OT- Cheese

[amper]

All the OT posts in the past few weeks have me thinking about some of the fine cheeses produced all over the world. Here are my top five favorites.

Roquefort- From southern France. Has that intense flavor profile that begs to be eaten straight. Love the molds.

Grana Padano –Stravecchio Oro Del Tempo from Italy. Intense and complex, served on some al dente angle hair pasta.

Farmhouse Kasseri – From Greece. A generous slab melted with virgin olive oil and fresh lemon in a cast iron skillet. My mouth is watering just thinking about the incredible flavor.

Cabrales – From Northern Spain. Blue-greenish veins. Served on warm French bread.

Beemster Classic Extra Aged Gouda. Southern provinces of The Netherlands and the only sweet cheese in my list.

[Steve Hampsten]

All good choices there, amper, but Humboldt Fog from California...Mama Mia! Goat/brie/bleu - all wrapped in one tasty morsel of ashy fatty goodness.

[catulle]

Manchego: 1

[Louis]

Amper,

You forget the Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.

[amper]

Amper,

You forget the Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.

Yes, the rare and elusive Venezuelan Beaver Cheese. John Cleese at his best.

[manet]

Manchego: 1

have you ever won your weight in it

[jwprolo]

Too many for me to just list, but a couple I really like:

Somerdale Red Dragon: cheddared welsh cheese with mustard. THE beer cheese.

Idiazabal- basque sheep cheese- if you like manchego (often over produced and easy to get characterless varieties) you will love this.

Shropshire Blue- amper- If you like societe roquefort, and the fine (and one of the last naturally veined blues) cabrales, you will surely enjoy shropshire.

Drunken goat, a washed rind goat cheese. Serve it at parties--its way cheaper than anything else on this list and everyone seems to like it.

Humbolt fog is a real treasure, as is anything by cypress grove. Also anything by Cowgirl creamery is excellent. There are many, many excellent chevre producers everywhere. Now if only the stupid FDA would remove its ridiculous <60 day must be pasteurized rule--the cheese world equivalent to the reflector law.

[dbrk]

Piave with a fine Port at the end of a meal. Or Piave at the beginning with a strong, deep red. Ahhh, Piave.

I love hard cheeses. Try a tangy hard cheese with a brilliant fruit jam, just a smear. I had this first in Italy many years ago. I have never forgotten that day.

Too many others. Cheese is a reason to keep living.

dbrk

[Tom]

The Eau Galle Cheese Company in Eau Galle Wisconsin makes something they call 'German Brick.' It comes wrapped in duct tape, it smells like something died, but it is the best tasting cheese you can possibly imagine on hard crusty bread.

[Fixed]

natural cottage cheese and goat cheese for me bro

[Kevan]

Who cut the cheese??? (http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Explorateur)


The stuff aims for the heart and arteries, but what the whey!

[jwprolo]

I love hard cheeses. Try a tangy hard cheese with a brilliant fruit jam, just a smear. I had this first in Italy many years ago. I have never forgotten that day.

dbrk

One of my favorite sandwiches is a fine english farmhouse cheddar with a spicy mango chutney. Perfect.

[72gmc]

The unsophisticated palate says Swiss on a burger at Red Mill (always worth the long line), Feta grated over buttered spaghetti noodles, Tillamook sharp cheddar with a really good salami, and Venezuelan Beaver Cheese just because.

Attended a wine tasting recently where chunks of real honeycomb were served with blue cheese on top. Delicious.

[93legendti]

Chalumi--grilled.

[bcm119]

Hudson Valley Camembert from Old Chatham Sheepherding is one of my favorites. I used to ride by the farm almost daily when I lived in Chatham, which btw is a beautiful place to live/ride.

[ChamUK]

My wife and I, and another couple started a wine and cheese club. Totally informal. Every three months or so, we get together invite some more people for a wine and cheese gathering. The only rule is that you must bring a bottle of cheap wine, and 2 different kind of cheeses. It's really a great way to try out a bunch of funky cheeses.
I was surprised that my favorite current cheese is the same as DBRK's-the Pave. I think one of the best I've had though, was a dessert wine from France. It was a creamy soft cheese with raisins soaked in brandy.
Another awesome cheese is Bosina Robiola. Let it sit at room temp for an hour-and you'll taste some of the best Italy has to offer.

[Frankwurst]

Limburgher :beer:

[cookieguy]

Haystack Goat cheese (the pryamid shaped block)
Maytag Blue on top of a vine ripened tomato
A proper cheddar, the one I can remember the name of is mamoth's cave aged.

[djg]

All good choices there, amper, but Humboldt Fog from California...Mama Mia! Goat/brie/bleu - all wrapped in one tasty morsel of ashy fatty goodness.

Humboldt fog is a scary good cheese.

There are all sorts of good things around. There are some nice raw blues from here and there in France. A good raw milk brie, from Meaux, can seriously embarass the plastic unripened discs of butter that often get passed off as brie. The better robiolas (due latte) are nice. A good parmesan. Explorateur is tasty and has a picture of a rocket ship on the label. And whatever it is that they sprinkle on doritos. I think it's called "nacho," which probably means that it's spanish.

[inGobwetrust]

I'm very partial to Robiola, Cambozola, and the fresh cut chedder at the Vermont Country Store in Weston and Rockingham, VT.

[zap]

Taleggio from Lombardy is a current favorite.

