Since I'm going to SuperU, I just spent some time thumbing through this weeks specials in the flyer we get in the mail on Mondays. Cheeses caught my eye. For example...
The cheeses above — Époisses, St-Albray, Chaumes, and Vieux Pané — are all made with pasteurized milk. All are good, but the Époisses, from Burgundy, is especially tasty. It's been made since at least the 16th century, and was first made by Cistercian monks who were living in the town of Époisses. It has both the French AOC and the European AOP seals indicating authenticity and quality. More than 90% of Époisses cheese is made from pasteurized milk. Even so, it's a stinky, runny cheese, in the best sense of those terms. Époisses is often just spooned out of its round wooden box, not sliced.
SuperU also has a special on two other cheeses. One is a ewe's-milk cheese made from raw milk and sold either plain or flavored with red pepper. It's probably good, but we already have some ewe's-milk cheese in the fridge. The other cheese, called Abondance, because it's made in the Alps in a valley that goes by that name, is also made with raw milk, never pasteurized. It's an Alpine cheese — what we'd call "swiss" cheese in North America, and carries the AOC and AOP labels.
I'm definitely going to buy some Abondance, because at 13.50 euros per kilo it's a bargain (less than $6 per lb.). Other Alpine cheeses in the same range are Comté, Emmental, Beaufort, and Gruyère.
My choice would go to the Alpine cheeses wuith nutty taste.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried Époisses?
DeleteYes, once. It was very creamy, but the smell was overwhelming!
DeleteIt's great that they make it so much easier these days, to return things, with convenient drop off spots.
ReplyDeleteIt turned into kind of an adventure all the same.
DeleteBe still my heart - I would get all the cheeses! I have made cheese souffle the traditional way for many years and then I saw a recipe from Jacques Pepin's mother that just involved beating whole eggs and using a cheese from Switzerland - so easy to make and so good! I can always find a way to have cheese!
ReplyDeleteI've used that recipe ever since I read Jacques Pepin's autobiography many years ago. I like his story as to why his mother beat whole eggs.
DeleteBob, I enjoyed that story too.
DeleteHer not knowing the "traditional" way of making it and just going ahead with what she figured out was inspiring. It puts my "mistakes" on a higher level. This is not like a neighbor who wanted to make half a cake recipe so cut all ingredients in half and also halved the baking temperature and time.
DeleteMany of these cheeses would be difficult to find anywhere in the US, let alone at a grocery store. The Abondance and Epoisse would be great choices, and probably the sheep cheese.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with this about cheese. Also true of the many wines that Ken has written about. You know they're out there somewhere, but not in the US. Why can't we have nice things?
DeleteFunny that. I'd just read your post when I saw Époisses advertised at our online supermarket. They didn't say anything about it being smelly! :)))
ReplyDeleteI guess a lot of people would find Époisses stinky (smelly) but I don't remember it that way particularly. A lot depends on how old and ripe, or over-ripe, the specific cheese you get turns out to be.
DeleteGee, Dr. Aziba's herbal medicine sounds great:-)
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to deleting those spam comments. Hope you had time to save the contact details so you can order some herbal medicine.
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