2012
Two days (and 20 cheeses) in New York! My top 5 favorite American Cheeses
Recently I was lucky enough to meet up with Kristin Kosmoski, Marketing Manager at The Cheese Course on a short visit through NYC. Of course, my number one item on the agenda was CHEESE TASTING! This was to be my first time trying American Cheeses and I had a big cheesy hit-list to work my way through. New York is an amazing city for foodies, there is just so much it’s overwhelming. From cheese shops to cheese restaurants, concept stores and tasting bars, you can find it all.
Clockwise from top left: Humboldt Chevre, Rogue River Blue x 2, Rachel, Truffle Tremor, Cremont, Tarantaise
Over two days I tasted approximately 20 American cheeses; it was fascinating to discover such a rich and diverse range of excellent quality cheeses each expressing the unique qualities of the region, pastures, climate and local produce. Crumbly, waxed goat milk cheddars, wished rinds, tommes, fresh cheeses, and some really creative originals that were nothing at all like European cheeses. I have to say, living in France, the French consider themselves the cheese mecca of the world, and they sure do have a lot to be proud of. So I may not be French but I am rather bias when it comes to cheeses so I admit I was skeptical that America- known as the home of plastic cheese and industrial cheddar, could produce such exceptional products. My mind was open, and blown away. As ironic as it is, many Americans came to France from the 50’s onwards where they learned cheese-making from the French themselves, taking these skills and knowledge back to the US where idyllic conditions and mini-terroirs produced perfect regions for cheese making. Whilst America’s cheese industry has been exploding, France’s is actually dying. Of the 100-150 raw milk cheeses available, three disappear each year, meaning around 40 have become extinct in the last decade. And while Americans, Australians and Britons are increasingly going for unpasteurized cheese, in France raw milk cheeses dropped to 179,750 tonnes in 2008 against 183,500 tonnes in 2006.
So while the golden days for cheese in Europe may be over, it’s so encouraging to see that the new world is embracing the old, and that cheese-making is evolving to new heights abroad. Hooray for American cheese-making! In homage to my love for American cheeses, I have put together my top 5 and made a small video review for 3 of them.
Enjoy!
Here is my top 5: (The Cheese Course stocks all of these cheeses – find your local store here)
1. Rogue River Blue – Rogue Creamery, Oregon
This is one incredible blue cheese – everything about it is impressive. The first thing that came to my mind when I tasted this cheese was “passion fruit!” and reminded me of salty passion fruit butter. Not sure where that comes from, but the fact that this cheese, reminiscent of a Roquefort is wrapped in vine leaves soaked in pear brandy, contributes to its complex fruity flavor profile. Award-winning cheese-maker, David Gremmels even hand-picks every single grape leaf himself.
Check out my quick tasting/video review below:
2. Humboldt Fog Chèvre – Cyprus Grove, California
I have been forever waiting to try this cheese. Seeing it everywhere online, its beautiful presentation and story had me excited about trying this cheese. Relatively young goats milk cheese with a layer of ash though the center, pays homage to the French Morbier. The line of ash represents the low fog which settles on the valley in the early morning – now isn’t that beautiful! Its texture and complexity is truly divine – crumby on the inside, sensually smooth and creamy on the outside, its textural contrast and flavor depth only increases as it matures. Celebrating its 20th year, the Humboldt Fog Chèvre is my new coup de coeur! Enjoy it whilst it’s young if you like a milder chèvres, and keep it for a few weeks if you’re ready for a goat cheese with serious depth and zing.
Check out my quick tasting/video review below:
3. Truffle Tremor Chèvre – Cyprus Grove, California
The name speaks for itself. This cheese is tremor-worthy with goodness. Not everyone is a truffle fan, but for lovers or truffle, and those who are not sure, this one is a big pleaser. The truffle character is subtle and lingering, it doesn’t hit you right away, and of course, the smell is positively intoxicating. In the same way that Humboldt Fog ripens, Truffle Tremor also has that characteristic oozing rind and crumbly center. Serve it with wild mushrooms or grilled on toast with fresh thyme… divine!
