Until recently, I did not realize how ignorant I was about the vast array of delicious creamy cheeses from Maine. I was aware of the many different cheese producers in Vermont, like Jasper Hill Farm and the Cobb Hill cooperative. So, a few nights ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a soft handmade goat's milk cheese from Seal Cove Farm, a small goat dairy in Lamoine, Maine.
The flavors are exquisitely pristine with absolutely no sourness. The light fluffy texture slowly crumbles and melts on the palate. It's the perfect final course to be served at the end of a long meal. Alternatively, you can incorporate the cheese in various dishes to be served prior to your dessert, such as salads.
Visit Seal Cove Farm! This is the first American cheese that I've written about for Cheese Course. And, it's the beginning of a long list of unique local cheeses we can purchase on our own soil. I highly suggest visiting these dairies to learn about how these labor-intensive artisanal products are crafted. Seal Cove Farm is located north of Acadia National Park in Lamoine, Maine. Before visiting give them a call at 207-667-7127. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Roquefort Vieux Berger has long been one of my favorite blue cheeses. The second you take a bite into this luscious blue, you taste a gritty sharp saltiness that mellows out and transforms into a sugary fruity flavor evoking the aroma of ripened dates, grapes, and apricots. The flavors are gorgeously well balanced and the texture is superbly thick and creamy. It's the best Roquefort that I have ever tasted, because it does not overwhelm the palate and leave an unpleasant strong aftertaste.
Like all Roqueforts, Vieux Berger is produced from raw sheep's milk. It's aged in damp caves found under the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, in southwestern France. Perhaps, its uniqueness can be attributed to the fact that it's the Roquefort produced on the smallest scale. Its name seems to pay tribute to the enduring tradition of shepherds leading their sheep on the the Causses, vast plateaux found in the Aveyron, near the village of Roquefort. "Vieux Berger" means "old shepherd."
How should one savor this sweet succulent blue? Besides enjoying it plain à la française, you can eat it on whole grain toast with a variety of different condiments. My favorite condiment to pair with Roquefort Vieux Berger is chestnut spread. You can even taste it with a bold chestnut honey. A mirabelle jam will bring out the cheese's fruitiness and minimize its saltiness. Suggestions on how to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
I am on a buffalo milk cheese kick. It started last week with Burrata. This week, I tried a firm buffalo milk aged ricotta-style cheese called Barilotto. This one is all about its subtleties. It's similar to Ricotta Salata, an aged sheep's milk ricotta that is lightly salted. Unlike the Ricotta Salata, it's not nearly as salty. Instead, Barilotto leaves your mouth with a deep sweet flavor.
Barilotto, like Calcagno, is aged in southern Italy, in Campania at Casa Madaio. It's salted and pressed to release its moisture. The clean taste of this cheese seems to melt extra slowly on the palate. If you're eating this cheese for the first time, I recommend that you first try it alone or with a dry white wine. Bariltto can give your dish that extra je ne sais quoi. It's particularly delicious added to a fennel and arugula salad. You can also have it in a watermelon, basil, and pine nut salad.
Where does one find this unique cheese ingredient? NY cheese shops, such as Formaggio Essex and The Bedford Cheese Shop, carry it. It's available at restaurants nationwide. Ask your local cheese monger!
I have to admit, I discovered Gruet at the omnipotent chain restaurant, well small chain restaurant, Harry's Taproom. Harry's is less than a block from my home base, so several Buckley meals are consumed there per month. They pride themselves on their unique wine list, which I have discovered is not as unique as I'd thought, since I can usually purchase most of their wines at Total Wine.
It was New Years Eve 2007, and we were looking to have a pre-dinner cocktail before heading to another restaurant and then out on the town for some never disappointing D.C. nightlife. I wanted to start the evening off light, so I asked for a glass of bubbly. There were only 2 choices by the glass and one was a prosecco, which is always too sweet for me, so I asked about the other option at $7.50 a glass. I paid little attention to the name, but the state was quite intriguing; New Mexico! I had a feeling I was in for something nasty paired with a nasty headache, so I did what all revelers do on New Year's Eve, I said, Bring it on!
