Cheese Diary: Robiola Crosta

I was at the cheese shop today and this wash rind was purported to be good with Bartlett pears. I happened to have some Bartletts sitting around at home. This seemed like a run of the mill wash rind, more nutty than buttery, strong salty flavor, smells like feet when left out at room temp for a while. Excellent when paired with Bartletts as the flavor of both seem to be enhanced. This is a great way to enjoy seasonal pears. I suppose the earthy flavor can be compared to mushrooms after they've been sitting in the fridge a while, and they're slimy but extremely strong smelling - that's the good stuff.

Cheese Diary: Caveman

"I'm looking for a blue that is less sharp than the Roquefort and creamier."

That request describes the Caveman. The Roquefort was so strong that I couldn't eat excessive quantities at once so I toned down the cheese and settled on the Caveman which is currently my favorite blue cheese. It has just the right amount of saltiness, fewer veins of mold, but what also sticks out to me is how it has a kind of fruity aftertaste - a lot like strawberries. I hope they get it back in stock.

Cheese Diary: Roquefort

Have you ever seen mold look this good?

I read about Roquefort in a book about microbes that help us in our daily lives. At that point I decided I had to try this cheese. The first hit was a flavor bomb. For me, it was like a concentrated bleu cheese flavor that had a musty, salty after taste. It crumbles nicely. It's good in small doses, but I can't eat too much of it. This is definitely worth a try if you like bleu cheese on the strong side.

Cheese Diary: Dancing Fern

Nutty and Buttery, and that's all you need to know. The Dancing Fern is definitely one of those cheeses that meets my palate's default. It goes great with fruit too. I generally let my cheese sit out for a good while before I indulge as it really intensifies the flavor. I remember liking everything about this cheese, the rind was excellent. It was a pretty calm cheese too. If anything, it's like a...slightly more intense Camembert. When I had been going to Antoinelli's previously I was thinking that I just might have gotten to the point where I could have a regular order of the Caveman with the ColoRouge, but no, Kendall insisted that there were some cheeses I absolutely had to try before placing my order and the concept of my having a "regular order" at Antoinelli's was destroyed. If you have a chance to try the Dancing Fern, do it, it's on limited availability, but most of all, you'll be happy you did.

Cheese Diary: Époisses

It's really not that often that I come across a cheese of the washrind (smelly) variety that I can't take. And then I came across Epoisses.

I don't mind cheese that smells like feet, but the peppery aftertaste of Epoisses almost brought me to my knees. As an initial taste...peppery? Fine. It really should not be the ending taste. I think I liked the initial taste, but the ending note was unfortunate.

Cheese Diary: Chevre d'Or

This was nice. I had it as a snack today for work. The day goes by faster when you have short term treats to look forward to.

When I had this at the cheese shop, it had a very rich and nutty center. A few days later (today) when I have it, it had been sitting out on my desk all day. Flavor was still awesome, there was a slight tang at the end of the nuttiness that wasn't too surprising  - that's generally what I expect from goat cheese though, even washrinds. There was a bit of an inky, spicy after taste that was quite tolerable and even enjoyable when followed by tea.