Check out my quick tasting/video review below:
4. Cremont – Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery
Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery’s Cremont to me stands for one thing: creamy comfort. This cheese is rich, luxurious, intense and purely indulgent. A double-cream dream, Cremont is made from a mix of cows and goats milk. It reminds me of a Saint Felicien, maybe even Saint Marcelin, but it’s actually richer and more buttery. Let this baby melt at room temperature and dip in with a fresh sourdough baguette and slice of San Daniele prosciutto and you’re in heaven.
5. Tarantaise – Springbrook Farm, Vermont
Again, another wonderful American cheese inspired by French cheese making and named after the valley in the French Alps. Made from raw Jersey cow milk, the cheese curds are treated in a similar fashion to comté and beaufort. Aged approximately 12 months with a washed rind, this cheese has seriously satisfying bite, complex roasted nutty aroma contrasted by fresh grassiness. It’s buttery, full bodied and bounces between sweet and savory throughout the whole experience. I can think of so many uses for this cheese in cooking, aside from the pure enjoyment of just eating it on its own.
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Who is Rachel? Check out her profile here
2012
Aged Black Truffle Robiola: A special Italian cheese you can only find in Paris!
Aged Truffle Robiola from Alléosse Fromagerie, Paris
The photo does it no justice, but it was all I had time to take before it was whisked off into my handbag in order to shoot this video below where I explain this very special cheese- my new favorite and most recent discovery.
Recently I convinced someone to show me his cheese maturation caves. This was not just anyone, and not just any old cave. We’re talking Philippe Alléosse and his coveted four caves in the heart of Paris, where over 100 varieties of cheeses are carefully, painstakingly matured and handled by himself and highly skilled staff daily.
Philippe Alléosse is by far one of the most passionate people I have ever met in the cheese business. This man knows and tenders each one of his precious cheeses like they were his own children- I’m surprised some of them don’t’ have names. He could literally point at a 3 week old goats cheese in his shop and tell you it’s life story; how it may have sunk sideways for a few days, then he gently nudged it back in place to retake its correct form. Amazing.
This was one of the last cheeses he showed me in his four caves d’affinage (cheese maturation cellars) and he certainly saved the best for last. The Truffle Robiola is of course an Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. There are delicate little flecks of black truffle throughout the cheese, which as you can imagine gives it that divine earthy truffle flavour and aroma – but Philippe’s Truffle Robiola is unique. Unlike even the Italians, who only ever make and eat it as a fresh cheese, he actually ages it. When I asked him why we can only find the aged version at his shop in Paris, his response was simply “well, I’m the only one who knows how to do it”. And that savoir-faire, my cheese-loving friends is what makes all the difference.
The aging process intensifies the truffle character, at the same time creating a nice solid rind and firmer cheese which when warmed to room temperature and eaten alone, grilled on bread or served with Italian charcuterie, is simply divine. Check out the quick video I shot below to discover the cheese in the closest way possible to having the real thing. Enjoy!
The Cheese Reporter, live video blogging about the delicious rare Italian cheese found in Paris from Alleose Fromagerie- Aged Black Truffle Robiola.
2012
A visit to Rome’s “Nazi di Formaggi”
The magnificent cheese fridge at Beppe e I Suoi Formaggi, Rome
On a recent trip to beautiful Rome, I found myself in a scene that I can only describe as the Italiano, formaggi version of that “Soup Nazi” episode from Seinfeld. Confused? Let me tell you the story. In my extensive research to find the best cheese, pasta and foodie gems in Rome, I stumbled across this post by Parla Food on a special cheese boutique nestled away in Rome’s Jewish Ghetto district.
Beppe Formaggi is a cheese concept store featuring divine Italian cheeses, mostly from the northern alpine region of Piedmont, and a rustic dining salon for private degustations and wine tastings.
After wandering for over an hour and getting completely lost trying to find the shop, I had hoped for a welcoming reception to match my high expectations and bright-eyed, food tourist enthusiasm. Armed with only my iPhone camera, pocket Italian vocab book and sheer excitement, I proceeded to do what came most naturally — taking photos, of course!
