Author: Wendell

  • Christmas Eve, ’08

    I was in Silver Spring, so I went to Whole Foods.  It’s not the best (they don’t cut the cheese off of the wheel like they do a real cheese shops, but it was the best I could do at the time).  We also had Coffee Egg-nog with it.

    Bel Paese
    milk: Lombardy, Italy cows
    Semi-soft, mild cheese. Nice.

    Manchego
    milk: Spanish sheep
    As they say on Splendid Table, when you want to try out different cheeses, there’s more than just Manchego. But as I said, I was at Whole Foods, so I had to do my best.

    Stilton
    milk: English cows
    A very good blue; we’ve had this before. I lost the label, so I don’t know what creamery this one came from.

  • Thanksgiving at Burlington

    Was in Bethesda the other day & went by Ibo’s shop, Cornicopia. As it is an Italian shop, I got 3 kinds of cheese to take to N.C. for our Thanksgiving trip.

    Piave messano
    Italian cows
    very good, was hard & was fine for grating on soup

    Sardo
    Italian sheep
    very good, soft

    Pientino
    Italian sheep
    very good, soft

  • New Jersey Cheese


    Amram
    Bobolink
    milk: cow

    We went to visit NJ and went to this dairy in Warwick, NJ. They make several kinds of cheese, and we were able to taste a very tiny portion of them. Amram was closest to brie; we got several others.

    Shepherds Logue (0.55 lbs, $24 per pound, $13.20 total) Cave aged 4+ months. Brick shaped with an external rub of herbs de Provence.

    Oldwick Shepherd (0.53 lbs, $22 per pound, $11.66 total) Cave aged 3-6 months. Mold ripened. Earthy aroma, nutty smooth finish. Pyrenees style sheep’s milk cheese.

    Crema de blue (0.48 lbs, $20 per pound, $9.60 total) Raw mixed blue cheese. Aged 60 days. Creamy, with a smooth rich flavor.

    Shepherds Cushions (1.00 lbs, $2.50 a pound, $2.5o total) Brie style cushions; Aged to perfection; creamy and runny. Not shown in photo.

    Valley Shepherd
    all raw sheep

    Three from the dairy where we made cheese. I think the difference in Shepherds Logue and Oldick Shepherd was the kind of rennet used. All very nice.

    They gave very detailed receipts — weights and descriptions of cheese.

  • making cheese at Valley Shepherd


    We went up to New Jersey to Valley Shepherd Farms and made cheese. It will be ready in 3 months.

    There are some pictures up on flickr
    here

  • Whole Foods (supermarket) cheese

    Pecorina Romano
    italian sheep

    Cordobes
    cow?

    Greek Manouri(?)
    goat

    I got these from Whole Foods. Romano and Cordobes were good. I got the goat only because it was cheap.

  • yet more cheese

    some more cheese
    some more cheese

    Wensleydale
    Mainly because it is mentioned in the Monty Python sketch. It is a rather unique tasting cheese, but I like it.

    Saga Blue
    very good.

    l’edel de Cleron
    it tastes better than it smells

  • over at Melissa & Josh’s

    melissa cheese

    Don’t remember what these are, but I think they’re from Cowgirl

  • cheese and fondue at Angela’s

    Melissa’s fondue

    MCS and MLS made fondue. MCS and K were visiting, and this was their first cheese tasting. We wanted to make sure we had enough cheese. The fondue pot is MCS’s and she and MLS grated cheddar and gouda with white wine and a touch of brandy. It’s nice to have cooks in the kitchen while you are away.

    Ashe Co curds & cheddar

    I went to Calvert Woodley to get cheese to balance out WWT birthday cheese from North Carolina. It wasn’t as busy as usual, so it was great fun to taste. One cheese have gave me tasted too much like cream cheese, so I didn’t get that. They were also tasting pastrami — I don’t remember it tasting so good and garlicky, so I got that and Virginia ham for the guys — they can’t just have salad like us. The Ms already had some good bakery bread. Chocolate Moose Chocolate and NC strawberries for dessert.

    Ashe Co. Cheese Curds
    North Carolina cows

    Our first time having cheese curds at a tasting. David sent this from North Carolina. Some of us liked them, some didn’t. It squeaked when you ate it. Different flavor than Wisconsin curds. K gave it the highest score. Even though it was their first tasting, both MLS and K were good at describing what they liked and didn’t like.

    Belletoile
    triple cream french cows

    Since MCS was attending, we had to get at least one triple-cream. It was very good, as usual. K hadn’t liked the Brie he’d tried at N’s art opening the night before, but we told him it was because it wasn’t at room temperature.

    Ashe Co. Mild Cheddar
    cheddar
    North Carolina cows

    Another N.C. cheese from David. It would be great on hamburgers. And definitely mac and cheese.

    Camboloza
    invented in early ’70s
    brie with blue

    Cambozola is a cow’s milk cheese that is a combination of a French soft-ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. It was patented and industrially produced for the world market by large German company Champignon in the 1970s. The cheese (originally called Bavaria Blu), was invented circa 1900 and is still produced by the Bergader family in the Chiemgau region of Bavaria.

    very good. I loved it, and N even brought some by from another store along with her artwork after class — it was an abstract painting that started out as boats but looked like a cityscape — art always ads to the cheese tasting.

  • cheese from Sheep & Wool festival

    may 7 cheese

    Even though we still have most of the Cannonball left, we couldn’t resist getting some Virginia farmstead sheep’s milk cheese at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

    Cannonball
    referenced previously

    Stony Man
    milk: sheep (of course)
    region: Everona Dairy Virginia farmstead

    Very good, but a bit oily. We all liked it & would recommend it highly.

    Marble
    milk: sheep (of course)
    region: Everona Dairy Virginia farmstead

    Another from the same dairy, very good.

  • Wine & Cheese at Johnny’s Half-Shell

    Johnny’s half shell tasting

    Friday, April 25 from 5-7 at Johnny’s Half Shell, sponsored by our local Cowgirl Creamery and a local wine distributor.

    St Pat
    milk: Pasteurized Cow
    type: soft
    ST PAT is our seasonal springtime cheese. These rounds are made with whole organic milk (a bit of cream is now being added to soften the texture) and are wrapped with stinging nettle leaves. Do not fear the nettles, since they are frozen to remove the sting before they are wrapped around the cheese.

    Roth Käse
    milk: ?
    type: Gruyere, I think
    The next one she said was Roth Käse, from Wisconsin, but in looking that up it is a company that makes lots of kinds of cheese. We liked this one the best.

    St. Nectaire
    milk: raw cow
    type: soft
    We’ve had this one several times before. A bit smelly, but tastes good.

    Tome de Savoie
    milk: raw, from French cows
    type: semi-hard
    Mild cheese from Haute-Savoie. Has tiny whole. Semi-hard texture and nutty flavor. Also called Tomme de Baudonnes.