From the moment I tried Salers cheese, I was intrigued by its meaty flavor, peppery taste, and zest of dried fruit and nuts. Salers is part of a family of cheeses, from the Auvergne region of France, that includes Cantal and Laguiole. I think of them as the "French cheddars," because of their cheddar-like consistency and nuttiness. As far as taste is concerned, I have never tasted any other cheese that has the same animal taste as Salers.
The history of Salers dates back at least 2,000 years. Its popularity was at its peak during the 17th century, at the court of Louis XIV. Traditionally, Salers was aged in burons, stone huts, in the mountains where the farmers sought refuge. The cheese provided a source of food and a form of currency for exchange. Today there are just 100 farmers producing the cheese. The name of the cheese comes from the name of the breed of cows that produce the milk that creates this cheese. The Salers cows are brought up to the high mountain pastures during the summer to graze on wild flowers and grass.
It's their rich summer diet that produces the cheese's complex aroma and taste. Salers is aged for approximately 10 months and is made from 100 percent raw milk. You can bring out the sweetness of Salers and subdue its meatiness with a full body red wine. It also pairs well with dried nuts. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
A couple of years ago, one of my friends suggested that I try Atlantic Mist, a creamy cow's milk cheese with a bloomy rind from Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton, NY. I finally tried it and was amazed at how similar it tastes to the raw milk Camemberts that I've eaten in France.
Most Camemberts that are imported into the U.S. are pasteurized and lack the sharp barnyard flavor and sweet fudge-like paste of a traditional raw milk Camembert. It's incredible that Atlantic Mist, a local cheese from the Hamptons, comes closer to the original than its pasteurized French counterparts. Atlantic Mist has an irresistible meaty aroma and a stunning gooey sweet taste.
Visit Mecox Bay Dairy! If you're making a trip to the Hamptons, be sure to visit the dairy farm. Art and Stacy Ludlow and their sons Peter and John started to handcraft cheeses in 2003 from the milk of their small herd of Jersey cows. Atlantic Mist is aged for a minimum of 61 days and it's made in small batches. You can contact Mecox Bay Dairy at 631-537-0335 or you can email Art at art@mecoxbaydairy.com. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Until recently, I did not realize how ignorant I was about the vast array of delicious creamy cheeses from Maine. I was aware of the many different cheese producers in Vermont, like Jasper Hill Farm and the Cobb Hill cooperative. So, a few nights ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a soft handmade goat's milk cheese from Seal Cove Farm, a small goat dairy in Lamoine, Maine.
The flavors are exquisitely pristine with absolutely no sourness. The light fluffy texture slowly crumbles and melts on the palate. It's the perfect final course to be served at the end of a long meal. Alternatively, you can incorporate the cheese in various dishes to be served prior to your dessert, such as salads.
Visit Seal Cove Farm! This is the first American cheese that I've written about for Cheese Course. And, it's the beginning of a long list of unique local cheeses we can purchase on our own soil. I highly suggest visiting these dairies to learn about how these labor-intensive artisanal products are crafted. Seal Cove Farm is located north of Acadia National Park in Lamoine, Maine. Before visiting give them a call at 207-667-7127. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Roquefort Vieux Berger has long been one of my favorite blue cheeses. The second you take a bite into this luscious blue, you taste a gritty sharp saltiness that mellows out and transforms into a sugary fruity flavor evoking the aroma of ripened dates, grapes, and apricots. The flavors are gorgeously well balanced and the texture is superbly thick and creamy. It's the best Roquefort that I have ever tasted, because it does not overwhelm the palate and leave an unpleasant strong aftertaste.
Like all Roqueforts, Vieux Berger is produced from raw sheep's milk. It's aged in damp caves found under the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, in southwestern France. Perhaps, its uniqueness can be attributed to the fact that it's the Roquefort produced on the smallest scale. Its name seems to pay tribute to the enduring tradition of shepherds leading their sheep on the the Causses, vast plateaux found in the Aveyron, near the village of Roquefort. "Vieux Berger" means "old shepherd."
