One of the many perks of being known in your immediate (and even extended) social circle as 'the cheese guy' is that you are, in the words of a friend of mine; very easy to buy for. I recently entered another fresh rotation around our local star and, to mark the occasion, said friend brought me cheese! He is a good friend. One cheese was intentionally bad, but two were intentionally great. He had even remembered my description of a favorite cheese of mine (the top-five Cabra Romero) and tried to track it down for me. Because, apparently I do in fact talk about my favorite cheeses. Just casually.
In any case I was intrigued by the rough bits of whole rosemary pedal in the paste, and the fact that unlike my above named favorite goat's milk cheese from Spain this was a sheep's milk cheese. How would it compare? I owed it to the world (and my friend) to find out.
Origin: Spain
Origin: Spain
Milk: Sheep
Affinage: 6 months
Notes: If you've been tuning into these halls of cheese musings for a while now (says the author into the empty void, mistaking his own echoes from the cobwebbed walls as the murmured affirmation of his audience), then you'll know I'm a sceptic when it comes to any foreign (see: non essential) ingredients being added into my cheeses. The theory is, if it's a good enough cheese, why not let it stand on its own? You may add today's cheese to the brave list of exceptions to this rule, as it is both 1) a delicious delicious cheese and b) made even better by the addition of rosemary.
Thoughts: Beautiful. This cheese is bold and intense, starting strong and finishing stronger. The pure fattiness of the sheep’s milk hits you from the start and carries every succeeding flavor note along with it, most notably of course being the rosemary but also including hints of dried flowers. Sweet cream, pepper on the back end, every now and then a whisper of umami as if you were enjoying a good steak or piece of Taleggio.
Notes: If you've been tuning into these halls of cheese musings for a while now (says the author into the empty void, mistaking his own echoes from the cobwebbed walls as the murmured affirmation of his audience), then you'll know I'm a sceptic when it comes to any foreign (see: non essential) ingredients being added into my cheeses. The theory is, if it's a good enough cheese, why not let it stand on its own? You may add today's cheese to the brave list of exceptions to this rule, as it is both 1) a delicious delicious cheese and b) made even better by the addition of rosemary.
Thoughts: Beautiful. This cheese is bold and intense, starting strong and finishing stronger. The pure fattiness of the sheep’s milk hits you from the start and carries every succeeding flavor note along with it, most notably of course being the rosemary but also including hints of dried flowers. Sweet cream, pepper on the back end, every now and then a whisper of umami as if you were enjoying a good steak or piece of Taleggio.
Honest thought I had while tasting this cheese: 'aw man, it's been forever since I've tried some new sheep's milk cheeses. What was I thinking!'
The world is burning, and this is my concern.
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