I live in a pretty food-savvy place (Napa Valley) so I was surprised when nobody at my local supermarket knew where the crème fraîche was. The clerks didn’t even know what it was. I finally located some in the store but it wasn’t the product I was hoping for, from nearby Bellwether Farms. It was a French brand I had never tried. And OMG, was it amazing. I needed it for an ice cream recipe but kept sneaking little spoonfuls.
Read moreRobiola Roundup
I can usually tell which cheese will be the People’s Choice in my classes. If there’s a squishy one—like the newcomer here—it will almost certainly come out on top. Everyone loves creamy, and while I lean toward harder cheeses myself, who wouldn’t fall for this sexy thing? It would be a head-turner on any cheese board, and before it hits the table it will totally stink up your fridge. In a good way.
Read moreCheesemaker on a Mission
It’s probably a good thing that the artisan cheese world doesn’t have cult creameries and cheesemakers—at least, nothing like the wine world, where the fandom can be insidious. That said, I’m starting to think Connecticut cheesemaker Brian Civitello deserves a fervent following. He is so capable and so thoughtful about his cheesemaking, and I love what he does.
Read moreTriple Yikes
Beyond how it tastes, which is fabulous, I have a few things to say about this little beauty. It’s perfectly sized to share on Valentine’s Day, so there’s that. It’s definitely a contender for my favorite triple-cream cheese. In its country of origin, it’s a style maverick and you have to admire that. But then there’s the little matter of the price.
Read moreHow Sweet It Is
I used to think of Gorgonzola Dolce as a “starter blue”—the white Zinfandel of blue cheese. It’s so moist, mellow and likeable, perfect for people who are wary of blue cheese and don’t enjoy the spicier types. “They’ll get there eventually,” I would think, just as pink-wine drinkers usually advance to more complex reds at some point. But there’s a reason Dolce (“sweet”) outsells traditional Gorgonzola by almost ten to one. It’s a pleaser and, to be honest, I often prefer it myself. On polenta it’s sublime.
Read moreCurl Up with This Cheese
The ruffles are eye-catching but you don’t need a special scraper to appreciate Tête de Moine. It’s a delightful cheese even when not curled into frilly rosettes. That said, I’m going to treat myself to a girolle—the shaving device—one of these days because, well, what a conversation stopper. The girolle’s Swiss inventor died four years ago, at 91, aware that his clever tool had sent sales of Tête de Moine soaring. Annual production is now 150 times what it was when his girolle debuted in 1982. I just listened to an old interview with the inventor and was charmed to hear about his lightbulb moment and be reminded of how good this cheese is.
Read moreOne-Bite Wonders
They’re back! Or maybe they never left. But I haven’t seen olive-stuffed cheese balls in decades and now I’ve baked multiple trays of this marvelous 1950s hors d’oeuvre. I spotted the recipe recently on another blog, A Well-Seasoned Kitchen, and it almost made me tear up. My mother, an unapologetic non-cook, had only one party appetizer in her repertoire and this was it.
Read moreThe Salad You’re Missing
If you have room for one more dish on your Thanksgiving table, I nominate this one. A crunchy, colorful salad is often what’s missing on the menu, a contrast to all the rich, creamy, brown food that Thanksgiving is usually about. As we know, but sometimes forget, the holiday is a harvest celebration (although where I grew up, in Dallas, it was more about football). A salad with persimmons, radicchio, grapes and walnuts is autumn in a bowl, and of course a few nuggets of blue cheese will only improve it.
Read moreThe Cheeses to Beat
Gourmino board: (l to r) Ur-Eiche, Emmentaler AOP, Bleu de Combremont, Le Gruyère AOP
The wins just keep coming for Gourmino. This Swiss marketing co-op has 13 cheesemaker members who seem to have a lock on the top prize at major international competitions. Last week, a Gourmino Gruyère prevailed at the World Cheese Awards in Wales, besting 4,433 entries. Earlier this year, a Gourmino Gruyère from cheesemaker Michael Spycher was named World Champion Cheese —for the third time. I can’t overstate how remarkable that is.
Read moreOozy Does It
With November around the corner, we’re entering the ooey-gooey season. Fall is prime time for those unctuous, bark-wrapped cheeses that spread like buttercream frosting, and this year we have a new one to celebrate. It took more than three years to get this beauty through R&D. Turns out the style presents all sorts of hurdles.
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