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lillibetOn Monday night we went to a cheese tasting course at the Boston Center for Adult Education.
The instructor, Archer des Cognets, works for Formaggio Kitchen, a local cheese shop. They buy from a lot of small producers and in some cases are the sole US importer of certain European cheeses. He was very informative, with a lot of detail and fun stories about the various cheeses he had chosen for us to try.
First, some general notes:
STORING/SERVING CHEESE
He recommends wrapping cheese in wax paper, rather than plastic, to enable the cheese to breathe. The only bad mold on cheese is brown mold--everything else you can either eat it, or trim it off. Goat cheeses should be taken out of the fridge two hours before serving, while bleus should be left in until 25 minutes before eating.
OTHER NOTES
- Archer says there are only three "real Brie cheeses," those being Brie de Meaux, de Melune and Caulommiers
- If cheese is softer near the rind than in the center, that means too much air got in during the aging process
- Types of cheese (by production) are farmstead or fermier (made by the farmer from his/her own stock's milk), artisanal (made by a cheesemaker from a single other farmer's milk), co-op (made by a cheesemaker from milk from one co-op of farms), and industrial (made in large quantities from a variety of milk sources)
- Some cheeses, particularly in Italy, are made from the milk of multiple animals (sheep, cow, goat)
- Cow's milk cheeses tend to be saltier
- Recommended condiments: honey, aged Balsamic (on parmigiano), figs, sweet preserves
- Other interesting cheese to try: Robiola (huge variety, he likes the triple latte by Gianni Cora), Bleu de Basque, Bleu de Termignon (made by one 65 year-old woman in the Swiss Alps).
- Boston restaurants with good cheese trays: No. 9 Park, Tuesdays @ L'Espalier
- vtcheese.com lists all the Vermont cheese producers
CHEESES TASTED
1) Valencay - artisanal goat's milk cheese - Berry, France - a "fresh" cheese, like ricotta, probably 3 weeks old - shaped like a blunt pyramid (supposedly to avoid reminding Napoleon of his defeat in Egypt), coated with vegetable ask (originally in a thick coat as preservative) - E6, J2
2) Harvest Wheel - goat's milk cheese - Hillman Farm, Colrain, MA - "natural rind" cheese, very mild, about 3 months old - nuttier in the fall - Formaggio buys all of the cheese she doesn't sell at farmers' markets - also makes a great fresh cheese - E1, J3
3) Caprotto - goat's milk cheese - Campania, Italy - lemony tang, maybe rubbed with olive oil before dry aging - E4, J4
Didn't have a "washed rind" cheese for us to taste. Those are soaked several times daily during aging and use a different penicillin for rind that's usually orange, like real Muenster (not the American version).
4) Brillat Savarin - cow's milk cheese - Seine et Marne, France - "soft" or "bloomy" rind cheese - triple creme - 70-75% butter fat (butter is ~80%) - E9, J8
5) Summer Tomme - organic farmstead ewe's milk cheese - Willow Hill Farms, Milton, VT - trying to mimic a specific French cheese (Brindamor-sp?) - novelty cheese, rubbed with herbs before rind forms (oregano, savory, lavender, rosemary) - comes in different textures - E3, J1
6) Abbey Cheese - ewe's milk cheese - Albany, VT - nutty, Swiss-like flavor - goes very well with pears or apples - E2, J6
7) Le Drean - artisanal cow's milk cheese - Auvergne, France - washed rind, but dried out, very vegetal (strong asparagus flavor) rind - very earthy - E7, J7
8) Mahon - cow's milk cheese - Menorca, Spain - rind colored with annato seed - comes in several stages - Spanish eat for breakfast - can be even stronger than this - salty - E5, J5
9) Bayley Hazen - cow's milk cheese (only Jersey cows, which have larger fat molecules in their milk) - Jasper Hill Farm, Greensboro, VT - Andy & Mateo Keeler grew up in S. America, spent summers in VT - earthy, slightly sweet bleu - E8, J9
10) Parmigiano Reggiano - organic cow's milk cheese - Reggiano, Italy - "cooked and pressed" cheese (cheddar is "uncooked and pressed") - this producer makes 2 wheels per day, taste with aged Balsamic (fantastic)
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Archer provided two wines (an Austrian white and a very fruity Côtes du Rhone), neither of which particularly excited us and both of which went very poorly with some of the cheeses. This isn't intended to be a wine tasting course, but this was one area where we really thought he could have done better. He also had a bunch of fresh bread for us, which was quite good. The cheese selections were very interesting and wide ranging. After we were done, he let any who wanted to take home some of the leftover cheese. We didn't and I'm now regretting that somewhat, but we have a bunch of cheese in the drawer, so it's probably just as well. I am hoping to get over to the shop on Huron in the next day or two to pick up a couple of these.
Overall, this was a really fun experience. Archer said he's hoping to do more in-depth tastings (e.g. all bleus, or all French cheeses, or all goat cheeses) and we would definitely be interested in doing one or more of those.
The instructor, Archer des Cognets, works for Formaggio Kitchen, a local cheese shop. They buy from a lot of small producers and in some cases are the sole US importer of certain European cheeses. He was very informative, with a lot of detail and fun stories about the various cheeses he had chosen for us to try.
