Recently I started listening to culinary podcasts and have opened my audio world to food philosophies, food production, and farming practices. I was inspired by two podcasts about British cheese , episode 23, and French cheese , epsode 59, to open my food explorations to cheese, and have since tried out various types. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to document my first four selections, but have included the latest batch here.
From left to right starting from the back, I have a cheddar, goat cheese, basil cow milk cheese, and creamy soft cheese in the bowl.
The cheddar is a mature 3 year old from Tuxford and Tebbutt. It went very well with the dry riesling, and the cheese was moist and not too sharp. I think on a cheesy scale of 1 to 5, I’d give this cheese 2.5 wheels. Nothing too unusual or overly sensual. It’s a good bite of cheese for everyday consumption.
The goat cheese is a Chabichou de Poitou. I would give this cheese 3.5 wheels out of 5. The Chabichou is a goat cheese, unpasturized, and amazingly does not have the off taste that many people dislike. The cheese is very smooth, with a medium soft rind.
The basil cheese is a cow’s milk cheese from Belgium. I couldn’t find the name of the cheese and the girl helping me didn’t know the name either. I’ll see if I can find out more information. I didn’t take to this cheese well, and I didn’t find the basil to be particularly exciting. I’d say this cheese warranted a 3 wheel for ingenuity. But from a taste perspective, I didn’t really find it that interesting.
The creamy cheese in the bowl is known as La Sauvagine. It’s a Canadian cheese manufactured in Quebec, and it won the 2006 cheese competition. It’s a very silky cheese with a very good mushroom finish. I enjoyed this cheese in spoonfuls, but also on melba toast. This was a wonderful cheese and definately a recommend. I rate it 4 wheels out of 5.
We’ve also recently opened up a small portion of our icebox to organic vegetables. We saw the Green Earth Organics home delivery service at the fall vegetarian food festival. We’ve since received our second order, delivered every other week much to our satisfaction. The only issue at hand now is whether or not the additional cost in groceries can be sustained over the long haul. Perhaps modification to how we eat is in order.