I was amazed by this lovely dry stunner and its tickling aroma of grapefruit and rustic copper. Sip by sip, I became more intoxicated with the joy that you can only experience by finding a great bargain wine under $15.00. Along with this odd pairing of state and champagne is the corresponding story about the European wine makers and their discovery of the rustic but fertile New Mexican terroire which I will link out to. The family also owns a steak house, which I am dying to visit.
I first encountered Burrata during a trip to one of Genoa's oldest markets - Mercato Orientale. When I sliced into Burrata a luscious cream slowly oozed out from the center. The cream tasted slightly like a fresh ricotta. I spread the cheese over crusty bread and drizzled olive oil over it. Burrata is essentially a creamy spreadable buffalo milk mozzarella. In Italian, the name "Burrata" means "buttered." Unlike Mozzarella, Burrata's center is filled with cooked Italian cream.
Burrata is produced in the southeastern region of Italy, called Puglia. It was not until 1920 that this rich smooth cheese was invented. By the 1950s, the production of Burrata increased. This probably had to do with the fact that the cheese recycles leftover pieces of mozzarella. During the cheese making process, Burrata is formed into a pouch that is filled with scraps of leftover mozzarella and topped off with fresh cream. Traditionally, the cheese would be wrapped in asphodel leaves. The leaves serve as indicators to the freshness of the cheese. As long as the leaves are green, the cheese is still fresh. Today, the cheese is not always wrapped in these leaves.
Unfortunately, Burrata is not easy to find in the United States. This has to do with its fragility and freshness. In Italy, Burrata is typically eaten just a few days old. It does not have a long shelf life. So, the pouches of this cheese that you find in the U.S. are normally flown into the country. I am skeptical about purchasing the cheese from online vendors. I would suggest that you buy it from a cheese monger who you trust will tell you when the cheese arrived. Continue reading to find out how it can be the perfect summer treat.
I was walking on Broadway the other day, and I was nearly side-swiped by a peddling man, swerving in a red buggy. Obviously, it was a cheese delivery man.
Artisanal Premium Cheese recently launched their "Same Day Rickshaw Delivery" service in Manhattan, offering patrons between 34th and 63rd streets a 5pm delivery of an assortment of cheeses. Artisanal paired with Revolution Rickshaws (those lanky bicyclists in Central Park who offer romantic carriage rides) to add a little flavor to the service. Why they specifically choose a 29 block radius for cheese delivery? Well, its considered their "initial kick-off" phase, but I'm hoping for a complete expansion. I'm sure the cheese gets prime-time refrigeratory treatment, and the the site does say "Rickshaw Revolution will start peddling your way", so Ill be patiently waiting in my downtown apartment for the Rickshaw Celebration Collection.
I must admit, I'm fantasizing about owning one of those rickshaws. Can you imagine how popular I would be if my mobile bumper sticker said professional cheese delivery?
When I first started my career in the cheese biz, I had no idea how many pecorinos there were. The category includes essentially all Italian sheep's milk cheeses. Pecora in Italian means "sheep." Most of them are produced in Tuscany and Sardinia. Calcagno is a pecorino that's hand crafted in Sardinia, and then, it's aged in southern Italy in the Campania region.
I find that most pecorinos are nutty and tend to dry out rather quickly. Calcagno is an exception. Cutting into a fresh wheel of Calcagno is like diving into a feathery bright green meadow with vibrant flowers and the smell of blossoms. The first characteristic I noticed about Calcagno was its exquisite floral aroma. Then, I was struck by its creamy texture and its crunchy protein crystals, the white dots in the cheese. Although it's a hard cheese, it seems to melt like butter on the palate. Finally, I was swept away by its complex finish ranging from flowers and cashew nuts to lemons and apricots.
We can trace Calcagno's brilliant flavor to its production. It's produced from the milk of sheep that are grazing on natural pasture and are sotto cielo, under the sky. Sotto Cielo has become a movement by farmers who want to preserve the tradtional ways of farming and taking care of their animals. Currently, there is a problem in Italy with many animals living on concrete indoors and rarely seeing the light of day. The sheep that produce the milk that creates Calcagno are living happily sotto cielo. Calcagno is aged for four to six months in natural caves in Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park by one of Italy's best affineurs -- Casa Madaio. Suggestions on the best way to enjoy Calcagno can be found after the jump.
