Cheese Admiration and Celebration

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,055 Member
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    Ooo, so much vicarious cheese enjoyment here in the cheese thread tonight! Thank you all for sharing . . . the photos and comments, if not the actual cheese. My cheese du jour is more pedestrian (still tasty), but I appreciate seeing and hearing the many goodies you're eating and planning.

    @BarbaraHelen2013, that salad looks fabulous! Yum!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,175 Member
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    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    In a weak moment, I bought some cheese today I'd never heard of. Red Leicester. So far I've been able to keep my paws off of it, but we'll see how long THAT lasts.

    Red Leicester is a fairly mild cheddar like cheese from the UK. I’d be surprised if it sets your world alight when you do get around to trying it. 🤷‍♀️

    I don’t buy it often - it’s best use is providing colour to a béchamel based cheese sauce when colour is desirable. Mostly I’d use a mature cheddar plus a pinch of paprika if I was looking for depth of flavour plus colour.

    It was worth the try. Kind of like cheddar, but more dense and less "creamy." It's always fun to try new things. That was my excuse to actually bring some cheese home with me.
  • paints5555
    paints5555 Posts: 1,228 Member
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    mtaratoot wrote: »
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    In a weak moment, I bought some cheese today I'd never heard of. Red Leicester. So far I've been able to keep my paws off of it, but we'll see how long THAT lasts.

    Red Leicester is a fairly mild cheddar like cheese from the UK. I’d be surprised if it sets your world alight when you do get around to trying it. 🤷‍♀️

    I don’t buy it often - it’s best use is providing colour to a béchamel based cheese sauce when colour is desirable. Mostly I’d use a mature cheddar plus a pinch of paprika if I was looking for depth of flavour plus colour.

    It was worth the try. Kind of like cheddar, but more dense and less "creamy." It's always fun to try new things. That was my excuse to actually bring some cheese home with me.

    The only excuse I need to bring home cheese is that it's cheese. Enough said.

  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,175 Member
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    I was walking through a store, and they had some Humboldt Fog labeled as Petit Basque. That was only $27 per pound versus $32. I treated myself to a two-ounce chunk. I will open it probably really soon and eat half. Maybe I can save the other half until tomorrow....

    Wow. Cheese twice in one week. I'm livin' large.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,605 Member
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    The cheese haul from our recent trip to Amsterdam. Three pieces of jonge beleggen (young slightly aged gouda) which is hubby's favourite for breakfast. One piece of oude geitenkaas (old goat gouda) which similar to pecorino and my favourite.
    47fx3cy87091.jpeg
  • BartBVanBockstaele
    BartBVanBockstaele Posts: 623 Member
    edited October 2022
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    As so many people, I love cheese, especially the good quality ones but I'd settle for low quality if there is nothing else. I have no real favourites, I like the vast majority of them, perhaps with Parmigiano, Roquefort, Beemster goat Gouda, Époisses, ripe-runny Camembert on top, but there are many others, all of which I totally love.

    While it was heart-breaking to me, I stopped eating cheese altogether after a series of experiments earlier this year.

    It turns out that in order to achieve what dietitians call "full and satisfied" I need to eat approximately 850 g worth of a semi-hard cheese, such as industrial cheddar. That is approximately 3,400 kcal and a load of saturated fat. The results are wonderful: I feel great, am totally satisfied and lose all interest in food and don't even think about it for at least four hours. It is the only food and quantity thereof I have ever found that does that and I love it.

    Everything else leaves me hungry and unsatisfied. Since I gain weight on less than half that amount even when I exercise, and since eating less turns it into a trigger food that compels me to eat tons of other foods until I am uncomfortably full and still very hungry, I decided the time had come to cut it out altogether. The result has been great so far. While hunger is constant, which it also was when I did eat cheese, it is more tolerable and I continue to lose weight, albeit rather slowly.

    So, although it pains me to think about it, no cheese for me anymore. It is just not worth the trouble it causes me, and I console myself with the thought that cows, sheep and goats like my decision, even if they don't necessarily like the reasons for it.

    Two products that I found come very close to good cheese are stinky tofu, which I don't eat due to the extremely high salt content, and nattou, which I totally love and which gives me satiation but zero satiety.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,605 Member
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    @BartBVanBockstaele
    Your stinky tofu recommendation reminds me of an anecdote when my Dutch husband attended a protracted family reunion. Hubby doesn't care for Asian breakfasts (typically noodle soup) and ate toast with stinky fermented tofu in the mornings, which he discovered in my uncle's fridge, as it reminded him of very ripe brie. My Chinese family were amazed to see the white guy who married into the family eating stinky tofu for breakfast.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,055 Member
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    @BartBVanBockstaele , @acpgee :smile:

    Since I'm vegetarian, like brie-type cheeses, do eat tofu . . . I'm thinking I should seek out this stinky tofu thing.

    We have some good Asian markets here, but it's unpredictable whether staff will be able to interpret my ignorant descriptions of foods I'm seeking, and English labels tend to be limited informationally.

    I may be wrong, but "stinky tofu" doesn't sound like a probable marketing term here. Do either of you have tips about what this might be called, or how it might be described, in other English terms, or ignoramus-pronounceable Asian terms?