[jeffg]

St. Andre: simple & voluptuous

Brousse: wonderful Southern French cheese somewhat like Ricotta

Good Austrian Bergkäse for Kasnockerl or with a glass of vino (Blaufränkisch, please)

Any good local goat cheese

[MartyE]

manchego or idiazabal drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs (bouquet garnii or provencale), or drizzled with honey.
A good Farmhouse Gouda, 3yr old with a glass of Dutch Beer
Keen or Montgomery cheddar hint of grass in the flavour
Carr Valley cheddar.
I love cheese, but cannot get past most goat cheese they are
too goat for me. . .

marty

[Dekonick]

Cheese Wiz? - anything aged in a can has to be good right?!? :rolleyes:

[Too Tall]

Corsican Goat...the stuff rolled in peppers...OMG.

[shinomaster]

Cave aged Gruyere, Compte, Roquefort, Turkish Kassar, old Amsterdam aged Gouda, Huntsman, And last real Reggiano...I hopefully will die eating that stuff.

[Dr. Doofus]

velveeta underground

[MadRocketSci]

tried a lot of cheeses around europe, but the one i wish I could find in the states is the cheap sliced zaanlander from holland. i got it at the supermarket in amsterdam, pre-sliced and wrapped in styrofoam. they also served it for breakfast at youth hostels, and it was good even when getting dry from sitting around all morning. probably the equivalent of kraft singles for the dutch.

Does anyone besides me hate goat/sheep cheese? I really think I'm tasting something that most people aren't. Everybody tells me of the tart, intense flavor chevre, manchego, pecorino and the like have, but to me it tastes like someone took perfectly good cheese and then wiped it on the goat/sheep's a$$. Seriously, I'm talking petting zoo flavor. I think it's a genetic defect of mine, wish I could be rid of it! No problems with cheese from water buffaloes or green/blue/runny stuff, as long as it's from a cow.

[MadRocketSci]

ate at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon over the weekend, and needed to add one to this list:

Livarot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livarot_%28cheese%29)

you'll either love it or hate it...

me, i can't stop thinking of it...my wife is cringing at the thought of it in our house...

feces though? i never knew feces tasted so good...mmm mmm feces....

[Frankwurst]

Limburgher :beer:

I repeat. Nothings changed since the OP. :beer:

[Ozz]

All good choices there, amper, but Humboldt Fog from California...Mama Mia! Goat/brie/bleu - all wrapped in one tasty morsel of ashy fatty goodness.
+1

serve with some crostini and oven-roasted tomatoes!

[djg]

All good choices there, amper, but Humboldt Fog from California...Mama Mia! Goat/brie/bleu - all wrapped in one tasty morsel of ashy fatty goodness.

Effin' love the Humboldt Fog -- it's like a really good varied cheese course all in one cheese.

Many, many nice smaller makers of young-style goat cheeses these days, including domestic ones.

Too many things to mention. For a soft cheese, apart from the classic French options (hard to complain about a real brie de Meaux, raw milk, properly ripe) I like a nice 2 or 3 milk Robbiola.

I wrote down a really nice Spanish cheese I tried on a splurge dinner late last year at CityZen in DC -- need to go look it up.

[572cv]

for any who are out our way, or in the New England area. There are now about 50 artisan cheese makers in Vermont, many of whom produce exceptional, world class cheese. I recommend the goat cheeses from Vermont Butter and Cheese Co, anything from Willow Hill Cheese, Jasper Hill cave aged chedder, and for general consumption, Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar.

For a really great grilled cheese sandwich, take some good local bread (we have that here too!), some good mustard (dijon works, or french tarragon), Vermont Butter and Cheese herbed goat cheese and Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar in equal parts, olive oil for the pan; enjoy with any favorite soup.

Of course, nothing travels better in a pocket or a bike bag than fresh Parmesan....

[97CSI]

Epoisse - Ile de France region. We've just discovered a source in the U.S. other than Wegman's. Some good bread, pate, fruit, wine and epoisse - wonderful.

[hammerdocnomo]

All good choices there, amper, but Humboldt Fog from California...Mama Mia! Goat/brie/bleu - all wrapped in one tasty morsel of ashy fatty goodness.

+1 on the Humbolt Fog.

[MadRocketSci]

I repeat. Nothings changed since the OP. :beer:

you wouldn't happen to be into feet, would you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevibacterium

:)

it is also used to ferment Livarot...barnyard-y, fecal-y, feety...what is wrong with people, myself included???

[oliver1850]

.

[avalonracing]

Lock this OT thread before someone gets heart disease!

[Dekonick]

While many cheeses are unavailable to local markets (thanks to the EU, USA and everyone else concerned for our health... bastards!) I do miss a REAL french Camembert or Brie. I also love Chimay's hard cheese... great with a beer of the same name. Basque goat cheese is sublime, but only available locally :crap: such is life.

Seems everyone is so concerned to keep us healthy that cheese is a casualty.

[jblande]

please just fly to paris. head toward alsace. then go here.

the cheese pope (http://fromagerieantony.pagesperso-orange.fr/)

[rustychisel]

Think the OP nailed it, nothing to add except sorta locally, a King Island Brie.

Anyone been to the cheese caves of Roquefort? Drive past the Viaduct du Millau and turn left... I did the guided tour last year: it was fascinating, in French, and we saw many caves which were remarkably unencumbered by cheese.

[johnnymossville]

Last night I had some of this on homemade wheat crackers (really easy to make and good). I ate one and decided it needed to be kicked up a notch so I sprinkled some of my homemade memphis rib rub on it. Turned good into spectacular.

http://www.chavrie.com/include/images/log_originalLarge.gif

Normally though, give me some extra sharp cheddar or pepper jack (any brand) and I'm happy.

[buck-50]

Pretty partial to the many artisinal cheeses of Wisconsin.

There's too many to list, but I'm a big fan of Bleu Mont Dairy's Bandaged Cheddar and Pleasant Ridge Reserve by Uplands cheese...