Ever since I returned from Dubai, I've become fascinated by Middle Eastern cuisine. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Sahadi's in Brooklyn, and I discovered Labne. Labne is a dense yoghurt eaten in Syria and Lebanon. It's not as tangy as many of the Greek yoghurts I've tried in the past, but it has the same thick texture. You can flavor it with crushed mint and olive oil. Also, it doesn't have nearly as many carbs as most yoghurts. Labne from Karoun Dairies in California has just two grams of carbohydrates in a two tablespoon serving size .
For those of you on a low-carb diet, like the Atkin's, Labne is a great find. You can use it as a dip for hamburger meat. It can be a substitute for sour cream. It also tenderizes meat in a stew and adds a great creamy tang to a soup. For those of you not on a strict low carb regimen, I urge you to try it over bread with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, olive oil and maras pepper. When entertaining, Labne can serve as dip for bread. This month, the New York Times Magazine featured a recipe for labne-and-ricotta cheesecakes with rice, nut and raspberry relish.
Ah, the diverse ways you can add labne into your diet! Next time you have zaatar bread, dip it into labne and taste the gastronomic effects of this unique low-carb treat.
Stichelton became a cheese celebrity this past winter when it was written up in the New York Times. It's a masterpiece of a cheese. It's a work of art! This succulent blue cheese has a unique earthiness, an intense fruitiness tasting of apples, a spiciness to play off the sweetness, and a rich creamy texture. There are only a few wheels of Stichelton that leave England for the United States. So, when I see it at a cheese shop I always purchase a piece.
Stichelton is a raw milk Stilton. Ever since 1989, Stilton was required to be produced with pasteurized cow's milk. Yearning for their raw milk Stilton, Randolph Hodgson of Neal's Yard Dairy and Joe Schneider, an American cheese maker, experimented with their first batches of what would become Stichelton. Before the cheese was perfected, they called it Worksop Blue. Finally, they came up with the name Stichelton, the ancient name of the village that would eventually be known as Stilton.
This cheese is sure to convert someone who is terrified of blue cheeses into someone who savors their many complicated delicious layers of sharpness and aroma. Recommendations on the best way to savor Stichelton's complexity can be found after the jump.
When you are entertaining, you should only take out the amount of cheese you plan on using. This may seem obvious. But, many times, we forget that even though we may have a half-pound of Stilton, it may not be the best idea to serve the entire piece unless we know it will all be eaten.
I'm not married, so I spend a lot of time thinking about my wedding cake-to-be. I often thumb through Martha's book on wedding cakes on the floor of Barnes & Noble, and I can't pass a window full of them without gazing longingly. They're just so beautiful.
In all of this fantasizing, it's never occurred to me to think about having a cake made out of something other than cake. Like, for example, cheese. But apparently cheese cakes are becoming trendy in countries like New Zealand -- layers and layers of gorgeous, decorated cheese. Has anyone ever actually witnessed or tasted one of these? Would you consider having one?
I love grilled cheese, whether the cheese is lumped between two pieces of bread with other goodies, or done my dad's way, open-faced and broiled until the center is gooey and the perimeter is crisp. Along with a cheese omelet, it's my favorite late-night snack -- especially if you add tomatoes.
And today, I'm in a whirlwind of grilled cheese fantasies because the Kitchn just referred back to a really great AOL Food list of awesome, gourmet cheese sandwiches (that Bob blogged about last year). After thoughts of homemade cheese delicacies, I started thinking back to grilled cheese outside the house.
Some places have recognized the wonder of grilled cheese. If you research the W Hotel, you'll find that many guests have noted their great grilled cheese, whether it has crab added to it in New Orleans, or tomatoes in San Francisco. I had the latter, practically drooling at the thought after a long night out with friends. My friend and I both ordered the gc and fries, and when it arrived, alcohol-fueled, 2-AM chatter was replaced with heavenly groans. It's that good. It wasn't too fancy. In fact, it was pretty simple, but tasted perfectly wonderful.
Do you ever bother to order grilled cheese out of the house? And, if so, have you had any worth mentioning?
I often think about cheeses according to where they're from. Lately, I've been trying different Ossau-Iraty cheeses. These sheep's milk cheeses come from the French Pyrenees between the Ossau valley and the Iraty forest, hence its name. They are produced from the milk of basco-béarnaise sheep, a breed that yield a limited amount of milk. My favorite cheese from the Ossau valley is Brebis Pardou.
