Amadeus: A new cow’s milk cheese from Austria. Like gouda, very nice. A white wax rind. Named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Cheshire: England’s oldest cheese, listed in the Doomsday Book (dated 1085). Very crumbly; it isn’t spreadable, so use a spoon.
Blue Cashel: developed in 1984, it is Ireland’s original artisinal blue, and is the creation of Jane and Louis Grubb, a husband and wife team. Steve Jenkins says “To my mind, what Cashel Blue most resembles is the world’s finest Gorgonzola. I’m rarely out of it.” We thought it was very good.
We didn’t think much about the cinnamon cheese, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a decent selection.
W had been reading the book Camembert (Boisard), but this is the first time we had seen some from Normandy. It came in a cute little box “Le Rustique” with red and white checked paper. Signed by Fromager Jean Verrier. Normandy is the home of Camembert. It was smooth, creamy and with great flavor. It was hard to move on to the other cheeses it was so good.
We had Spanish manchego — just, it’s been criticized as being the only Spanish sheep Americans know, but it’s a good, salty standby.
The blue: Stagnolia Blu (Italian for Blue Foil) was nice and creamy. We assume it’s cow cheese. The blue was a subtle blue.
We’re not much for flavored or “infused” cheeses, and here is another NO to add to the list. TJ says: “Creamy Toscano Cheese Dusted with Cinnamon. This cow’s milk cheese has the nutty flavor of Parmesan and the creamy texture of English Farmstead cheddar. Each wheel is coated in cinnamon, which gently infuses the cheese with a subtle sweet-warm spice as it ages. Only at Trader Joe’s. $7.99 a pound. ”
We say no. Wimpy flavor. What would you eat with it? Not appropriate for a cheese tray. Apple with cinnamon cheese fondue? No, buy a better cheese and add your own cinnamon — though cinnamon and cheese probably isn’t for me.
Aged 9 months; Wisconsin, USA. Maybe if we had tried pairing it with a brawny port…
What a pleasant summer surprise — when the rest of CP goes on vacation for the month of August, Ripple, 3417 Connecticut Ave NW (formerly Aroma) goes all out. We met W there after the Shakespeare Theatre Free for All “Twelfth Night at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and everything else was still closed. Ripple’s bar, with good wines (many by the glass, some at $6) is bright but cozy. Manager Danny Fisher, who comes from Cork and Cork Market, is there to guide you from drinks to cheese and dessert. The cheesemonger, Julia, served up a beautiful plate of cheese and charcuterie. All the cheese is from Cowgirl Creamery(no cheese cave since they are so close to the source) Danny helped us choose the right cheese and the right wines:
Everona Piedmont – one of our local Virginia favs
Fiore Sardo – a pecorino from Italy that always works
Burrata – a soft, creamy mozzarella-like cheese from Puglia Italy that was as good as advertised
Jean D’Also Bleu D’Auvergne – a soft, french buttery blue that was a perfect ending to them all.
One the side La Quercia Americano, a proscuitto-like ham from Iowa. (the only American version I’ve ever liked).
Ripple’s homemade crackers are good, but ask for some of the good bread – doesn’t distract from the cheese.
3/24/13vUpdate 2012 on cheeses we would have liked to try there or somewhere else: Neva, Sheep Cheese from Spain; Cherry Grove Toma, Cow from Lawrenceville, NJ; La Peral, Cow and Sheep Cheese from Asturisa, Spain.
It was cloudy in DC, so we had to have cheese instead of meteors.
W stopped at Calvert Woodley for a loaf a bread and three cheeses.
Brie Belletoile from France. Soft. Tangy. Very spreadable. Regular cheese plate addition for us.
I bought Giant grocery store cheese because of the bright green rind. New York’s artisans cheese. Bergenost, described as an artisan cheese made in Corfu, New York byYanceys Fancy Cheese. The cheese is a buttery triple cream Norwegian style cheese, made with imported cultures, and won the 1999 Gold Medal in the New York State Fair Cheese Competition. Good. Aged, so semi-soft.
From Wisconsin: an asiago. Tastes like cheddar. Cow.
Maytag Blue. Pretty blue; well-veined. Not spectacular, but decent. On sale this week. We’ve had out, but I don’t think at home.
Cabrales and Beyond (Touring the hidden valleys and farmstead
cheesemakers of northern Spain) is a good article about cheese in the Asturias area of Spain. The author, Gerry Dawes, highlights it on his blog.
We got as far as buying some cabrales (kah-BRAH-lays) from Calvert Woodley, and it was wrapped in leaves (not all are). A creamy and earthy blue, but since a number of cheese from this area in Spain can be called cabrales, we weren’t sure if this was one of the recommended ones or not — but we would recommend it anyway. Traditionally, it is made with a mixture of cows’, sheeps’ and goats’ milk, but now it is most often made with raw cows’ milk. They let you taste the cheese before you buy it at Calvert Woodley, so you can’t go too wrong.
This issue of Culture also includes: a 36-page beer guide.
Somehow, W got through National Cheese Day without any cheese. I had this great salad at lunch at Jaleo’s “Ensalada de remolacha con citricos“, a salad of red beets, citrus, Picón cheese and pistachios with Sherry dressing. Picón: A three-milk blue cheese from the mountains of Picos de Europa in the Northern region of Cantabria. Instead of cheese, we went to the Kennedy Center for John Pizzarelli (Bucky’s son) & Jessica Molaskey — After meeting on the set of the Broadway musical Dream and falling in love, singer and guitarist Pizzarelli and songstress Molaskey have performed together and individually on stages around the world for years. We’ve seen Pizzarelli a number of times, and he shone along with the rest of his Quartet, Larry Fuller (piano), Martin Pizzarelli (Bass) and Tony Tedesco drums). Didn’t know before: There is a show called Radio Deluxe with John Pizzareli.
We stopped at Bardeos on the way to the National Zoo on Friday night. They have specials on their wine and beer, though it’s still not a inexpensive happy hour spot (7 Days a Week, from 5pm-7pm All wine is discounted) . But it’s a pretty bar, and the bartender couldn’t be nicer. Even though it is the most expensive way to get cheese, we couldn’t resist the cheese plate. We ordered PECORINO FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA / Italy & CONSTANT BLISS/ Vermont. It came with a big basket of bread and homemade crackers with fennel. (The crackers were great on their own, but took away from the flavor of the cheese).
And the National Zoo is open until 8:00 p.m. — the buildings aren’t open, but it’s a pretty place to walk — and there aren’t many people in the evening.
I’d seen expensive cheese boxes in stores, but not only were they too pricey — but too big. So W made we one to exactly fit the fridge in my shelf. It works great; keeps it fresh while letting it breathe. It looks like a square hat box for my cheese. I wrap them in wax paper inside the box. I use a glass container with a tight fitting lid for the blue.
The 2010 cheese event at the National Geographic was called ‘Come to Cheeses’. The speakers were Steve Jenkins, Www Xxx, and Yyy Zzz. Steve gave a nice talk on each of the cheeses, and the other speakers extolled the virtues of their beer and wine.
