Today I'll skip the big huge intro as the tips section pretty well goes over the backstory to today's cheese. Suffice to say this: Horse cheese. I am reviewing horse cheese. Well, it's mostly Goat cheese actually but a boy will take what he can get, and 33% horse cheese is 100% more than I've ever had before. So celebrate, for tonight we dine on horse!
Origin: Bavaria, Germany
Milk: Goat and Horse, unpasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: A matter of weeks
Notes: This is the "Weichkäse", or what I'd compare closes to an unbrined feta consistency, and the one I bought is suspended in sunflower seed oil with herbs de Provence for an extra kick. Yum, and all this for only 50% fat per solid content.
Thoughts: As with most weichkäses, the initial tones to come though from this are salty salty and also salty. The flavor develops considerably, though, and as the perfectly firm but meltable paste breaks down on the palate a whole range of flavors hits in a simultaneous barrage of “what am I eating again”? Don’t get me wrong, it tastes great, but it’s not your typical cheese, no surprise there. The heavy and earthy flavor of the horses milk, with that tart kick and a character I could only describe as brooding, comes in strong and is soon joined by the lighter more floral accents of the herbs de Provence. Intensely creamy with a touch of the more familiar goaty sweet tang towards the end, this cheese is in a category all its own. The horse category, I suppose.
Caution
Please do not think I condone eating horses. Unless, you know, they're out of everything else at the supermarket.
Also, how is this the first German cheese I'm reviewing? Crazy.
I want to try some, sounds amazing.
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