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.