Author: wendell

Passendale is a modern, creamery, semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk. It has a round shape. With its warm, brown crust, lightly dusted with white mould it resembles a loaf of bread. The flavor is mild and creamy. The cheese takes its name from the Flemish village of Passchendaele. The Belgian Passendale has distinctive, bulging, rounded edges and a soft, damp consistency.

at: 3.3 na: 3.5 ms: 2.8 wt: 4

Labor day, September 3, 2007

Le Berger de Rocastin
France
Sheep’s milk
<see above for description>

at: 3.5 wt: 4 na: 4 ms: 3.5

Passendale
Belgium
cow’s milk
Passendale is a modern, creamery, semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk. It has a round shape. With its warm, brown crust, lightly dusted with white mould it resembles a loaf of bread. The flavor is mild and creamy. The cheese takes its name from the Flemish village of Passchendaele. The Belgian Passendale has distinctive, bulging, rounded edges and a soft,
damp consistency.

at: 3.3 na: 3.5 ms: 2.8 wt: 4

Mahon
Spain
cow’s milk
Mahon is a traditional, creamery, unpasteurized, hard cheese. It is produced from cow’s milk on Minorca, the outermost of the three Spanish Balearic Islands. The hard, orange rind carries the imprint of the cheesecloth and tends to be greasy. The curd is piled in the center of a cloth, square corners are knotted and twisted together and the cheese is pressed and twisted for a few days. This gives the cheese its typical “cushion” shape. Mahon is sold at various stages of maturity. It is usually sold young, when the texture is smooth and supple and the aroma is sweet and fruity. It must be consumed within 10 days.

11/19/2010 Update: I got a chunk of Spanish Mahon Menorca at Brookville tonite. It smells a bit like smelly socks, but not in a bad way. It was a semi-soft cheese and not very aged. Sort of the texture of a fresh asiago. It has little holes. Nice texture and sweet, pleasant taste. Imported by Forever Cheese. They say this Mahon is from Minorca aged between 10-12 months. The milk is thermalized, not pasteurized.

at: 3.8 na: 3.5 ms: 4 wt: 3.8

Parmigiano-reggiano
Italy
cow’s milk
http://www.parmigiano-reggiano.it
Named after an area in Italy, Parma Parmesan is one of the world’s most popular and widely-enjoyed cheeses. Milk used for Parmesan is heated and curdled in copper containers but not before most of the milk’s cream has been separated and removed. Curd is cut and then heated to 125 degrees F, all the while stirring the curd to encourage whey runoff. The curd is further cooked at temperatures of up to 131 degrees F, then pressed in cheesecloth-lined moulds. After two days, the cheeses are removed and salted in brine for a month, then allowed to mature for up to two years in very humid conditions.

What are the small grains you feel under your teeth when you eat a piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano?
Unlike what many people think, they are not grains of salt nor grains of calcium. They are crystals of an amino acid, called tyrosine, which, owing to its molecular conformation, crystallises if it is free and in high concentrations. Together with other amino acids, it is released during the process of protein breakdown triggered by enzymes. Therefore the presence of tyrosine is definitely a practical indication (since it can be experienced by every consumer) of a good degree of maturation of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

at: 3.5 na: 3.5 ms: 3.9 wt: 3.5

Le Berger de Rocastin
France
Sheep’s milk

A member of the Brie family, this French soft-ripened cheese is made from sheep’s milk and has a white creamy smooth interior and a flowery white edible rind. It is delicately flavored, hinting at its sweet sheep’s milk content. It’s shaped like a hexagon and ripens in just 2 weeks. As with most cheeses, Rocastin should always be served at room temperature so its full flavor is allowed to develop.

at: 3 wt: 4 na: 3.5 ms: 3
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Raschera
Italy
Cow’s milk
http://www.raschera.com/eng/

A natural rind cow’s milk cheese from the province of Cuneo with a smooth, sweet flavor. Raschera is generally aged for about 50-60 days. Very little makes its way out of Italy so this is a real treat for any cheese plate. The name originates from a lake in that area. The wheel is wrapped in paper and then packed in a wooden crate.

