Dear Readers,
They rhyme, you see.
A lot of you folks might have heard of this particular French specialty, but I just realized I had not yet shared it with you, my internet friends. Here it is. Morbier.
It is in fact pronounced morbi-yay, which makes it one of the happier and more joyful cheeses out there. It gets its characteristic streak of ash from a little story of old. Back in the day they would take the morning milking and layer those curds into the bottom of the form, and then cover that with a layer of vegetable ash to preserve it throughout the day. That evening the second milking would go on top of the first, giving the final cheese a layer of ash with both form and function. These days they do it just to keep up the tradition, but we like it anyways. The same ash system is seen in modern cheeses such as Humboldt Fog, and it is pretty sexy. You know, for a cheese.
Origin: Franche-Comté, France
Milk: Cow, raw or pasteurized
Affinage: up to 2 or 3 months
Rennet: Animal
Notes: Part-Skim milk, and the sweet aroma and yellow-orange rind of a washed-cheese.
Thoughts: This cheese is mild at first but the creamy goodness develops into a delicious semi-soft morsel. The flavor is meaty and not as harsh as some French cheeses, and although the smell is definitely that of a washed-rind the bark is, as always, worse than its bite. There is a lot of differentiation among brands here, so make sure you are a diligent cheese shopper. Ask that stout yeoman, demand a sample, give it the old smell-test. If it doesn't smell like much, you don't want it. This is a cheese to be warmed up, served with some salami and bread, and washed down with a hearty red. Or pop, I don't know.
We, your faithful readers, demand at least one more post. A final post, if you will, with one more cheese to round out this wonderful blog which has brought me many a cheesy daydream.
ReplyDelete