Everyone knows that cheese has a color, yellow/orange, and of course is pocketed with large holes, like something Tom might use to trap Jerry (give it 35 seconds).
This, of course, is utter and complete nonsense, yet I'm always amazed when people are distrustful of cheeses that are white, especially Cheddars. 9 out of 10 times that coloring is annatto, something that doesn't actually alter the flavor of cheese in any substantial way and certainly isn't needed to make a good cheese. As for those classic holes in cheese, well that's also not universally true but who am I to argue with Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera.
Today's cheese is from France, but as I mentioned in an earlier post it's actually more similar to a Dutch cheese than to anything in France. It also has a fun little secret, it is (at one point in its production) infested with mites! Mm-mm! During the aging process they eat their way through the forming rind, allowing airflow and aging deeper into the cheese. They've skipped town by the time you buy in in the store, but hey The More You Know.
Origin: North France
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: 2 months - 2 years
Notes: I purchased a Jeune or young version but word on the street is that the real quality pieces are aged for at least a year, when they start to come rather into their own.
Thoughts: So here we have a cheese that most everyone knows at least by sight if not by name, carrying with it all the respect associated with French Cheese and promising by all accounts to be a unique and delightful experience. What you get, while certainly not bad, is none of these things. The flavor is very similar to an aged cheddar, but not a particularly sharp one. It has a sweet nuttiness to it that is pleasant enough and won't send the children running for their string-cheese but is also, at the end of the day, very one-dimensional and uninspiring. This tone, which truly dominates what little complexity there is to the flavor, starts from the very beginning strong and overbearing and lasts as such on through to the end. It would make a fine cheddar, if I may be so bold as to say that and hopefully not insult either the French nor the English, but not a great one. The paste is rather waxy and not entirely pleasingly so, and overall the experience is neither unique nor very French.
Caution
Haters gonna hate.
This, of course, is utter and complete nonsense, yet I'm always amazed when people are distrustful of cheeses that are white, especially Cheddars. 9 out of 10 times that coloring is annatto, something that doesn't actually alter the flavor of cheese in any substantial way and certainly isn't needed to make a good cheese. As for those classic holes in cheese, well that's also not universally true but who am I to argue with Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera.
Today's cheese is from France, but as I mentioned in an earlier post it's actually more similar to a Dutch cheese than to anything in France. It also has a fun little secret, it is (at one point in its production) infested with mites! Mm-mm! During the aging process they eat their way through the forming rind, allowing airflow and aging deeper into the cheese. They've skipped town by the time you buy in in the store, but hey The More You Know.
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: 2 months - 2 years
Notes: I purchased a Jeune or young version but word on the street is that the real quality pieces are aged for at least a year, when they start to come rather into their own.
Thoughts: So here we have a cheese that most everyone knows at least by sight if not by name, carrying with it all the respect associated with French Cheese and promising by all accounts to be a unique and delightful experience. What you get, while certainly not bad, is none of these things. The flavor is very similar to an aged cheddar, but not a particularly sharp one. It has a sweet nuttiness to it that is pleasant enough and won't send the children running for their string-cheese but is also, at the end of the day, very one-dimensional and uninspiring. This tone, which truly dominates what little complexity there is to the flavor, starts from the very beginning strong and overbearing and lasts as such on through to the end. It would make a fine cheddar, if I may be so bold as to say that and hopefully not insult either the French nor the English, but not a great one. The paste is rather waxy and not entirely pleasingly so, and overall the experience is neither unique nor very French.
Caution
Haters gonna hate.
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