Cheese Admiration and Celebration

AnnPT77
AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
edited January 2022 in Food and Nutrition
On another thread, there was a multi-person request for a thread devoted to cheese, for those of us who love it. Yes, it's calorie dense, though some types more than others. Personally, I love it anyway. So, please discuss:

* Which is your favorite cheese?
* Do you have a special way of using/eating cheese? Great recipe or recipe site for cheese?
* Are there cheeses that you've found both delicious and calorie efficient?
* Do you find cheese difficult to moderate, but have found helpful ways to include it in your eating? Share your tips!

Any productive discussion of cheese and cheese consumption is welcome. If you hate cheese, or refuse to eat it ever because reasons, please find another thread.

If you are allergic to cheese, I'm very sorry. Discussions about work-arounds for allergies are welcome, if anyone has them.

Just for @Pav8888 or others who sadly live in cheese deserts, complaints about unavailability of good cheese near you, or requests for cheese photos, are welcome.

I was asked to include these photos, from a store near me (in a mid-sized humdrum city in Michigan, so we're not talking the Big City). (I originally posted them to dispute the unavailability of good cheese, lots of kinds, in the US.)
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(Note gallon milk jugs at left, for scale.)

Same store: They whack up those big wheels and prepackage rather than doing counter service to cut individual orders customer by customer. All of those fridge cases the whole length of the photo are full of cheese, many dozens and dozens of kinds. (The regular boring supermarket type cheeses are in a whole other area, a couple refrigerated rooms, a tiny sliver of which you can see at right in the first photo.)
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Cheese, yum, cheeese!

@yirara, @claireychn074, @springlering62? Help me out here?
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Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,602 Member
    Harumph. Help you out? *arms crossed*

    Not if I can’t have a cheese playground like that.

    I look at those photos and immediately my brain involuntarily sings “Cheese, glorious cheese”.

    My favorite is some kind of cheddar-like cave cheese with crunchy salt crystals.

    I had some fruity chèvre in France that was a revelation. I ate the whole cheese plate, which should have been a terrible faux pas, but my host was genuinely delighted I found it something so local so delicious.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,972 Member
    edited January 2022
    I like hard artisan cheeses. Had some marvelous cheddar-like cheeses from small cheese makers in the UK. In the Netherlands Goudse Boeren Oplegkaas (some kind of really slow-ripened crystalline, but not that old-tasting Gouda) is really fantastic. I think there are just two cheese makers that make this. Oh, and so many other hard cheeses. I don't know what to do with soft cheeses like Camembert though, or blue cheese.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,972 Member
    smithker75 wrote: »
    I am very fortunate to have this selection in the small supermarket within walking distance from my house.

    t78cd9xlk810.jpg
    8prstxhghcsf.jpg

    I love all cheese!
    I'm particularly partial to a Tasmanian triple cream brie with quince paste on a wafer cracker. I also love dutch smoked cheeses.
    I find the best way to satisfy my cheese craving is to grate sharp, vintage cheddar super fine and sprinkle it on toast.

    Actually, this is funny as smoked cheeses aren't really a thing in the Netherlands. You can get smoked cheese in Germany though (and I think in Poland).
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,972 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    I don't know whether I've had anything like the Goudse Boeren Oplegkaas, but I have to admit I do like the long-aged goudas. To me, they have a taste that is like their color, kind of dark golden yellow flavor (and I'm not usually prone to synesthesia, though I guess I do think of umami things as tasting brown - may just be an association, not synesthesia?) Though different, oaked chardonnay tastes yellow to me, too, FWIW, but I don't like it.

    You know how to recognise good old Gouda? When it's got a bit of a sweet taste with it then it's artificially quick-ripened. Old Amsterdam is one of those. If it lacks the sweet aftertaste (bit artificial, really) then it's a good'un.