Brebis Pardou's texture and flavor are flawless, because they are so well balanced. Biting into a piece of Brebis Pardou seems to transport you to a pastoral paradise with bright green rolling hills and statuesque mountains. It tastes wonderfully fruity without being overly sweet. The slightly nutty tang towards the finish gently tickles the back of your throat and leaves you craving more. Affineur Christian Pardou handcrafts Brebis Pardou in the age-old tradition passed down from béarnais shepherds. It is one of the few fermier style Ossau-Iraty wheels available in the United States. Suggestions on the best way to relish Brebis Pardou's complexity can be found after the jump.
When we hear people talking about cheese, the word "affinage" often comes up. Affinage is arguably the most crucial step of cheese making and involves the aging process. Approximately 50 percent of the flavors you taste in a cheese can be attributed to the affinage. The affineur is the person in charge of the procedure. Cheese-makers will often send their cheeses to the best affineurs to age their cheeses, even if it means sending their cheese to the other side of the country. Why is affinage so important? Affineurs can be viewed as the foster parents of the cheese. They receive these cheeses completely fresh, before they've developed, and then, they take care of the cheeses in such a way that they each acquire their own unique characteristics. The affineur ages their cheeses in the right humidity and temperature, many times a cave. Depending on the type of cheese, they may brush, wash, and rotate the wheels. Affinage is a skill that takes many years to perfect. It's an art that involves a lot of labor.
Who are some affineurs I should be aware of? I highly recommend that you become familiar with the cheeses of Marcel Petite, Giorgio Cravero, and Hervé Mons. These three affineurs produce exquisite cheeses, and, with their craft, they have all revolutionized cheese-making and affinage. Marcel Petite is known for aging wheels of Comté in an old fortress, Fort Saint-Antoine, for longer than 12 months. His technique is aging the wheels for longer periods of time at lower temperatures through a strenuous attention to detail. Before Marcel Petite, the average age of a Comte was 12 months. Cravero's Parmigiano Reggiano is an absolute must-try. It's not nearly as dry as most Reggianos. Cravero's talent rests in his ability to hand-select the best wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano from the finest farms in Emilia-Romagna. Lastly, Hervé Mons' skill can be tasted in the many varieties of cheeses that he ages from all over France.
Ah, the ways we can display patriotism! Waving a flag, singing "The Star Spangled Banner," and, of course constructing a sculpture of Wisconsin celebrities, such as Bucky Badger, Musky (the state fish), a dairy cow, and more out of 5,000 pounds of Wisconsin cheddar cheese.
Sarah Kaufmann has been creating large and small sculptures out of cheese since 1981. This July 4th, Sarah is hand-sculpting cheddar cheese to design a scene (with a 15-foot circumference) of popular Wisconsin icons in a "Spirit of '76"-style parade. In the past, people have crowded around Sarah as she produced her cheese masterpieces. For the next couple of days, people can once again gather to see the cheese turn into three dimensional characters. Today through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the public is invited to the Madison, WI Sam's Club to taste the cheese and purchase their own piece of the 5,000-pound cheddar.
I thought Sarah was starting a patriotic trend. Apparently, carving cheeses has been done before as a way of expressing American patriotism. In 1802, Elder John Leland presented Thomas Jefferson with a four-foot wide 15-inch thick sculpted cheese to express his political support.
And just so you know, handcrafted cheese larger than 75 pounds is considered a mammoth cheese. View Sarah's mammoth cheeses in the gallery below. What do you think? Does this cheese look good enough to eat, or is it just a waste of food?
Until recently, I did not realize how ignorant I was about the vast array of delicious creamy cheeses from Maine. I was aware of the many different cheese producers in Vermont, like Jasper Hill Farm and the Cobb Hill cooperative. So, a few nights ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a soft handmade goat's milk cheese from Seal Cove Farm, a small goat dairy in Lamoine, Maine. 
I was walking on Broadway the other day, and I was nearly side-swiped by a peddling man, swerving in a red buggy. Obviously, it was a cheese delivery man.
I'm not married, so I spend a lot of time thinking about my wedding cake-to-be. I often thumb through 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
