I have to admit that I'm intimidated by cheese. I've often looked at the stacks of cheese in the deli section of the grocery store and have always wondered what do you do with all that cheese. And it didn't help that when I was in France for a while I'd look at the cheese shops (fromagerie) and not dare go in.I'm not comfortable enough with cheese in English and certainly not French.
It's amazing that the French love their cheese. A French friend of mine who now lives in Dallas said one of the things she misses the most about France is the cheese. So what's the deal with cheese?
To deal with my intimidation, I ended up going to a cheese and wine tasting, at the encouragement of my French friend of course. Headed to Scardello Artisan Cheese in Dallas for Cheese 101.We tried 16 cheeses!
What I enjoyed the most was pairing the cheeses with dried fruit or honey and bacon - flavors that I wouldn't have thought to put on a cheese platter. I preferred it seems the Raw Cow's Milk cheeses. Though I do love goat cheese. So here are my favorites. One caveat, I'm not a stinky cheese fan, so it's heavy on the other cheeses.
- Barely Buzzed - Beehive Cheese Co., Utah. Loved this. A raw cow's milk cheese it had a nutty flavor and my favorite aspects of the cheese were the espresso rinds and lavender flowers. This is the cheese for the coffee lovers in your life.
- Parmigiano Reggiano - Bonati, Italy. Everyone knows parmesan, but we had it paired with dried pineapple.
- Extra Aged Gouda - Holland. - This had a caramel and butterscotch taste and we paired it with caramel. Would never have thought to do that.
- Appenzeller, Beeler, Switzerland. Another raw cow's milk cheese that if you like almonds goes extremely well.
- Stichelton - Neal's Yard Dairy, England. This raw cow's milk cheese has a fruity and appley tast. Goes well with bacon.
We had several wines to go with the cheese tasting. But my favorite was a crisp, beautiful white - Milbrandt 2007 Riesling from Washington. Fantastic wine.
Websites
Poking the Camembert - Check out this great article on cheese and buying it in Paris.
Photo of Cheese by Kristin Hohenadel, The Kitchn.com. Photo of Cheese Shop by Denise Mpinga.
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