    I feel like I'm really in the wrong place at the moment. Feta is super expensive here, and generally, supermarkets only seem to be selling farmers cheese, which is kind of the same made from cows milk :( Oh, and I've not see halloumi yet, or paneer. On a different note, I saw a Turkish butcher is selling sheeps heads. Maybe I could buy one and make head cheese :D
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    I am definitely not a cheese connoisseur but I am a cheese lover. Living in the state of Cabot cheese, that's probably my favorite brand. And I'll eat just about any kind of cheese to be had. Especially if someone else is doing the cooking and serving. :)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    I don't know whether I've had anything like the Goudse Boeren Oplegkaas, but I have to admit I do like the long-aged goudas. To me, they have a taste that is like their color, kind of dark golden yellow flavor (and I'm not usually prone to synesthesia, though I guess I do think of umami things as tasting brown - may just be an association, not synesthesia?) Though different, oaked chardonnay tastes yellow to me, too, FWIW, but I don't like it.

    You know how to recognise good old Gouda? When it's got a bit of a sweet taste with it then it's artificially quick-ripened. Old Amsterdam is one of those. If it lacks the sweet aftertaste (bit artificial, really) then it's a good'un.

    I feel like I'm really in the wrong place at the moment. Feta is super expensive here, and generally, supermarkets only seem to be selling farmers cheese, which is kind of the same made from cows milk :( Oh, and I've not see halloumi yet, or paneer. On a different note, I saw a Turkish butcher is selling sheeps heads. Maybe I could buy one and make head cheese :D

    The 5-year gouda I bought recently didn't taste sweet, so maybe OK.

    I really like the feta from the local artisan cheese guy, though it's a little different from the main commercial brands here: Hard to describe what the difference is, but it's mostly a texture thing, I think.

    It's interesting to me that farmers and feta are similar, just different milk: I assume that's regional, because they're not that similar here. Farmers cheese I've had here is firm, sometimes almost slightly rubbery, whereas feta is crumbly. Farmers cheese has been lightly salted (or maybe not at all - not sure), but feta is very salty.

    I've never had head cheese, and won't as long as I'm vegetarian . . . but the examples I've seen look kind of scary. I would've tried it if not veg, though.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I am definitely not a cheese connoisseur but I am a cheese lover. Living in the state of Cabot cheese, that's probably my favorite brand. And I'll eat just about any kind of cheese to be had. Especially if someone else is doing the cooking and serving. :)

    That's interesting: I was planning to post a Cabot cheese as a calorie-efficient pick!

    These are two cheeses that I eat, the Cabot usually as an ingredient in things (sandwiches, omelets, etc.), and the string cheese as a snack.

    z0utp7so5zry.jpg

    Like I said, I usually eat the Cabot in things. It tastes reasonable, but doesn't transport me to cheese ecstasy - it's decent for a reduced fat cheese. The nutritional info is below: It meets my person rule of thumb for a calorie-efficient vegetarian ingredient (10 calories from all macros per gram of protein, or fewer), at 70 calories for 8 grams protein. It's fairly mild, melts OK on a sandwich or omelet, though as a cheese topping layer on baked things it's not ideal melty-wise.

    zd4f6l2fekop.jpg

    It's hard to find around here sometimes, but when the mega-cheese-counter store pictured upthread has it, I buy more than one package.

    The string cheese details are below. I like string cheese as a snack, and think various brands taste fine (especially with a line of dill mustard on top!), but I like the texture of these best. Also reasonably calorie efficient IMO at 60 calories and 8 grams protein.

    zkhks0jpyxn4.jpg

    I know that a lot of people don't like reduced fat cheeses. I do like some, especially in supporting roles. They're not a thing I'd usually eat for pure savorable joy, like I would the Humbolt Fog or a nice ginger mango stilton, say; but they have a useful place, to me.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    One of the cheeses we found recently comes from Bohemian creamery and is a sheep’s milk cheese infused with saffron and toasted peppercorns. So delicious!