How should one savor this sweet succulent blue? Besides enjoying it plain à la française, you can eat it on whole grain toast with a variety of different condiments. My favorite condiment to pair with Roquefort Vieux Berger is chestnut spread. You can even taste it with a bold chestnut honey. A mirabelle jam will bring out the cheese's fruitiness and minimize its saltiness. Suggestions on how to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
I am on a buffalo milk cheese kick. It started last week with Burrata. This week, I tried a firm buffalo milk aged ricotta-style cheese called Barilotto. This one is all about its subtleties. It's similar to Ricotta Salata, an aged sheep's milk ricotta that is lightly salted. Unlike the Ricotta Salata, it's not nearly as salty. Instead, Barilotto leaves your mouth with a deep sweet flavor.
Barilotto, like Calcagno, is aged in southern Italy, in Campania at Casa Madaio. It's salted and pressed to release its moisture. The clean taste of this cheese seems to melt extra slowly on the palate. If you're eating this cheese for the first time, I recommend that you first try it alone or with a dry white wine. Bariltto can give your dish that extra je ne sais quoi. It's particularly delicious added to a fennel and arugula salad. You can also have it in a watermelon, basil, and pine nut salad.
Where does one find this unique cheese ingredient? NY cheese shops, such as Formaggio Essex and The Bedford Cheese Shop, carry it. It's available at restaurants nationwide. Ask your local cheese monger!
I first encountered Burrata during a trip to one of Genoa's oldest markets - Mercato Orientale. When I sliced into Burrata a luscious cream slowly oozed out from the center. The cream tasted slightly like a fresh ricotta. I spread the cheese over crusty bread and drizzled olive oil over it. Burrata is essentially a creamy spreadable buffalo milk mozzarella. In Italian, the name "Burrata" means "buttered." Unlike Mozzarella, Burrata's center is filled with cooked Italian cream.
Burrata is produced in the southeastern region of Italy, called Puglia. It was not until 1920 that this rich smooth cheese was invented. By the 1950s, the production of Burrata increased. This probably had to do with the fact that the cheese recycles leftover pieces of mozzarella. During the cheese making process, Burrata is formed into a pouch that is filled with scraps of leftover mozzarella and topped off with fresh cream. Traditionally, the cheese would be wrapped in asphodel leaves. The leaves serve as indicators to the freshness of the cheese. As long as the leaves are green, the cheese is still fresh. Today, the cheese is not always wrapped in these leaves.
Unfortunately, Burrata is not easy to find in the United States. This has to do with its fragility and freshness. In Italy, Burrata is typically eaten just a few days old. It does not have a long shelf life. So, the pouches of this cheese that you find in the U.S. are normally flown into the country. I am skeptical about purchasing the cheese from online vendors. I would suggest that you buy it from a cheese monger who you trust will tell you when the cheese arrived. Continue reading to find out how it can be the perfect summer treat.
When I first started my career in the cheese biz, I had no idea how many pecorinos there were. The category includes essentially all Italian sheep's milk cheeses. Pecora in Italian means "sheep." Most of them are produced in Tuscany and Sardinia. Calcagno is a pecorino that's hand crafted in Sardinia, and then, it's aged in southern Italy in the Campania region.
I find that most pecorinos are nutty and tend to dry out rather quickly. Calcagno is an exception. Cutting into a fresh wheel of Calcagno is like diving into a feathery bright green meadow with vibrant flowers and the smell of blossoms. The first characteristic I noticed about Calcagno was its exquisite floral aroma. Then, I was struck by its creamy texture and its crunchy protein crystals, the white dots in the cheese. Although it's a hard cheese, it seems to melt like butter on the palate. Finally, I was swept away by its complex finish ranging from flowers and cashew nuts to lemons and apricots.
We can trace Calcagno's brilliant flavor to its production. It's produced from the milk of sheep that are grazing on natural pasture and are sotto cielo, under the sky. Sotto Cielo has become a movement by farmers who want to preserve the tradtional ways of farming and taking care of their animals. Currently, there is a problem in Italy with many animals living on concrete indoors and rarely seeing the light of day. The sheep that produce the milk that creates Calcagno are living happily sotto cielo. Calcagno is aged for four to six months in natural caves in Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park by one of Italy's best affineurs -- Casa Madaio. Suggestions on the best way to enjoy Calcagno can be found after the jump.
