Cotswold Pub Cheese

Cotswold Double Gloucester

Winner 2009 Feline Foodie Award: Best Pub Cheese

Wow!! Now this is cheese!!

The Lady brought this home for The Man and The Cat (me) to sample and all three of us loved it. What I don’t understand is why The Lady and The Man get bigger portions to sample than I but humankinds seem to feel superior; maybe it’s their size…if I weighed twenty pounds… things would be a wee bit different around the manse…

I reviewed Double Gloucester in an earlier posting and Cotswold is a Double Gloucester from England to which onions and chives have been added. This sure does kick this cheese up a notch (with thanks to Emeril for coming up with that term).

I can’t say enough good things about this firm cheese that is mild and similar to cheddar. It is creamy and rich like butter. It is aged 6 to 9 months. The piece we sampled was a golden yellow and cut as a wedge and came from Clawson’s Creamery. (I saw The Lady put some of it back in the fridge, which means… “More cheese for later…”)

I give Cotswold 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: I overheard The Lady mention it would go well with spaghetti and leeks and chard with olive oil. Personally I think it would go better with Catnip than chard; but that’s just the way I lean… It can also be served with grapes and a nice Artisan bread. The Lady melted some on Whole Wheat Artisan Bread and The Man really liked it.

Wine and Beer Pairings:

Wine Pairings: Zinfandel Shiraz, Chardonnay

Beer Pairings: This cheese is known as a “Pub Cheese” which means it pairs well with ales and beer including an English Bitters.

Source: Cow’s Milk

The Cheese Kiosk

The Lady made two videos yesterday of the cheese kiosk where she works as a Cheese Steward. She uploaded them to You Tube and I snagged them to share with you.

Cheese Kiosk:

Air Screen Cheeses:

Humboldt Fog

Humboldt Fog

Vegetarian – Suitable Cheese

This Award-Winning Goat Cheese looks like a slice of layer cake due to its rind and edible, vegetable ash layer that runs through the middle of the wheel. It is made by Mary Keens at Cypress Grove Creamery in Northern California.

This soft cheese ripens from the rind inward from the bloomy rind exterior with a firmer middle that resembles a crumbly paste. It is very creamy, light and a little acidic in taste. The taste is stronger closer to the rind. The ash on the rind and running through the core is an ash added to inhibit the growth of unwanted mold; allowing the good stuff to mature and bloom.

This cheese, named after the morning, ocean fog, that rolls across the area where this cheese is made, has won first-place awards from the American Cheese Society in 1998, 2002 and 2005.

The Lady refers to this cheese as being an “elegant” cheese that she would serve with mushrooms because it goes well with earthy flavors. Based on the earthy pairing suggestion, I would like to try this cheese with a Thomomys bottae pate. (Even though she is not a fan of goat cheese, she recognizes “good stuff” and this is very good stuff.)

I give Humboldt Fog 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I got).

Serving Suggestions: Serve as a dessert or snack with honeycomb and pears; serve sliced on a spinach salad; excellent with mushrooms and other earthy flavors.

Wine and Beer Pairings:

Wine Pairings: Crisp white wine

Beer Pairings:

Fat Content:

Source: Goat’s milk

Awards: First Place, American Cheese Society, 1998 • 2002 • 2005; Gold, London International Cheese Competition, 2004

 

Emmenthaler

Vegetarian – Suitable Cheese

Emmenthal

The Lady told me that this is the cheese favored by the Mus musculus and because I love Mus musculus, Emmenthaler gets my vote as a perfect bait cheese.

This cheese is from Switzerland and has holes in it. Many Americans call this cheese “Swiss Cheese” but the only cheese of this type with the AOC (Appellation d’origine controlee) designation is Emmenthaler Switzerland. Finland exports an Emmenthal cheese but it isn’t “real” Swiss cheese; it would be considered a “Swiss-style” cheese. Most humankind wouldn’t notice the difference. Most humankinds probably think that Land O Lakes American Swiss is “real” Swiss cheese…so much for discriminating taste.

