Best of 2006 -- Cheese

[gordonzola]

Best thing to happen to workers at a Cheese Factory
Wisconsin cheese factory workers embrace Buddhism, win lottery

Cheese ad of the Year
OMG this is so bad. Laugh again for the very first time.

Most Predictable Weather Condition
The American Cheese Society Conference would be somewhere unbearably hot. I didn’t know Portland could get like that. I left town early it was so bad. Milwaukee was so awful a couple of years ago that our fridge broke in the Presidential Suite. In Louisville, the government was actually telling people not to go outside. I walked two blocks from the hotel to go to a Walgreen’s and I felt like I had swum out past the breakers. I honestly didn’t know if I could make it back. Next year: Vermont.

Most inspiring event
The benefit for friend and cheese rep Sheana Davis. It was amazing how folks put aside the petty competitiveness that can be so common in the food profession and really came through. I was in charge of organizing the cheese donations and when word got out, people were calling me making sure they could send something. Here’s a photo of the cheese workers (minus Jessie Satan) who put the five tables of cheese together.:

Yes this is what cheese professionals look like. Sorry.

Best cheese
Really folks, many of you asked for this, but how does one decide on a best cheese? Ripeness, seasonality, handling, blah blah all affect the taste so that I could rave about something here and you can buy it elsewhere and it can suck. Some cheeses are fragile. But here are some of my new favorites of 2006:

-- Winnemere by Jasper Hill Dairy. The bandaged wrapped cheddar they made with Cabot won first place, but this sticky, stinky, washed-rind, bark-wrapped, ripened raw cow’s milk cheese is awesome. It’s only made seasonally, and it’s pricey, but it’s one of the best US cheeses ever made.

-- Anything by Pugs Leap Dairy. Made in traditional French styles from a couple of guys in Healdsburg who only have about three dozen goats. If you can find this, buy this. Though the goats are kidding right now, they are making a limited-time only cheese from Straus cow milk that should be available locally this week.

-Bellevaire French cheeses. Newly available in the Bay Area but only sporadically. My fave is currently the Cathare, a ripened goat cheese that looks like a moldy pancake. I also like the Couronne Lochoise which looks like a moldy glazed old fashioned. Oh man. This is the real stuff.

-Tenerone Tre Latte Basically a big format 3-milk Robiola but damn it's good. Goat, sheep and cow, mild but complex. Buttery but you taste a lot more than fat. Perfectly balanced.

--And for something not new at all, I personally rediscovered Blue de Basque last year. we have always carried it on and off, and really I wouldn’t say it’s the "best", but man I love this cheese and i just kept finding myself buying it. Basically a Basque sheep blue. If you like Ossau-Iraty, Petit Basque, Abbaye de Belloc etc. and like blue, this is the blue cheese for you. Tends to be a little salty, but those of you who know me know I love salt.

Biggest Cheese Disappointments
Fromage de Clarines used to be a bark-less faux Vacherin. Knowing that no real, raw milk Vacherins were coming in this year I ordered a bunch only to find they were are much more mass-produced and mild, more like Fromager D’affinois than Vacherin Mont D’or. They are still mighty tasty, just a shame seeing a cheese get so much less interesting.

Also the Gran Pecorino that I got bait and switched on. My sample was awesome. Nutty, sweet, sharp. Pecorino I could justify selling at $17/lb. What came was bland and boring. I returned most of it and eventually had to sell off the rest below cost.

I already wrote about the Toledo. By the way, with a hole punch they make great x-mas ornaments. Though, let’s be clear, it is not the cheese’s fault I bought too much of it.








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Comments

[ubiquity75.livejournal.com]

Blue de Basque sounds great! I served Ossau-Iraty over New Year's as a part of a quartet, and it was one of the bigger hits of the foodstuffs available. Completely decimated.

I wonder if I can find that locally.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

If they carry Onetik they could probably order it for you. It isn't too hard to find.

Or order a whole wheel for a ridiculous price here:
http://www.cheesesupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/124

[lastwater.livejournal.com]

I really, really like that group photo. I don't know why.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I like it too.