Little did I know, this was NOT the done thing in the boutique of Mr. Beppe Formaggi.
The man himself emerged from the back room: a gusto, hearty Italian character with a powerful presence who proceeded to sternly look at me and slowly shake his head. Confused, I attempted to introduce myself in hopeless broken Italian. I could have said, “My name is Rachel; I’m here to order a lifetime supply of formaggi for the entire extended family of Berlusconi,” but it would not have made a difference.
“No photos!!!”
Ugh… how stupid of me not to ask permission first, I thought to myself. I’m not off to a good start here.
Here’s the photo I managed to take before being scolded like some sort of despicable undercover paparazzi:
Some of fresh Goats cheeses at Beppe e I Suoi Formaggi, Rome
Next attempt: Come on Rachel, you’re a cheese journalist (did I invent that title?) … Surely it will change things if I explain myself?
A younger, handsome lad with piercing northern Italian blue eyes arrived at the counter. This one smiled. I explained to him (resorting to English) that I am a journalist writing about cheese for America and Australia, and was it OK for me to take some photos?
He went to the back of the shop and had a few words with Mr. Beppi Formaggi, who again crossed his arms and shook his head. Blue-eyed boy came back with bad news.
“Sorry, miss, you can’t take photos.”
And that’s how I found myself as rejected as our friend George Costanza being told “No soup for you!” by the Soup Nazi — only in my case it was “No cheese for you!”
Ouch.
Okay, maybe that’s pushing it a bit, since I was still allowed the cheese, just not the photos.
So I figured, if I can’t take pics in the store, I will just have to taste the cheeses, buy them and photograph them back at the hotel room. So that’s what I did.
I started with the mildest of fresh Italian goat cheeses, the beautiful array of Meline di Capra — soft, delicate and crumbly, decorated and adorned with black ash, dried wild flowers, camomile buttons and herbs. I then worked my way through the brothers, sisters and cousins of the king of cheeses, Parmesan, and then finally asked for the rarest Italian blue cheeses I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.
Blue-eyed Italian boy disappeared under the counter and then produced a seductively oozing, runny blue cheese with a pale pinkish-orange rind. It was a six-month-old gorgonzola-like blue from Piedmont made of unpasteurised, non-treated cow’s milk.
The undercover photo: A sweet, mild and creamy gorgonzola from Piedmont, Italy
“This one’s really special,” he said. “It’s too soft to pass you a sample but this one is so nice, she is almost sweet.”
“I’ll take it! Now, please show me your strongest blue cheese. A strong, very ‘gusto’ one, please!”
He returned holding a seriously mean-looking blue from under the counter.
“Are you sure you want to try her? Most people can’t handle this one, it’s verrrry strong.”
I replied without hesitation: “Absolutely!”
So, slicing off a sliver, I tried the sample. Boy, was that one big cheese! This blue had serious power. It was so strong it was almost spicy. The blue mould was so developed and intense you could actually feel the texture of it, kind of like a silver foil — practically crunchy. The aftertaste was a warming white peppery sensation that lasted a good 10 minutes on the palette.
Next, the pretty little fresh goats cheeses and our sweet and spicy feisty blues were wrapped up before we rushed off back to the hotel.
For our final night in Rome, what better way to celebrate than an Italian cheese pre-dinner aperitif with a nice bottle of champagne? I took some better pictures before the cheeses were quickly devoured. The rest of the blue came home with me and I’m still working my way through it and loving every spicy morsel!
Happy days: The ultimate pre-dinner aperetif of Italian cheese and champagne back at the hotel in Rome
Meline di Capra: The gorgeous fresh goats cheeses adorned with black ash, dried wildflowers, camomile buds and mountain herbs
Cheese that knocks your socks off: That strong and spicy Italian blue cheese
Thanks, Mr. Italian Cheese Nazi, your welcome wasn’t exactly as warm and fuzzy as that spicy blue, but your cheeses are simply wonderful and made for an incredibly memorable last day in beautiful Rome.