But I digress…

It has a strong smell and a strong taste; characteristics that make it popular. It is a medium-hard, pale yellow cheese. The holes come from the three types of bacteria that are used to produce this cheese. It is traditionally made from raw milk (adding only salt, water, natural starters and rennet) and aged for a minimum of four months, qualifying it for importing into the US. There is a “Premier Cru” that is aged for 14 months in humid caves. This special cheese was the first cheese from Switzerland to win the title of World Champion at the Wisconsin Cheese World Championships in 2006.

In the US, humankinds prefer it to most other cheeses for sandwiches; it is also used in cooking and in fondues.

This tasty cheese receives 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: Excellent on top of gratins; preparation of sandwiches; as a snack with fruit; fondue.

Wine and Beer Pairings:

Wine: Pinot Blanc, Reisling, Merlot, Beaujolais, Gruner Veltliner

Beer: Stoudt’s Belguim Triple, Fat Dog Stout, Yongg’s English Porter

Fat Content:

Source: Cow’s milk

Awards: World Champion at the Wisconsin Cheese World Championships in 2006

Robiola 3 Milk

Robiola Three Latte

It’s impossible for any feline to ignore this Italian soft-ripened cheese. It melts on the tongue where it gets “stuck” between the sandpaper ridges that help me when bathing. The Lady laughingly claims she has helped me bathe but had problems with my hair sticking to her tongue…right???

Robiola 3 Milk  is simply divine. Its lush silky texture may be a result of its 55+% of fat content which is at least 10% higher than traditional Brie. What’s not to like?

Its bloomy rind makes it look like a small, wrinkled cheesecake. When sliced the inside does resemble a traditional, dense cheesecake. Once at home, it will stay fresh for about a month. When I visited the Italian Quadrant in a previous life, I recall that Rubiolas there are made with raw milk and are aged less than 60 days; but such cheeses are illegal in the US; therefore, this cheese was made from pasteurized milk to meet government regulations.

It gets its name of “3 Milk” because it is a combination of cow, sheep and goat milks.

There are several Robiolas that The Lady sells in her cheese kiosk but she brought this one home for The Man and The Cat to sample. I heard her telling The Man that there is one that is just goat’s milk and another that combines sheep and cow’s milk. How does she know? The labels have pictures of the animal whose milk is used to make the cheese. Pretty clever, huh? Never underestimate the ingenuity of the humankind.

I give this cheese 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: Keep it simple. Eat with flat crackers or Italian crusted breads

Wine and Beer Pairings:

Wine: Beaujolais or other light red, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, dry white wine

Beer:

Fat Content: About 55%

Source: Cow, Sheep and Goat’s milks

Hard Italian Cheeses

There are several hard cheeses from Italy that work very well for cooking; although most can stand alone as well. I thought I would review my favorite three as a group.

Ricotta Salata

Ricotta Salata

This is a new cheese to me. This is not a ricotta like most American humankinds think of ricotta. It is pure white and comes in a brick. It is quite salty in a pleasant way.

Ricotta means “recooked” and Salata means “salted”. Tah dah – perfect name.

The Lady crumbled some of this on my Friskees “Classic Pate” Mixed Grill and I thought I had died and returned to the Mother Ship. It set the pate off perfectly and was sublime.

The Lady crumbled it and sprinkled it on a field greens (think grass) salad. The Lady loved it; The Man grumbled something about preferring Blue Cheese on his weeds…

I give Ricotta Salata 4 Paws 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: Crumbled on salad; sliced on crackers or with fresh fruit. Also excellent for cooking.

Wine and Beer Pairings:

Wine: Sangiovese, Pinot Gris

Beer:

Fat Content: 5%

Source: Sheep’s milk

Grana Padano

Grana Padano

I have long enjoyed this cheese. It is The Lady’s “everyday parmesan”. It is also the #1 Parmesan in Italy. The reason is economic. Grana Padano is less expensive that the Grand-daddy of Parms; but is almost as good. For cooking, Grana Padano is hard to beat.

