Category: Cheese

Was in Bethesda the other day & went by Ibo’s shop, Cornicopia. As it is an Italian shop, I got 3 kinds of cheese to take to N.C. for our Thanksgiving trip.

Piave messano
Italian cows
very good, was hard & was fine for grating on soup

Sardo
Italian sheep
very good, soft

Pientino
Italian sheep
very good, soft

We went up to New Jersey to Valley Shepherd Farms and made cheese. It will be ready in 3 months.

There are some pictures up on flickr
here

Pecorina Romano
italian sheep

Cordobes
cow?

Greek Manouri(?)
goat

I got these from Whole Foods. Romano and Cordobes were good. I got the goat only because it was cheap.

Wensleydale
Mainly because it is mentioned in the Monty Python sketch. It is a rather unique tasting cheese, but I like it.

Saga Blue
very good.

l’edel de Cleron
it tastes better than it smells

Don’t remember what these are, but I think they’re from Cowgirl

I’m in Stow, MA doing some typing, and of course, cheese. It made a nice break from the workday.

Brie
milk: French cows
Good. Was going to list the brand of the brie, but Eli shredded the lid before I got that information(!).

Ementaler
milk: Swiss cows
A nice, mild Swiss cheese, without the holes.

President Gouda
milk: Dutch cows
This cheese won a Gold medal in the 2003 United States Cheese Championship. I’ll bet it would also make a nice mac & cheese. We all like it, and it may not keep long enough.Tara liked t a lot, as did the rest of us.

MCS and MLS made fondue. MCS and K were visiting, and this was their first cheese tasting. We wanted to make sure we had enough cheese. The fondue pot is MCS’s and she and MLS grated cheddar and gouda with white wine and a touch of brandy. It’s nice to have cooks in the kitchen while you are away.

I went to Calvert Woodley to get cheese to balance out WWT birthday cheese from North Carolina. It wasn’t as busy as usual, so it was great fun to taste. One cheese have gave me tasted too much like cream cheese, so I didn’t get that. They were also tasting pastrami — I don’t remember it tasting so good and garlicky, so I got that and Virginia ham for the guys — they can’t just have salad like us. The Ms already had some good bakery bread. Chocolate Moose Chocolate and NC strawberries for dessert.

Ashe Co. Cheese Curds
North Carolina cows

Our first time having cheese curds at a tasting. David sent this from North Carolina. Some of us liked them, some didn’t. It squeaked when you ate it. Different flavor than Wisconsin curds. K gave it the highest score. Even though it was their first tasting, both MLS and K were good at describing what they liked and didn’t like.

Belletoile
triple cream french cows

Since MCS was attending, we had to get at least one triple-cream. It was very good, as usual. K hadn’t liked the Brie he’d tried at N’s art opening the night before, but we told him it was because it wasn’t at room temperature.

Ashe Co. Mild Cheddar
cheddar
North Carolina cows

Another N.C. cheese from David. It would be great on hamburgers. And definitely mac and cheese.

Camboloza
invented in early ’70s
brie with blue

Cambozola is a cow’s milk cheese that is a combination of a French soft-ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. It was patented and industrially produced for the world market by large German company Champignon in the 1970s. The cheese (originally called Bavaria Blu), was invented circa 1900 and is still produced by the Bergader family in the Chiemgau region of Bavaria.

very good. I loved it, and N even brought some by from another store along with her artwork after class — it was an abstract painting that started out as boats but looked like a cityscape — art always ads to the cheese tasting.

Even though we still have most of the Cannonball left, we couldn’t resist getting some Virginia farmstead sheep’s milk cheese at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

Cannonball
referenced previously

Stony Man
milk: sheep (of course)
region: Everona Dairy Virginia farmstead

Very good, but a bit oily. We all liked it & would recommend it highly.

Marble
milk: sheep (of course)
region: Everona Dairy Virginia farmstead

Another from the same dairy, very good.

Friday, April 25 from 5-7 at Johnny’s Half Shell, sponsored by our local Cowgirl Creamery and a local wine distributor.

St Pat
milk: Pasteurized Cow
type: soft
ST PAT is our seasonal springtime cheese. These rounds are made with whole organic milk (a bit of cream is now being added to soften the texture) and are wrapped with stinging nettle leaves. Do not fear the nettles, since they are frozen to remove the sting before they are wrapped around the cheese.

Roth Käse
milk: ?
type: Gruyere, I think
The next one she said was Roth Käse, from Wisconsin, but in looking that up it is a company that makes lots of kinds of cheese. We liked this one the best.

St. Nectaire
milk: raw cow
type: soft
We’ve had this one several times before. A bit smelly, but tastes good.

Tome de Savoie
milk: raw, from French cows
type: semi-hard
Mild cheese from Haute-Savoie. Has tiny whole. Semi-hard texture and nutty flavor. Also called Tomme de Baudonnes.