Posted in Tasting Notes on June 18, 2008 | No Comments »
We have mentioned Juusto before - the dense and slightly squeaky baked cheese from Finland. The full name is juustolepia, which means “bread cheese” and it has become quite prevalent in markets in the last several months, though some folks (like Scott Erickson from Bass lake or Tom Torkelson from Pasture Pride) have be making [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes on May 18, 2008 | No Comments »
If you have had brie in the US, chances are you have had President Brie, the flagship product made at Lactalis in southwestern Wisconsin.
The brie is mild and buttery and wonderful when warmed slightly and spread on toast. The texture is also smooth and soft, and the mold-rind is subtle enough for even finicky eaters [...]
Posted in Photos, Tasting Notes on May 14, 2008 | No Comments »
Before visiting with Richard Wold at AMPI, we stopped by the company store and picked up some butter, pudding and a pound of the jalapeño monterey jack. As it turns out, Wold was quite proud of his spicy jacks; his habañero jack won second prize at the 2008 World Championship Cheese Contest, and he was [...]
Posted in Photos, Tasting Notes on April 16, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The folks as Sartori told us that their Bellavitano cheese, an original creation, was difficult to explain. This is undoubtedly true on one hand (the texture is unique), but it is also has some familiar flavors that help a taster get a handle on its essence.
Bellavitano has some of the flavor of an aged cheddar, [...]
Posted in Photos, Tasting Notes on April 16, 2008 | No Comments »
When we visited BelGioioso, Master Cheesemaker Gianni Tofolon explained how BelGioioso comes up with their original cheeses - when the bosses are away in Italy, the cheese makers take the opportunity to make something new. You might think that a company that makes such wonderful aged parmasean style cheeses wouldn’t keep innovating, but they do, [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes on April 7, 2008 | No Comments »
An aged cheese should not merely be an ingredient, it should be its own food: a food you can serve to friends by itself or with a piece of your favorite bread. If you don’t really understand why you would pay good money for an aged cheese, pick up some SarVecchio. Like the American [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes on April 7, 2008 | 1 Comment »
When, after tasting five or six different BelGioioso cheeses, I told master cheesemaker Gianni Toffolon that American Grana was my favorite, he hugged me. He’s emotional about the cheese he makes, and that’s understandable; Grana is remarkably good.
An 18-month aged parmesan, it lacks any of the crystals or unpleasant dry crunchiness that sometimes come with [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes, tagged Alto Dairy, pasture-grazed, cheddar on March 24, 2008 | No Comments »
Alto Dairy is probably best known for having the largest cheese plant this side of the Mississippi (and it is large!), making mostly “commodity”-style American-style cheeses, mozzarella, and provolone, but they have also occasionally made smaller batches of more specialized cheeses. One of these is their pasture-grazed cheddar, aged one year. A number of cheesemakers [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes, tagged cheddar, Henning, peppercorn on March 24, 2008 | No Comments »
We just got back from a trip to Henning’s Cheese in Kiel. Kerry Henning was a very gracious host and wonderful to talk to. After hearing about the 14-year history of his peppercorn cheddar, we had to buy some! Kerry seems to get most of his new ideas by seeing another cheese and then wondering [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes, tagged Bob Wills, Cedar Grove, Faarko on March 24, 2008 | No Comments »
Though we visited Cedar Grove cheese a few weeks ago, I have only finally been able to post tasting notes about the aged cheeses we got while we were there. Luckily, a few more weeks of aging shouldn’t change their flavor!
The cheddar we got is aged 6 years. This means it is quite strong and [...]