It is a hard cheese aged slowly for up to 18 months. It has the DOC/PDO designation – sort of like a copyright for European cheeses.

It has a delicate, nutty flavor and is grainy. The Italians prefer to use a cheese knife to splinter this cheese; however, most Americans like their cheeses sliced. The rind, which is thin, can be used in cooking to flavor pasta sauces such as Marinara. The Lady uses her rinds for this purpose. Like the ricotta salata above and the Parmagiano-Reggiano below, The Lady sprinkles it on my various pates. Based on its nutty flavor, I would like to try it with a nice jerked piece of Salamandra salamandra, which I enjoyed in a previous life while living in the Lombardy Quadrant of Europe.

Interesting bit of trivia about Grana Padano: According to athletes, Grana Padano is the quickest way to restore your energy levels when competing, training or after strenuous exercising. Because it is ripened over a longer period of time, the body quickly turns it into energy that can be used immediately.

I give Grana Padano 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions for Grana Padano: It makes a fine table cheese to be enjoyed with nuts and grapes. It is often grated over pasta and other dishes and used in cooking. It is excellent as the cheese base for an Alfredo Sauce. Used with cheddar, it takes mac and cheese to a new level.

Wine and Beer Pairings for Grana Padano:

Wine: Italian brut, Vino Lugano, Barolo, Barbera, Brunello, Marsala Soleras, Nebbiolo

Beer: India Pale Ale

Awards: Protected with the DOC/PDO designation by the EU.

Fat Content: Around 30% making it a low-fat cheese.

Source: Cow’s milk

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano

The Grand-daddy of Italian Parms. This is Grana Padano on steroids. The Lady likes to shave this onto the field green salads she forces upon The Man. According to The Man, he would prefer it if The Lady held the weeds and gave him the Parmigiano Reggiano straight.

I could eat this cheese all day long with or without a nice rana catesbeiana stew.

It is nutty, spicy and salty but all in perfect amounts. It has a caramel finish. It is best when aged about 2 years.

Interesting bit of trivia about Parmigiano Reggiano: The leftover whey from production of this cheese is fed to the pigs that later become the legs of Proscuitto di Parma. The Italians have really got it going on, don’t they?

I give Parmigiano Reggiano 4 Paws of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got). In this case, I sure wish I had more…

Serving Suggestions for Parmigiano Reggiano: It makes a fine table cheese to be enjoyed with nuts and grapes. It is often grated over pasta and other dishes and used in cooking. It is excellent as the cheese base for an Alfredo Sauce. Be sure and save the rind to use in your Italian cooking as suggested with the Grana Padano above. The rind can be frozen and is good for up to a year in your freezer. The Lady’s kiosk sells the rind, which she calls “Soup” bones for half the price of the cheeses. Great value and can be used to pump up the flavor of soups, sauces and stews.

Wine and Beer Pairings for Parmigiano Reggiano:

Wine: Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Lambrusco, Barbera, Montepulciano

Beer: India Pale Ale, Amber Ale

Awards: Protected with the DOC/PDO designation by the EU.

Fat Content: Around 20% making it a low-fat cheese.

Source: Cow’s Milk

Cambozola

Copyright 2009 Kaserei

Vegetarian – Suitable Cheese

Although first invented in the early 1900s by the Bergader family of Bavaria, it was the German company, Kaserei Champignon, which in the 1970s began to industrially produce this combination of a French soft triple cream cheese, similar to a Camembert, with the Italian Gorgonzola. The Lady said something about Champignon holding a patent for making this cheese. Its original name was Bavarian Blu.

The word Cambozola is a portmanteau of Camembert and Gorgonzola.

This is not my favorite cheese that The Lady has brought home. In fact, I didn’t really care for it or another similar cheese made by the same company. But I watched The Lady and The Man and they were quite taken with the cheese. My review is based on their enthusiastic enjoyment of this cheese.

