. But the rind has an earthy, almost leathery taste to it that compliments the slightly sweet flavour of the cheese. I find there is a bit of a floral undertone to the cheese, which is nice. Like most sheep cheese the dry texture goes great with salami or some other fatty cured meat. If I was pairing it with fruit I'd go for something on the sour side of sweet, fresh prune plums or cherries. This is a great cheese for someone looking to get outside of the cheddar box - it's not to strong, it's different from what most people would be used too, and it's a good eating cheese. I doubt it would melt nicely, most sheep cheese doesn't, but I haven't tried.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Today's cheese: Pico

Nationality: France
Type: Soft rind goat

Normally I'm not a big fan of the soft rind cheeses, they tend to be pretty bland, but this one is pretty good. This one has a bit of stink to it, which I liked. Earthy, but not punch-you-in-the-face earthy and not the typical ammonia smell you get from a soft-rind cow brie you'd see at the grocery store. Creamy with a hint of the typical dry goat-cheese texture that melts in the mouth and coats the tongue in a pleasant way. Mild flavour that starts out sweet and ends with just a bit of bitter in the aftertaste.

Mmmm.... Cheese

So for the past few months a co-worker and I have been walking over to the local cheese shop near our office, Janice Beaton Fine Cheese, every Wednesday. We wander over and pick up 100 grams or so of a random cheese. I figured it would be fun to start documenting the cheeses that we go pick up, and any adventures along the way.