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Thu, 27 May 2004

Three more cheeses

I'm at it again -- crawling the cheese counters of the Bay Area looking for new and different cheeses. (See Three cheeses below.) As you recall, I'm a fiend for blue-veined cheeses, and two of the three here I've had before, but never really contemplated and compared their flavours.

Fourme d'Ambert: This is a cow's milk cheese from Auvergne, France, and of the three is the one new to me. It has a long and storied history, beginning, according to tradition, with the Druids and Gauls. It's supposed to be one of the mildest of France's blue cheeses, but the portion I got was very, very ripe and the rind was almost too sharply piquant to eat. The interior was creamy and flavourful, and not at all sweet.

Gorgonzola dolcelatte: Gorgonzola is the Italian entry in the blue cheese department, and typical gorgonzola (known as "naturale") is strong-flavoured, robust, and crumbly, often making an appearance in salads or with sliced fruit. But dolcelatte (which, of course, means "sweet milk") is quite different, and is soft, creamy, and sweet. I wedge I bought was quite ripe, again with a puckeringly tangy rind, but the interior was almost runny at room temperature.

Roquefort (Societe d'Affinois): Roquefort, truly, needs no introduction, and to me it is the king of all cheeses. All roquefort comes from the Roquefort area of the Aveyron region of south-central France, and is made with sheep's milk from a particular breed of sheep (Lacaune). While the current producers are able to supply the world with enough roquefort to reach even chain supermarkets in the U.S., it's still made pretty much the old-fashioned way, and aged in caves in a highly specific cool and moist environment. Roquefort varies from crumbly to creamy, but always has a distinctive sweet flavour that makes it instantly identifiable. Thankfully, due to increased vigilance by the Roquefort brand protection people, all the roquefort now sold in the U.S. (and worldwide) is authentic; twenty-plus years ago, some domestic blue cheese producers felt free to label their premium cheese "roquefort" (just as some domestic sparkling wine producers labeled theirs "champagne"). Much of that cheese was entirely edible, and much of it went into so-called "roquefort dressing", but it wasn't roquefort. I'm happy to have the real thing so widely available, even if it does cost $22/lb.

If you try these three together, as I did, it's interesting to have them in the order presented, from savoury to mild-sweet to sweet. I don't bother with crackers or bread, but if you do, try something with a very neutral flavour. These three will stand up to almost any wine, including port, which makes a good accompaniment, as does black coffee.

Posted at 14:48 | permanent link

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