The Lady loved the creaminess of the cheese and The Man loved the bite of the Gorgonzola component of the cheese. They had it on plain whole-grain crackers and The Man had a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, which he said complimented the cheese quite well.

I also heard The Lady tell The Man that this cheese is a favorite of her friend Mary, who is observed by a dozen felines outside of the Capital Quadrant. According to The Brain, Mary is quite special and leads such an interesting life that she requires twelve observers. Personally, I question the abilities of a couple of her observers, particularly Ali and Buster. If they did their jobs better, maybe Katie and Sasha could be dispatched to watch that place called The White House. I hear a very important (imagine that…) canine named Barney lives there and requires constant observation.

But I digress…

The Lady had some recipes for various hors d’oeuvre using the “mini” version of the Cambozola instead of a wedge from a wheel. She said you scoop out the middle of the cheese and then mix it with other items such as port-glazed figs or spinach or spiced cherry chutney to make a filling. I thought the sausage and pepper combination sounded tasty; particularly if it was Sciurus carolinensis sausage. Sciurus carolinensis tartare with the Cambozola might be an interesting culinary delight. However, according to The Lady, you gently heat the filled cheese shells in the oven to melt the cheese and blend its flavor with the other ingredients.

There is also a Cambozola Cream Spread for bread and crackers.

With deference to The Lady and The Man’s taste, I give Cambozola 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: Serve with fresh fruit, especially pears, and crackers or crusty bread. Mary likes a cold soup made with Cambozola and Pears.

Wine and Beer Pairings for Cambozola:

Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Chardonnay

Beer: Arctic Red, Bavarian Wheat

Fat Content: 70-75% butterfat in its dry matter or approximately 40% fat overall.

Source: Cow’s Milk

Willamette Valley Cheese Company’s Brindisi Fontina

Vegetarian – Suitable Cheese

Winner: 2009 Feline Foodie Awards: Best Northwest Farmstead Cheese

Willamette Valley Brindisi

This Oregon farmstead cheese is a wee bit salty with a flavor that starts sharp and mellows quickly. It is naturally flavored and aged perfectly. It is a semi-hard cheese with a shelf-aged hard rind with a warm, golden flavor that develops as it ages.

Willamette Valley Cheese Company refers to this Award-winning cheese as an “Italian-style Fontina” but I found it to be more crumbly than the slightly elastic Fontina Val D’Aosta. It melts well and is a good choice for both cooking and as the basis for a cheese fondue. WVCC offers a fondue recipe upon request.

The cheese is made from 100% Jersey milk cows that graze in Certified Organic Pastures. The cheesemaking facilities are also Certified Organic.

Brindisi is the maiden name of the cheesemaker’s mother.

Personally I think this cheese would go quite well with Melospiza melodia however, The Lady disagrees… I have my doubts that The Lady has ever tasted Melospiza melodia.

I give this cheese 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: Because is melts well, it is an excellent cheese for cooking and as the base for Fondue. It is also an excellent table cheese.

Wine and Beer Pairings for Willamette Valley Cheese Company’s Brindisi Fontina:

Wine: Bolder wines such as Barbera, Sangiovese and Pinot Blanc

Beer:

Awards: 2005 – “Best of Class” US Championship Cheese Contest

Source: 100% Certified Jersey Cow Milk

Pairing Cheeses with Wine and Beer

I have received several comments and emails responding to my new adventure and I am humbled that humankind can be so…well…kind.

One request for suggested pairing of cheese with beers and wines came from Gary, a humankind male named after the pavo cristatus, who lives in the West Coast Quadrant known as Orange County. According to The Man, Gary is a “microbrewery” connoisseur, although in his earlier days he preferred wine.

I have added notes to each of the reviewed cheeses regarding specific pairings (and will do so with all future reviews; but decided a general discussion here about pairings would be useful the next time the readers need a wine or beer to go with their favorite cheese.

