Cheese

It’s that time of year again. The Swiss Chaux Doux is here.  Get it while you can.

 

Chaux Doux is a seasonal, name-controlled Swiss cheese.  It is pretty much the same thing as a French Vacherin Mont D’or: 1 lb. wheel wrapped in pine bark, made only in the winter.  This is probably my favorite cheese in the world.

 

We tasted the Chaux Doux against the Swiss Vacherin Mont D’or available in Bay Area stores and there was no comparison.  Swiss Vacherin is awesome, don’t get me wrong,  but the Chaux Doux is more intense, stronger, earthier, woodsier, meatier and has a longer lasting flavor.

 

This cheese is pricey, but only here for a couple more months. If you like interesting, assertive cheeses, do not miss this!  We will cut into halves and quarters, but this cheese really should be enjoyed by keeping it in its little box, cutting a hole in the top of the rind, and just scooping out the deliciousness.

 

Seriously, do not miss this.

 

p.s. the promotional material (written in Switrzerland) says this.  I have no further comment:

 

Of course, the La Chaux dous is not for wussies, but for a real cheeselover it’s a climax.

For years people have asked for a good goat blue.  We’ve had a few, but for one reason or another (cost, consistency, availability) we haven’t had one we could depend on.  All that has changed.

 

Verde Capra is basically an Italian goat milk Gorgonzola dolcelatte.   Sweet, milky, tangy, just what you want in a cooking cheese, a salad cheese or a blue to eat with fruit.  It’s a mild blue – and not gamey in the least – but an incredibly satisfying one.

 

On sale right now at $16.99/lb but not for long.  It’s our sample table cheese while it lasts.

 

You may scoff at me for so frequently writing about flavored cheeses. Trust me, I only write about the most exciting ones, and Marieke Fenugreek Gouda is one of the best. You’ll note that they spell it ‘foenegreek’, which is perhaps indicative of the fact that they are Dutch people who have moved to Wisconsin, rather than, say, native Californians like most of the cheese department. I love their cheese, and I admire their fancy spelling from a distance, but I prefer to apply culturally appropriate spelling to American-made cheeses.

I’ve been wishing all day that I could have a pleasant argument about spelling and cultural appropriateness, so feel free to opine if you are so inclined. I’m not opposed to being convinced that I’m wrong, and I’m even less opposed to telling you that I’m right.

There is no doubt, however, that I’m right to consider this cheese incredibly lovely. It’s a nice milky raw cow gouda riddled with fenugreek seeds that impart it with a surprisingly maple-ish flavor. It reminds me of the Aged Ewephoria for its sweet, caramely taste, but less salty and with a much smoother, more pliable texture. One co-worker said the taste reminded him of toasted pecans, and I agree. Cheese, maple sugar, pecans, only without actual maple or pecans. Just cheese and fenugreek, however you want to spell it. Yum.

The world’s first cheese-to-cow conversion should be successfully launched as soon as I can dig that piece of chalk out of the floor drain. Where’d that go, anyhow?

Fresh Bocconcini warp the time-space continuum. The sign on the cheese clock has been amended to read, “Now, with less accuracy!”

Lungs? Check.
Spleen? Check.
Argentine Parmesan? Check.
Heart? Check.

(more…)