Cheeses, New and Old Favorites to Sample and Try
A Few Cheeses Recently Sampled - Try Something New!
No Woman Cheese, Is there really such a thing?
It is the funniest name yet for a cheese, "No Woman Cheese", and its no joke. This is a new found favorite in my household, and it has a special Jamaican Jerk seasoning in it. It is a real treat. It was quite by accident, as my husband was minding his own business in the grocery store. There was a new cheese out for sampling, and it was offered to him to try. He almost didn't try it, but says he was glad he did. Now he has become quite the cheese "snob" since then, admittedly. Needless to say, I have broadened my horizons when it comes to cheeses. No longer am I just going to the regular cheese section in the grocery stores, for your run of the mill sliced and wrapped cheeses, or processed cheese, or even a good cheddar block. (Nothing wrong with those, and they still make it to my kitchen) Just wanting to share with you how it can be real fun to search and discover new cheeses to try. Here are some new finds, and what I thought about each of them, briefly. Nothing will take the place of the old standbys like cheddar, jack, colby, American, Swiss and their variations.
No Woman Cheese
Last night even, in a different store, I asked for this cheese, and they thought I was kidding, all three of the workers! It's a real cheese, by Beecher's Cheese. As stated before, they add a Jamaican Jerk seasoning to this cheese, and it has a nutty, warm, and spicy flavor to it. Its definitely smokey, which I love, and it has a touch of brown sugar and cloves. Sounds very interesting doesn't it? I shared this one first for a reason, because if you don't try anything else, you will want to give this cheese a try. Its a great conversation starter, if nothing else.
My first step was to find a store that carried some fancier cheeses, and ones from around the world. There is a store near us that was remodeled recently, and this included adding a whole cheese section, separate from the refrigerated cheese section and deli cheese section. I told the people in the deli, that I was looking for some new cheeses to try, and did they have any favorites of their own? I told them that I don't mind a cheese with some "heat" to it, and loved a smokey flavor. They suggested four different ones to me, and even gave me a nice sample of each one to try. They offered this to me, and I was so pleasantly surprised. These were their suggestions:
Boar's Head Smoked Gouda:
Of the ones they offered, this was my favorite so I had to buy some of it to bring home. Its creamy, but not too soft, and super flavorful. I learned that there are very educated Cheese Masters that work out of Wisconsin that take the greatest of pride and care in making their cheeses. I learned that they sometimes go to school for a longer period of time than some doctors do, for their degrees. Its no wonder they have come up with cheeses that are nearly out of this world. This is great alone, or would be great with crackers, or on a sandwich. As with all cheeses, letting it come just to room temperature allows for the greatest flavor to come through, in the cheese. If too cold, you cannot fully get the flavors from the cheese. This one, the Smoked Gouda is one I will definitely get again, I love it.
Boars Head Smokey Gruyere
This one, I almost like as much as the above smoked Gouda. It is really creamy, but not in a soft sense, just smooth and creamy. If I am recalling correctly, the young man helping me said that this was the one that he loved to have this in a grilled cheese sandwich. As I was trying it, I
This was one with more "heat" to it. Wow, what a surprise this one was! It is almost a little heavy on the horseradish, but then not overwhelming.... I was very glad to try this one, its like nothing else I ever had. It definitely has some kick to it, and if you like horseradish at all, you will like this cheese. I imagine it going very very well on a roast beef sandwich, or grilled roast beef sandwich.
Havarti with Jalapeno
This was the other sample I was given to try a cheese with more "heat" to it. Wow, was this good, and I would get it again. Its got its own kick of jalapeno, but then I enjoy a small amount of jalapeno in certain things. Its worth trying at least once. I will get it in the future for sure.
Pecorino Romano
One of Italy's oldest cheeses, this has some interesting history to it, like that it was a staple in the diet of ancient Roman Legionaries. This is good grated onto any pasta dish, and is a harder and saltier cheese. This cheese is produced exclusively from sheep's milk, from the areas of Lazio, and in Sardinia, and especially in Gavoi.
Authentic Greek Kasseri
This cheese is evidently very popular with the Greeks, and is often found atop a dinner table. It is a semi hard cheese, and has a sharper, salty flavor. This one is made from both sheep's and goat's milk. It is recommended for grating onto pasta or used in cooking. I liked this, though not as much as I had hoped I would. It will still definitely get eaten though, and its a nice change of pace. Always fun to try something imported, and in this case, from Greece.
Dubliner Cheese
By Kerrygold, this cheese is imported from Ireland. I loved the wrapper on it, it is an aged cheese. It has a distinctive taste to it, that has a partial hint of sweetness. There were two other varieties of cheese from Kerrygold that I saw, and they all looked interesting to me, but I chose this one. I loved trying these new cheeses! I liked this one a bit more than the one imported from Greece, but it also didn't "knock my socks off" like some of the others I tried that day. There is one with a castle on the wrapper, it also sounded good and I will pick that up next time.
I could go on about favorite cheeses I guess, but I really wanted to share the new ones with you, and encourage you to go and try some new cheeses yourself. People love to share what their favorites are very often, and you may just find a new favorite cheese this way. On a busy day, at lunch time, its nice to cut up a little bit of cheese, have some crackers, and a piece of fruit like a pear, or watermelon or other melons like honey dew, etc. Its a perfect and tasty lunch or snack.
If you have any favorite cheeses you would like to share with me or others, I would love to hear about them.
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© 2010 Paula