Pairing Cheese with Wine:

Most important rule to remember:

Consider the strengths of the flavors of both the cheese and the wine so that neither overpowers the other. Choosing a full-bodied wine and pairing it with a mild cheese would make the dominant flavors of the wine too intense for the cheese. In other words, stronger cheeses should be paired with stronger wines and milder cheeses should be paired with delicate wines.

Bries, Goudas, Baby Swiss, Fresh Mozzarellas and Mild Cheddars pair best with drier whites such as Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Savignon Blanc.

Fontina, Roquefort, Provolone and Stilton cheeses pair best with sweet white wines such as a Reisling or Sauterne. Also Stilton goes well with a Port.

Smoked Gouda, Gorgonzola, Gruyere, Gorgonzola, Smoked Swiss and Smoked Cheddar will all pair well with spicier wines such as Syrah, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Zinfandel.

Merlot, a bold red wine, can stand-up to Aged Cheddars and Aged Swiss as well as Asiago, Taleggio and Pont l’Eveque.

If you have a Triple Cream then you should pop the cork on a sparkling wine. Triple creams include Cambozola, Boursin and Explorateur.

(My thanks to Artisanal Premium Cheese website for some of the above guidelines. You can visit their website at artisanalcheese.com.)

Pairing Cheese with Beer:

As with cheese and wine, stronger beers and ales pair better with strong cheeses and milder cheeses pair better lighter lagers.

In general think of ale as a red wine and lager as a white wine. Hoppiness in Beer is similar to the acidity in wine.

Feta and Goat Cheeses pair well with Wheat Beers.

Muenster, Havarti and Monterey Jack cheeses pair well with moderately hoppy Pilsners.

Colby, Gloucester and Cheddar should be eaten with robust Brown Ales.

Gorgonzola and Creamy Blues and Barleywines pair well together.

Stilton and Roquefort need strong Ales.

Gruyere, Emmenthal and Swiss pair well with Dark Lagers.

Parmesan or Romano goes well with an Amber Lager.

(My thanks to beeradvocate website for some of the above guidelines. Be sure and visit their website for more information.)

Singleton’s Double Gloucester

Double Gloucester

Vegetarian – Suitable Cheese

Today The Lady and The Man shared Singleton’s Double Gloucester with me. They ate it along with fresh bell peppers from the garden and rice crackers. I ate mine on the deck and kept watch for a tasty Rattus norvegicus to accompany mine. Alas, none came along.

However, this golden cheese has a strong and savory taste. The Lady explained to The Man, who pretended to care, that the difference between a single and a double Gloucester is that the single is made with skimmed milk and the double with whole milk which makes its fat content slightly higher and less crumbly than the single. Also the double is aged longer, which makes its flavor stronger.

Double Gloucester is sometimes layered with Stilton to make English Huntsman’s Cheese.

Double Gloucester cheese is also used every spring for the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, a dangerous sport that takes place on a steep Gloucestershire hillside. The thick rind makes it ideal for this wacky humankind event.

Rolling the Double Gloucester

I give the Singleton’s Double Gloucester Three Paws out of Four Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

While The Lady and The Man were enjoying their cheese, they discussed their adventures of the day. The Lady had the day off and she and The Man spent the morning doing something called “Checking out the Competition”. They visited a stand-alone cheese shop and two other cheese shops inside other specialty grocers (think “health food”). They found the cheese selection The Lady has at her Kiosk was competitive in quality, selection and price. They also stopped by the Kiosk at one of the other stores owned by the grocer for which The Lady works. Their Kiosk was the same size and The Lady saw a few differences that gave her some ideas. Also, the Cheese Stewards were wearing Berets, which The Lady really liked.

Even though I miss The Lady during the day, her new job makes her happy and that’s a good thing. The Brain seems to think it’s a positive sign that humankind is not a total lost cause…

Wine and Beer Pairings for Singleton’s Double Gloucester:

Wine: Syrah, Sancerre, Rioja, Riesling, Tawny Port

Beer: Robust Brown Ales such as Sam Smith Nut Brown, Shipyard Brown or Brooklyn Brown

Fat Content: 48%

Source: Cow’s Milk