The Cheese Board (41 page)

This raw-cow’s-milk cheese from England has a real presence. Uncut, it is a large cylinder covered in cheesecloth and discolored by mold. The firm interior is a beautiful deep creamy yellow, edged with cracks and fissures where the mold has made incursions into this dignified cheese. Its flavor has the highly prized bite desired by the Cheddar enthusiast, coupled with a slow, complex flowering of taste uniquely its own. Flaky in texture, it is a real pleasure to shave into wafer-thin slices and eat with crisp apples.

The busy holiday season culminates with New Year’s Eve, when the most common question asked is, “What should I serve with Champagne?” Everything tastes good with Champagne, but for New Year’s Eve you want especially rich, usually forbidden cheeses.

You don’t need to make your New Year’s resolutions until January 1, so enjoy this triple-cream cow’s-milk cheese that is at least 75 percent butterfat. It has a soft, “bloomy” rind that resembles white velvet. Rich and creamy, this cheese will bring you closer to heaven. If you have a hard time finding Brillat-Savarin, ask for a St. André or an Explorateur.

The floral aroma of mountain meadows precedes the taste of this rich Swiss cheese made from raw cow’s milk. The interior is smooth, with a firm texture a little softer than that of Gruyère. The herbs rubbed on the dark outside of this cheese make its flavor quite different from any other. It ranges from sweet and mild when young (four or five months) to earthy and strong when aged.

This sophisticated blue cheese made from cow’s milk has beautiful blue-marbled veins running throughout and an assertive flavor that is simultaneously sweet, salty, and sharp. It tastes smooth and rich, complementing Champagne and leaving your palate with a fragrant, clean finish.

In the case of most stinky cheeses, the bark is bigger than the bite. The smell of the perfumey rind is part of the eating experience, but in most cases it will not override the smooth, strong, sometimes even sweet flavor of the cheese.

This is a semisoft cheese from the Valle d’Aosta, a large valley at the foot of Monte Bianco. While this cheese is pungent, its flavor should be assertive but not overwhelming. It has a silky smoothness of texture and melts beautifully, making it a great addition to baked polenta or pizza.

Though Maroilles and Livarot are also candidates, Munster is unique in its stinkiness. Munster’s history dates back over a thousand years, to
A.D.
960. A good ripe Munster will perfume your refrigerator to the point where you won’t open the door unless you have to. This French Alsace cheese and its twin from Lorraine,
Géromé, are washed-rind cheeses with an interior reminiscent of a creamy, malty Trappist beer (which, incidentally, is its perfect accompaniment, along with a chewy dark rye with caraway seeds).

There is a story about one of our past members opening the plastic bag that the Gorgonzola comes in and drinking the liquid therein. True? Who knows, but we still tell the story to all our new cheese clerks. Gorgonzola juice is so smelly—everyone at the Cheese Board knows it as one of the main culprits of Stinky Hand Syndrome—but let your cheesemonger worry about that part. With its flavors of toasted pistachios, cream, and salt, all in one wonderful mouthful, this cheese is too good to miss.

Super Bowl parties are the complete opposite of New Year’s Eve celebrations. Instead of cheeses to match with Champagne, select cheeses to eat with beer. Everyone always talks about matching cheese and wine, but beer has been a long-time companion to cheese. Below are a few suggestions for armchair football players.

Maybe Italians don’t watch American football, but Taleggio could easily be on a World Cup cheese plate. The pinkish rind is slightly gooey, with heavy yeasty overtones that do not mask the luscious sweetness of this cheese. (See a
discussion of the making of Taleggio
.)

Made in Holland from cow’s milk, Old Amsterdam Gouda is aged for a minimum of two years, during which time it develops a deep golden color, a firm smooth texture, and a butterscotch flavor. Sweet white crystals throughout the pâte add a crunchy texture to each bite.

This is an American factory-made cow’s-milk cheese fashioned after a Danish Esrom. If aged long enough, it has a wonderful stinky quality and a deep flavor with hints of caraway. The paste is creamy in color and semisoft in texture, with small irregular holes.

Made in County Cork, Ireland, in two- to three-pound wheels, this pungent cow’s-milk cheese has a soft interior and an assertive flavor. It is a perfect cheese to eat while drinking stout.

This factory-made English cow’s-milk cheese is a mixture of Double Gloucester and chives. Orange in color with green specks throughout, it has a texture that is firm and smooth. The chives add a mild onion flavor to the cheese, which is delicious with beer and chips.

Whether the location is a meadow, a beach, or your living room floor, an intimate picnic implies romance and requires a simple and elegant selection of small cheeses. These cheeses travel well, whatever your destination, and reflect the mood of the occasion.

This petite fresh goat cheese comes in two-ounce round disks that are perfect to share. It has a tart, floral flavor and a creamy texture. Serve it with fresh cherries and a glass of white wine.

Sold in the familiar eight-ounce round wooden boxes, Camembert is made from cow’s milk that is hand ladled into molds and aged for three weeks. It has a bloomy white rind and the pâte is the color of straw. The rich, mellow flavor of Camembert is sensual and satisfying.

This one-pound Tomme is made from raw sheep’s milk from the Pyrénées. The small size of the cheese is perfect for cutting in half. The flavor is smooth, nutty, and bright, perfect with a light red wine.

People often come into the store and ask for advice about what types of cheese would hold up to the rigors of camping. Some people will be car camping with a cooler, while others will only have a small space at the bottom of a backpack. In both cases they are looking for a cheese that is sturdy as well as tasty. Since cheese was developed mainly as a way of preserving milk before refrigeration existed, there are many types that are eminently suited to the exigencies of outdoor living. Our recommended cheeses are all well aged, and they will hold their shape and keep their flavor even when they are tossed around in a backpack, and heated by the sun at high altitudes. Most cheeses will sweat a combination of moisture and oil if left unrefrigerated; while the look may not be pleasing, usually no harm is done to the cheese. If cheeses are allowed to get hot, a more significant change of texture will occur; again, not always pretty, but usually edible. (Discard any cheese with a rank smell or brightly colored molds on the surface.) To keep cheese unrefrigerated, wrap it in a layer or two of cheesecloth and seal it tightly in two plastic bags.

This California cheese is made in an eight-pound disk; its dark exterior is rubbed with oil and cocoa powder. It has a warm, mellow flavor that is pleasing on a sandwich or grated over a dinner dish. The extra-aged variety has a flaky quality and a sweet flavor.

Simply put, this is one of the best and most versatile cheeses around. Its use as a grating cheese is well-known, but it has been overlooked as an excellent cheese eaten out of hand. It may seem like a luxury, but as a backpacking cheese Parmigiano is hard to beat. It’s good with crackers and will make your high-altitude vermicelli taste great.