    @sandielewis2001, that sounds wonderful! I assume that's the Bohemia Creamery in California? (I looked them up!) . I need to keep them in mind if I visit the Sonoma area. Looks like they have some other really tempting cheeses, too, but that one sounds especially intriguing!
  • sandielewis2001
    sandielewis2001 Posts: 318 Member
    @AnnPT77 - It is the creamery in the Sonoma area. We visit the area often for wine club pick ups and there are several good creameries around. Another favorite in the area is Valley Ford creamery. I like their Estero Gold Reserve and Grazin Girl Gorgonzola. Mmmmmm cheese 🧀

    o2xm91sdkdni.png
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    @sandielewis2001: I'm taking notes! You're increasing the probability that I need to visit Sonoma in the future. I like wine, but I love cheese!
  • lmgoff232
    lmgoff232 Posts: 277 Member
    edited January 2022
    Stopped at the Rogue Creamery in Oregon when driving through a couple years ago. I had an amazing cheddar made with both cow and goat milk. Unfortunately it isn't available in their webstore at the moment, but found a description of it

    Mt. Mazama: "the cheese is made from a combination of pasteurized cow's and goat's milk and it's typically left to age for a minimum of one year. Underneath its natural rind, the texture is dense, creamy, and crumbly, with tiny crystals dispersed throughout the body. The aromas are rich and pleasant, while the flavors are nutty, tangy, sweet, and acidic with hints of caramel."

    Now I am going to have to go again, lol.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    From our last trip to Bohemian Creamery:

    xq92revxbglp.jpeg

    That. That is the cheese thingie that I need for sanity and joy! Yumaramadingdong!!!!
  • smithker75
    smithker75 Posts: 80 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    smithker75 wrote: »
    I am very fortunate to have this selection in the small supermarket within walking distance from my house.

    t78cd9xlk810.jpg
    8prstxhghcsf.jpg

    I love all cheese!
    I'm particularly partial to a Tasmanian triple cream brie with quince paste on a wafer cracker. I also love dutch smoked cheeses.
    I find the best way to satisfy my cheese craving is to grate sharp, vintage cheddar super fine and sprinkle it on toast.

    Actually, this is funny as smoked cheeses aren't really a thing in the Netherlands. You can get smoked cheese in Germany though (and I think in Poland).

    This is something I learned when visiting the Netherlands a few years ago! It's a popular cheese here in Australia and is always referred to as Dutch. So strange ;)
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,909 Member
    "Cheese: A Love Story" has six episodes and I've watched it twice already. It was on the Canadian "Food Network" channel but I'm sure there are other ways to watch it. A Maître Fromager takes you on a journey around the world sampling cheeses. Exciting stuff for people like us :)

    I don't have a favourite cheese, though I once had a smoked applewood cheddar with caramelized onions that I still think about years later LOL And I love a grilled cheese sandwich made with smoked Mazuda and rye bread.

    Our family Christmas Eve tradition is appies and a raclette. Raclette cheese was difficult to find this past Christmas and the deli that I usually buy it from hadn't been able to get any for a year! I managed to find a small amount elsewhere and topped it up with some Emmentaller. It did not melt the same but was okay in a pinch.

    I'd have to say that raclette or a cheese fondue are my favourite ways of eating cheese, but that's because it's also a social evening spent with friends and/or family.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,474 Member
    Reading posts on this thread, I realized - somewhat to my surprise! - that while I absolutely love a good cheese (per my personal definition of "good" 😉) - it's a thing I actually am able to moderate. (Personality-wise, this is a near miracle, honestly.) For some reason, I can buy an 8-oz round of good brie, cut an eighth of it, savor it, and stop there. That's not like me! 😆

    Please, keep commenting, keep posting pics and descriptions of all the lovely and delicious cheeses available where you are (or wonderful cheese memories of times past!).

    Thank you - I'm loving this, learning lots, adding goals to my "cheese life list".
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Favorite cheddar- Washington state University Cougar Gold

    Stilton- it’s wonderful on so many things… pears with port, pasta with venison sausage, on a filet mignon It practically makes its own sauce, celery with walnuts…

    I do really like crackers, but I dont eat them with cheese. I have cheese with dried apricots or figs and nuts. Or apple slices. Or quince with manchego.

    This thread is making me hungry.