    Yeah, I know this is off-topic to the thread, but heck, I'm the OP. ;)

    Thanks for whatever help you can provide!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,175 Member
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    @AnnPT77

    I think it actually IS called "Stinky Tofu." Looks like what we find here in USA has to be made a little differently to meet food safety laws. As someone who likes to ferment things like cabbages, radish, garlic, and the like, I wonder if adding some tofu to a batch of kimchi would be safe and tasty.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,605 Member
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    @AnnPT77
    I have known it as fermented bean curd. Chinese characters for the product and package photos below. As it is sold in glass jars, I am sure you can get it mail order.
    https://thewoksoflife.com/fermented-bean-curd/
    https://www.yumofchina.com/fermented-tofu/
  • BartBVanBockstaele
    BartBVanBockstaele Posts: 623 Member
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    acpgee wrote: »
    as it reminded him of very ripe brie.
    That is a good comparison. I tend to compare it to very ripe Époisses. No matter, it is delicious. My only problem with it is the high amount of salt, even more so, because I am eating salt-free except for canned sardines, they are (always?) salted and canned crushed tomatoes that are almost always salted.

  • BartBVanBockstaele
    BartBVanBockstaele Posts: 623 Member
    edited October 2022
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I may be wrong, but "stinky tofu" doesn't sound like a probable marketing term here. Do either of you have tips about what this might be called, or how it might be described, in other English terms, or ignoramus-pronounceable Asian terms?
    It was introduced to me as chou dofu, but also explained as stinky tofu. Googling showed that it seems to be a common term in English. There are two types I could buy in Toronto's Chinatown: a white one with a greenish layer and a spicy one with a reddish colour. I loved both. I really regret I can no longer eat them because of my diet.

    You can find some pictures of it, and the way it is sold, here:
    https://www.google.com/search?q=stinky+tofu+jar&tbm=isch&bih=448&biw=960&hl=en-GB&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDhr6Zm9n6AhUArXIEHX0BB1sQrNwCKAB6BQgBEN8B

  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,605 Member
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    I should have mentioned the reason my family were so surprised to see the white guy eating stinky tofu straight is because it is considered an acquired taste and the stuff is normally used sparingly as a condiment in stews and stir fries.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,426 Member
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    Well I learned something valuable. I bought a big waxed ball of Edam at a grocery store before leaving Holland in July, so I could make awesome mac and cheese for my daughter when she visited this week.

    Stuck the ball in the fridge.

    Apparently chilling it dried it out and made the outer part hard as a rock. Also, peeling wax from a cold ball of cheese is NO FUN. Didn’t realize til I was almost done that it comes off quite easily at room temp. Did I say NO FUN? As in sore fingertips for days? 😢

    Still, the Mac and cheese was well worth the effort of peeling and shredding. Very rich and flavorful.

    And le doggo has been enjoying the crusty and chewy hard bits of cheese like a dog treat. So ultimate happiness all around.

    If you visit the Netherlands, stop by any grocery store and get a waxed ball of cheese. Awkward as hell to transport, but wax sealed cheese is acceptable to Customs and it’s worlds away from what we can get here. My soccer ball sized ball of young Edam was under $13 US.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,605 Member
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    @springlering62
    I used to live in the Netherlands and if you like strong cheeses try oude geiten kaas (=aged goat gouda). If aged cheeses are not your thing, they do jonge (=young) geitenkaas and beleggen (=lightly aged). It's my favourite dutch cheese but the waxed wheels are pretty big. The old stuff is similar to pecorino and great on pasta.

    The way we typically remove the wax when dutch cheeses are cold is to cut into wedges first, then trim off the flat surfaces with a knife starting at the point of the wedge, and use a cheese cutter or vegetable peeler to scrape at the cheese from the curved perimeter.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,109 Member
    edited October 2022
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    acpgee wrote: »
    @springlering62
    I used to live in the Netherlands and if you like strong cheeses try oude geiten kaas (=aged goat gouda). If aged cheeses are not your thing, they do jonge (=young) geitenkaas and beleggen (=lightly aged). It's my favourite dutch cheese but the waxed wheels are pretty big. The old stuff is similar to pecorino and great on pasta.

    The way we typically remove the wax when dutch cheeses are cold is to cut into wedges first, then trim off the flat surfaces with a knife starting at the point of the wedge, and use a cheese cutter or vegetable peeler to scrape at the cheese from the curved perimeter.

    Sorry, as a Dutch native speaker I can't hold my tongue - it's 'belegen ' (Sorry sorry, I know a lot of people hate being corrected :blush: carry on with your cheese porn )
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,426 Member
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    acpgee wrote: »
    @springlering62
    I used to live in the Netherlands and if you like strong cheeses try oude geiten kaas (=aged goat gouda). If aged cheeses are not your thing, they do jonge (=young) geitenkaas and beleggen (=lightly aged). It's my favourite dutch cheese but the waxed wheels are pretty big. The old stuff is similar to pecorino and great on pasta.

    The way we typically remove the wax when dutch cheeses are cold is to cut into wedges first, then trim off the flat surfaces with a knife starting at the point of the wedge, and use a cheese cutter or vegetable peeler to scrape at the cheese from the curved perimeter.

    Thanks for the tip, but the outside of this cheese had gotten so hard, I almost needed an axe and a woodchopping block. I was scared I was going to slice a finger off, even with my sharpest knife. It was great inside though, and I managed to shred a mixing bowl worth of it.

    Won’t make that mistake again!

    Will be driving through the Netherlands Thursday and may stop at an Albert Heijn and grab some of these. Crossing our fingers Ikea won’t be sold out of duvets, lol.

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