Stichelton became a cheese celebrity this past winter when it was written up in the New York Times. It's a masterpiece of a cheese. It's a work of art! This succulent blue cheese has a unique earthiness, an intense fruitiness tasting of apples, a spiciness to play off the sweetness, and a rich creamy texture. There are only a few wheels of Stichelton that leave England for the United States. So, when I see it at a cheese shop I always purchase a piece.
Stichelton is a raw milk Stilton. Ever since 1989, Stilton was required to be produced with pasteurized cow's milk. Yearning for their raw milk Stilton, Randolph Hodgson of Neal's Yard Dairy and Joe Schneider, an American cheese maker, experimented with their first batches of what would become Stichelton. Before the cheese was perfected, they called it Worksop Blue. Finally, they came up with the name Stichelton, the ancient name of the village that would eventually be known as Stilton.
This cheese is sure to convert someone who is terrified of blue cheeses into someone who savors their many complicated delicious layers of sharpness and aroma. Recommendations on the best way to savor Stichelton's complexity can be found after the jump.
I often think about cheeses according to where they're from. Lately, I've been trying different Ossau-Iraty cheeses. These sheep's milk cheeses come from the French Pyrenees between the Ossau valley and the Iraty forest, hence its name. They are produced from the milk of basco-béarnaise sheep, a breed that yield a limited amount of milk. My favorite cheese from the Ossau valley is Brebis Pardou.
Brebis Pardou's texture and flavor are flawless, because they are so well balanced. Biting into a piece of Brebis Pardou seems to transport you to a pastoral paradise with bright green rolling hills and statuesque mountains. It tastes wonderfully fruity without being overly sweet. The slightly nutty tang towards the finish gently tickles the back of your throat and leaves you craving more. Affineur Christian Pardou handcrafts Brebis Pardou in the age-old tradition passed down from béarnais shepherds. It is one of the few fermier style Ossau-Iraty wheels available in the United States. Suggestions on the best way to relish Brebis Pardou's complexity can be found after the jump.
Where to begin with this sweet and grassy goat's milk cheese shaped like a little bell, une clochette? Clochette emanates a gorgeous bright floral aroma. Its rich dense texture seems to melt into cream on your palate. The cheese is produced in the region of Poitou-Charentes starting at the end of March and ending some time in autumn. Its appearance varies. Sometimes, it is covered in natural green and white molds. When it's really fresh, there are almost no molds, but if there are, do not fret - you can eat them too!
Besides its distinctive luscious tang, it posseses the most adorable name, Clochette, meaning "little bell" in English. Although the flavors are not challenging, it fits its category perfectly as a fresh-ripened goat's milk cheese. It is incredibly well-balanced and not too rich. In fact, it could be aged for as little as two weeks.
You can purchase Clochette at almost any cheese shop or specialty food store with a reputable cheese department. When you bring it home, let it set out in room temperature for a couple of hours before savoring it. Clochette is delicious slightly warmed up. Try a slice of it with some fresh raspberries and a glass of sparkling white wine.
One of things that I find shocking when browsing through most cheese departments in supermarkets, like Whole Foods, is the large amount of industrial Goudas, such as Old Amsterdam. Don't get me wrong. I too love these Goudas for their butterscotch flavors and crunchy texture. But, they just do not compare to the handmade Goudas crafted throughout Holland. My current favorite is Reypenaer.
Reypenaer is like no other Gouda that has melted on my palate! Right away, I noticed how much creamier it was compared to many of the industrial Goudas that have a texture equivalent to chewy plastic. Reypenaer is bursting with complexities in flavor ranging from dried fruits to honey and caramel. One of the signs of a well made cheese is having several layers of taste. Reypenaer accomplishes this marvelously. What a gastronomic trip!
After experiencing Reypenaer, I felt compelled to discover as much as I could about the cheese. I found out that it's a Fabriekskaas Gouda that is made from pasteurized cow's milk. Fabriekskaas Goudas age naturally in a historic cheese aging warehouse on the Rhine river in the village of Woerden. The facility permits natural fluctuations of temperature to affect the aging process. It's in this environment that Reypenaer ages for about two years. Information concerning the cheese's producer, how to eat Reypenaer, and where you can purchase it can be found after the jump.
A jar of honey can become a sticky mess. Next time you're adding honey to another dish or a mug of tea, use a honey dipper to prevent a thick gooey layer from spreading.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
