A New Series on Tasting Cheese: Session 1

I love cheese.  I could live on cheese, wine and bread (okay so it would likely get old after awhile and would certainly make me fat).  We do in fact make a meal out of a snack platter about once a week.  It will have some form of meat: pate, pepperoni, beef log; couple of kinds of crackers with our favorite being Pita Bites; sometimes fruit like apple or pear; and one or two hard cheeses and then a cheese spread product.  Add to that a nice bottle or two of wine and a movie or Food Network show and we are quite content. 

Awhile back I got on a kick of branching out to try new cheeses, something beyond our favorites.  Whole Foods has a nifty cheese tasting on Fridays where you can browse their deli area and find at least four or five cheeses ready for tasting.  I also really like Fresh Market for being able to get a wider variety of items beyond the regular grocery store stock.  But honestly select Kroger and Harris Teeter stores have expanded their options over the last few years.  At least that is what is available to us in this area.

So to avoid confusing and overwhelming both our palettes and the reader, the cheese sessions include only three or four cheeses at a time.  For us it is the limit of what we are willing to risk trying at one time.  There are indeed cheeses we do not like and it kind of sucks to end up with a plate of nothing you like leaving you wishing you had just bought a good cheddar.  And that is a tip - always have at least one cheese you know you enjoy.  Sometimes there is theme in the selection and sometimes no rhyme or reason at all.  I have tried to provide descriptions as written by experts for each cheese (to be clear there is rampant plagiarizing here and I have cut and pasted information from various sights so it is hard to give clear credit to original writer).  And then we give very brief thumbs up or down for what appeals to us.

Kerrygold Ivernia: (Irish) is a ripe, hard cheese. Aged for three years, it is rich in elegant and complex flavors. Cut, grate, slice or shred. Ivernia seems to be modeled after Parmigiano-Reggiano. It can be used similarly to any Italian hard cheese - in a salad of baby greens, topping a bowl of fragrant pasta, sprinkled over soup or on homemade pizza. It is also delicious simply served with crusty fresh bread. Kerrygold recommends pairing Ivernia with Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti or an Irish Ale. Both of us liked but was hard to decide which is better this one or the Robusto. It does have an appealing saltiness to it.

Robusto: (Holland) a Dutch cheese with true Italian flair! Robusto is a gouda-style cheese with the nutty, slightly sharp flavor of fine aged parmesan. Its texture is more versatile, making it easier to slice, shred and melt. Aged 9 months, it’s the older cousin of popular Parrano cheese. Enjoy Robusto with a glass of full-bodied red wine such as a Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon. Serve cubed on an antipasto platter or melt over pasta or roasted vegetables. Both like but hard to decide which is better this one or the Ivernia.  It does have both a gouda and a parmesan like appeal.

German Tilsit: (Germany) has light springy texture, mildly pungent and fruity, flavor intensifies when melted. Named after a town in East Prussia, Tilsit was invented by homesick Dutch immigrants trying to recreate Gouda. Due to various factors, they were unable to recreate their beloved cheese. What they did create was a brand new cheese they named Tilsit. Tilsit is made from partially skimmed pasteurized cow's milk and is semi-firm with a springy texture, dotted with irregularly spaced tiny holes. The rind is washed and brushed regularly for the first two months of aging to form an outer crust that keeps its supple, smooth interior from drying out. Tilsit has a mildly pungent aroma and a tangy taste that is delicate and fruity with spicy undertones. This German favorite is excellent on sandwiches, cold or grilled and is traditionally eaten sliced not cubed. It is also great on chicken or burgers, and also can be enjoyed melted over potatoes. Both of us found this cheese to be way too stinky to enjoy. We should have tried melted on a sandwich versus as chunk but I am not sure we would ever try again.

Aged Mimolette: (French) Mimolette aged 6-9 months is a hard cheese with a natural rind that becomes hard, dry, yellow/orange to greyish and pockmarked over time. It is buttery, nutty and salty with a slight caramelized after taste. Both liked although I liked better. Found it to have texture similar to parmesan.