The main differences being that the Dropkick Murphys are musicians and Cashel Irish Blue is, well, from Ireland. Beyond that Cashel Blue actually has quite a few things in common with everyone's favorite Irish-American punk band; it is a gritty, unrefined, and generally bold cheese that, despite all this, always seems to be in season.
Origin: Tipperary, Ireland
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Vegetarian friendly
Affinage: 6-12 weeks
Notes: Uses the same Penicillium roqueforti strain of mold that's found in France's Roquefort and a previous star of our show, Rouge River Blue. Husband and wife team Jane and Louis Grubb have been making this cheese since 1984 in response to the lack of artisinal Irish blue cheeses, and though Cashel Blue is now shipped across the globe in ever increasing quantities, production remains in the hands of the family and their team. Say it with me now; "d'awwww".
Thoughts: The sample that I came home with was on the more aged side of its lifespan, meaning that instead of a creamy, crumbly Irish Terrier of a cheese I unwrapped a veritable Wolfhound. This older variety maintains it's rich texture but is characterized by an intense and salty grit, the two factors seemingly fighting for dominance and, in the end, making for a balanced but intensely potent cheese. As will happen, Cashel Blue grows soft in it's old age; it's moist and milky paste delivering the formidable bite of the Penicillium veining perfectly and all accompanied by an aroma to match. Perfect spread on anything or cut with some sweet dried fruit, Cashel is great for the blue cheese enthusiast looking for a mightier mold.
Just a quick word on mold while we're on the topic, as goodness knows I may never post another blue/molded cheese and I'd hate to miss this chance. If you think cheese with mold in it, around it, or through it is a frightening/disgusting proposition, allow me to respectfully disagree.
See, here's the thing. Cheese is, for all intents and purposes, curdled milk that has been molded or pressed into shape, salted, and aged for some period of time in big, cool, damp rooms. During this process additional enzymes and acidic starters are added to the milk, which even after the most grueling and flavor-decimating pasteurization process still contains a host of natural bacteria. In blue cheeses, these original bacteria are introduced to scientifically selected new fungal friends in controlled environments and then monitored periodically throughout the aging process to ensure that only the desired molds grow. Foreign molds will try to grow on the exterior of most any aged cheese, so they are regularly scrubbed and washed in pH-controlled saline solutions, helping the rind to develop while fending off trespassers. In bloomy-rind and surface ripened cheeses, such as the decadent French Chabichou du Poitou and Explorateur, the mold is right there on the surface, forming the naturally occurring and naturally delicious rind. Even Brie, a cheese so unoffensive children gladly eat it, is held together by a thin layer of mold, contributing hugely to the flavor and overall composition of the cheese.
Here's the point. The molds that you consume every time you take a bite of any cheese are meant to be there, including that spooky bluegreen marbled stuff in blue cheese. Rather than worrying about the mold that was injected into your cheese with a sterile needle (see Stilton), consider first the rBGH coursing through the veins of your milkcow or the pesticide-laden corn that it's eating. The Grubb's, like any responsible artisinal cheesemakers, keep a close watch over what's in their milk supply because they know that, eventually, it'll all get passed to the consumer.
Caution
If you tell me you've never tried/never wanted to try blue cheese(sheep cheese, goat cheese, etc), what I hear is "You should make getting me to try 'x' cheese your top priority".
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Vegetarian friendly
Affinage: 6-12 weeks
Notes: Uses the same Penicillium roqueforti strain of mold that's found in France's Roquefort and a previous star of our show, Rouge River Blue. Husband and wife team Jane and Louis Grubb have been making this cheese since 1984 in response to the lack of artisinal Irish blue cheeses, and though Cashel Blue is now shipped across the globe in ever increasing quantities, production remains in the hands of the family and their team. Say it with me now; "d'awwww".
Thoughts: The sample that I came home with was on the more aged side of its lifespan, meaning that instead of a creamy, crumbly Irish Terrier of a cheese I unwrapped a veritable Wolfhound. This older variety maintains it's rich texture but is characterized by an intense and salty grit, the two factors seemingly fighting for dominance and, in the end, making for a balanced but intensely potent cheese. As will happen, Cashel Blue grows soft in it's old age; it's moist and milky paste delivering the formidable bite of the Penicillium veining perfectly and all accompanied by an aroma to match. Perfect spread on anything or cut with some sweet dried fruit, Cashel is great for the blue cheese enthusiast looking for a mightier mold.
Just a quick word on mold while we're on the topic, as goodness knows I may never post another blue/molded cheese and I'd hate to miss this chance. If you think cheese with mold in it, around it, or through it is a frightening/disgusting proposition, allow me to respectfully disagree.
See, here's the thing. Cheese is, for all intents and purposes, curdled milk that has been molded or pressed into shape, salted, and aged for some period of time in big, cool, damp rooms. During this process additional enzymes and acidic starters are added to the milk, which even after the most grueling and flavor-decimating pasteurization process still contains a host of natural bacteria. In blue cheeses, these original bacteria are introduced to scientifically selected new fungal friends in controlled environments and then monitored periodically throughout the aging process to ensure that only the desired molds grow. Foreign molds will try to grow on the exterior of most any aged cheese, so they are regularly scrubbed and washed in pH-controlled saline solutions, helping the rind to develop while fending off trespassers. In bloomy-rind and surface ripened cheeses, such as the decadent French Chabichou du Poitou and Explorateur, the mold is right there on the surface, forming the naturally occurring and naturally delicious rind. Even Brie, a cheese so unoffensive children gladly eat it, is held together by a thin layer of mold, contributing hugely to the flavor and overall composition of the cheese.
Here's the point. The molds that you consume every time you take a bite of any cheese are meant to be there, including that spooky bluegreen marbled stuff in blue cheese. Rather than worrying about the mold that was injected into your cheese with a sterile needle (see Stilton), consider first the rBGH coursing through the veins of your milkcow or the pesticide-laden corn that it's eating. The Grubb's, like any responsible artisinal cheesemakers, keep a close watch over what's in their milk supply because they know that, eventually, it'll all get passed to the consumer.
If you tell me you've never tried/never wanted to try blue cheese(sheep cheese, goat cheese, etc), what I hear is "You should make getting me to try 'x' cheese your top priority".
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