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.