Raschera is an Italian cheese that comes from Cuneo. Its name is derived from Lake Raschera, which lies at the foot of Mt Mongioie. It is a semi-soft cheese made from sweet cow’s milk. The flavour of Raschera changes from season to season. Spring and summer cheeses are sweet, fresh and slightly tart. Winter cheeses are more solid and vibrant. Raschera has a round or square shape with reddish-yellow crust.

at: 4.5 wt: 4 na: 4 ms: 4.5
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Chaubier
French
Half Cow’s milk, half goat’s milk

A mi-chevre, meaning half goat. It’s other half is made of cow’s milk. This semi-firm tomme, is a cooked, pressed, washed rind cheese. Chaubier is smooth and mild with a supple texture, but it possesses a persistent and distinct goat’s milk flavor. Chaubier is another favorite of mine, especially great for catering events. It will appeal to a wide audience, and is easy to portion or pre-cut.

at: 3.5 wt: 3 na: 2 ms: 3.5
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Provolone
Italy
Cow’s milk

A whole-milk cow cheese with a smooth skin produced mainly in the Po River Valley regions of Lombardia and Veneto. It is produced in different forms: shaped like large salami up to 30 cm in diameter and 90 cm long; in a watermelon shape; in a truncated bottle shape; or also in a large pear shape with the characteristic round knob for hanging.
The average weight is 5 kg. Provolone is a semi-hard cheese with taste varying greatly from Provolone Piccante (piquant), aged minimum 4 months and by the very sharp taste, to Provolone Dolce (sweet) with a very mild taste. In Provolone Piccante, the distinctive piquant taste is produced with lipase originating from goat. The Dolce version uses calf’s lipase instead.

at: 2 wt: 3 na: 3 ms: 3.5

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Stilton
British
Cow’s milk
http://www.stiltoncheese.com/

A blue-veined cheese with a rich and mellow flavor and a piquant aftertaste. It has narrow, blue-green veins and a wrinkled tan-brown rind which is not edible. Stilton is milder, and drier than Roquefort or Gorgonzola, with a slightly bitter note. Stilton’s are allowed to mature for 6 to 8 months.

Eighteenth century travellers encountering their first taste of Stilton™ cheese must have spread the word of its remarkable, mouth-pleasing flavour. Today, nearly 300 years later, Stilton is still made exclusively in the counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire from local milk.

Only seven dairies, using the original centuries-old recipe, are licensed to produce the creamy ivory-hued king of cheeses. So esteemed is Stilton’s unique flavour and texture, it is the only British cheese graced with its own certification trademark.

Lighter than Gorgonzola, richer than Danish blue and more intense than UK blues, Britain’s Historic Blue is causing a revolution in the kitchen. Its meltable, full-rounded qualities enliven salads and hors d’oeuvres, soups and sauces, as well as meat, vegetable and fruit dishes.

More than a cheese, Stilton is prized as the authentic flavour of an earlier time – a taste of history that continues to make news.

at: 3.5 wt: 4 na: 3 ms: 3.5

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Manchego
Spain
?

at: 4 wt: 4 na: 4 ms: 4

Aug 25, 2007

Nancy’s Hudson Valley Camembert
Old Chatham Sheepherding Co, New York, sheep+cow
AT: 4.5 NA: 5 CP: 5 AI: 3.6 WWT: 5

Lamb Chopper
Cypress Grove Chevre, California, sheep
AT: 3.9 NA: 4.5 CP: 5 AI: 4.3 WWT: 4.5

Idiazabal
Spain, sheep
AT: 4.3 NA 4 CP: 4.5 AI: 3.5 WWT: 4.5

Fiore Sardo
Italy, sheep
AT: 2.8 NA: 2.5 CP: 3.0 AI: 3.0 WWT: 3.0

Roquefort
Societe Bee, France, sheep
AT: 3.5 NA: 3.5 CP: 3.5 AI: 3.2 WWT: 3.5

We topped off all that dairy with homemade vanilla ice cream & homemade chocolate sauce.