[freakstorm.livejournal.com]

Ha, funny Pug's leap would make your list. I met one of said French men at a news conference against GMO's in Sonoma County. When I asked you about Pug's Leap, you said be cautious of milk form Pugs. well, actually, you didn't say that, but it was something about dog's pictures on goat's cheese. but it is a good cheese.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

well I still don't think it's right to have picture of mammals not involved in the milk on the cheese label. It looks like it's cheese made of Pug's milk.

Don't get me started on "Alsatian Munster" as opposed to Munster de Alsace. Cheese should not sound like it came from dogs. Unless it does.

[sparkle-shortz.livejournal.com]

Nerd. *noogies*

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I prefer "purist".

[sparkle-shortz.livejournal.com]

*slurps pug milk*

I heart Blue de Basque

[flipping-hades.livejournal.com]

Blue de Basque is the cheese that I also find myself buying every single time I go buy cheese, even if it's only a little slice. I love that you put it out in nice little wedges - perfect for addicts to get a quick hit :-)

It's my crack of cheeses.

Re: I heart Blue de Basque

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

haha. yeah, we got ya!

I was actually shocked how fast that cheese sold when we demo'd it out. usually blues are kinda slow but I sold 15 cases in a weekend. Finally it's become a steady cheese for us. Warning though, this batch right now is a little younger. Still really good, not quite as salty and strong.

[thisisthenow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the best of...now when I go to my local cheesemonger, I'll sound intelligent.

Don't worry...I always credit you!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

haha. yes, because cheesemongers love to hear, "my friend the cheesemonger says.... "

But you will sound smart if you ask for the cow's milk Pug's Leap that isn't for sale yet. Or they'll just think you're wrong. ;)

[thisisthenow.livejournal.com]

Whatever wows 'em, pal.

[sophistimicated.livejournal.com]

I've been snarfling quite a bit of that Blue de Basque lately. It's sooper good with a little bit of bourbon to sip & some fresh fruit.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

Yer a classy broad, Sophistimacated.

[sophistimicated.livejournal.com]

Naw - I just take any excuse I can to drink bourbon.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

the bourbon/cheese pairing I went to in Lousiville Kentucky was interesting but in the end the bourbon overpowered everything presented. I do think a fatty blue like BdB would be a good match (they were trying hard aged sharp cheeses). But I hate bourbon. I totally ended up puking after the session which also included tasting unaged bourbons, young bourbons, aged bourbons and lots of boubons. hic.

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

What 'chu got on my cheesy potatoes, homie?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

oh man, I just finished a big batch I made last week with Essex St. Comte, Springhill Jack, Carr Valley 8 yr aged cheedar, and Mascarpone. It worked great even if the cheese was: purchased, a sample, moldy, and expired respectively.

I got plenty of cheese here but I'm off this week. Bring me some potatoes and stale bread and I'll make you a batch.

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

Awwwwww shit! Now we're talking. What kind of potatoes do you prefer? And uhhh...what kind of stale bread?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I think yellow potatoes were the best though i made 'em with 10 lbs of free purple potatoes and that was awesome too. I've been meaning to throw in a yam or two also.

I also need fresh rosemary. the bread doesn't matter a day old baguette is perfect but i'm used to cooking with free stuff so a fresh one would probably work too!

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

I'm on it! Any day of this week you prefer for doing this?

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

a little later in the week. My Irish side is rolling in their graves but I am fuckin' sick of potatoes right now.

[bugsinamber.livejournal.com]

Aight cool. For the record...I'm never sick of potatoes.

[badgerbag.livejournal.com]

OMG, yum!!!!!!!

[prof-southbay.livejournal.com]

This is long overdue (as is my return phone call), but you really are the cheese master. The cheese you sold my sister rocked! Crowd pleasing holiday magic. Even though I've been staying away from the dairy lately, I gobbled it up until I was in a cheese haze. I loved the aged gouda (of course), the feta in oil (yumyumyum), and the sheep's milk deal. Yum!