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.