First, some general notes:
STORING/SERVING CHEESE
He recommends wrapping cheese in wax paper, rather than plastic, to enable the cheese to breathe. The only bad mold on cheese is brown mold--everything else you can either eat it, or trim it off. Goat cheeses should be taken out of the fridge two hours before serving, while bleus should be left in until 25 minutes before eating.
OTHER NOTES
- Archer says there are only three "real Brie cheeses," those being Brie de Meaux, de Melune and Caulommiers
- If cheese is softer near the rind than in the center, that means too much air got in during the aging process
- Types of cheese (by production) are farmstead or fermier (made by the farmer from his/her own stock's milk), artisanal (made by a cheesemaker from a single other farmer's milk), co-op (made by a cheesemaker from milk from one co-op of farms), and industrial (made in large quantities from a variety of milk sources)
- Some cheeses, particularly in Italy, are made from the milk of multiple animals (sheep, cow, goat)
- Cow's milk cheeses tend to be saltier
- Recommended condiments: honey, aged Balsamic (on parmigiano), figs, sweet preserves
- Other interesting cheese to try: Robiola (huge variety, he likes the triple latte by Gianni Cora), Bleu de Basque, Bleu de Termignon (made by one 65 year-old woman in the Swiss Alps).
- Boston restaurants with good cheese trays: No. 9 Park, Tuesdays @ L'Espalier
- vtcheese.com lists all the Vermont cheese producers
CHEESES TASTED
1) Valencay - artisanal goat's milk cheese - Berry, France - a "fresh" cheese, like ricotta, probably 3 weeks old - shaped like a blunt pyramid (supposedly to avoid reminding Napoleon of his defeat in Egypt), coated with vegetable ask (originally in a thick coat as preservative) - E6, J2
2) Harvest Wheel - goat's milk cheese - Hillman Farm, Colrain, MA - "natural rind" cheese, very mild, about 3 months old - nuttier in the fall - Formaggio buys all of the cheese she doesn't sell at farmers' markets - also makes a great fresh cheese - E1, J3
3) Caprotto - goat's milk cheese - Campania, Italy - lemony tang, maybe rubbed with olive oil before dry aging - E4, J4
Didn't have a "washed rind" cheese for us to taste. Those are soaked several times daily during aging and use a different penicillin for rind that's usually orange, like real Muenster (not the American version).
4) Brillat Savarin - cow's milk cheese - Seine et Marne, France - "soft" or "bloomy" rind cheese - triple creme - 70-75% butter fat (butter is ~80%) - E9, J8
5) Summer Tomme - organic farmstead ewe's milk cheese - Willow Hill Farms, Milton, VT - trying to mimic a specific French cheese (Brindamor-sp?) - novelty cheese, rubbed with herbs before rind forms (oregano, savory, lavender, rosemary) - comes in different textures - E3, J1
6) Abbey Cheese - ewe's milk cheese - Albany, VT - nutty, Swiss-like flavor - goes very well with pears or apples - E2, J6
7) Le Drean - artisanal cow's milk cheese - Auvergne, France - washed rind, but dried out, very vegetal (strong asparagus flavor) rind - very earthy - E7, J7
8) Mahon - cow's milk cheese - Menorca, Spain - rind colored with annato seed - comes in several stages - Spanish eat for breakfast - can be even stronger than this - salty - E5, J5
9) Bayley Hazen - cow's milk cheese (only Jersey cows, which have larger fat molecules in their milk) - Jasper Hill Farm, Greensboro, VT - Andy & Mateo Keeler grew up in S. America, spent summers in VT - earthy, slightly sweet bleu - E8, J9
10) Parmigiano Reggiano - organic cow's milk cheese - Reggiano, Italy - "cooked and pressed" cheese (cheddar is "uncooked and pressed") - this producer makes 2 wheels per day, taste with aged Balsamic (fantastic)
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Archer provided two wines (an Austrian white and a very fruity Côtes du Rhone), neither of which particularly excited us and both of which went very poorly with some of the cheeses. This isn't intended to be a wine tasting course, but this was one area where we really thought he could have done better. He also had a bunch of fresh bread for us, which was quite good. The cheese selections were very interesting and wide ranging. After we were done, he let any who wanted to take home some of the leftover cheese. We didn't and I'm now regretting that somewhat, but we have a bunch of cheese in the drawer, so it's probably just as well. I am hoping to get over to the shop on Huron in the next day or two to pick up a couple of these.
Overall, this was a really fun experience. Archer said he's hoping to do more in-depth tastings (e.g. all bleus, or all French cheeses, or all goat cheeses) and we would definitely be interested in doing one or more of those.
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Mmmmm...cheese!
Date: 2004-08-11 06:42 pm (UTC)Re: Mmmmm...cheese!
Date: 2004-08-11 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 08:23 pm (UTC)I can vouch for L'Espalier having fantastic cheeses. We didn't do the Tuesdays thing, but the 10-course degustation of vegetables includes a cheese course, 6 different kinds, arranged from mildest to most pungent, accompanied by fresh rounds of french bread, pistachios, dried black currants, and a trio of wet toppings (slivered almonds in honey, figs and black cherries, and candied bits of tangerine). I recommend this place highly. It was one of the most expensive meals I've ever had, but it was also one of the very best.