Say cheese
I am loving 2010 so far. I am in a great mood and attacking tasks with the same sort of self-righteous enthusiasm that normally makes me want to throat-punch people when I see it elsewhere.
Look at me! I dealt with the mortgage company again!
I rolled over my 401(k) to my new employer!
I scheduled a vet visit for the dog!
I organized my file folders!
Man, shut up, self. I am totally annoying myself with my productivity. Good thing I have 60-extra-minutes-for-no-reason commutes, and procrastinating but-I-need-it-now coworkers to distract me.
I didn’t make any formal resolutions, but I have started a multi-colored, Sharpie-written, bullet-pointed list of things I want/need to do in 2010. Some of it is boring grown-up crap, like the aforementioned 401(k) rollover and hunting down my pension contact person from 1999 (who never returns phone calls ever), but there is some fun stuff, like knitting some quick and easy washcloths (and ignoring the Frankenstein Sweater guilt-free) and sampling some fancy cheeses.
Here’s where I need some suggestions. What types of fancy cheeses would you guys recommend we start with? And if you don’t like “fancy” cheese, what’s your favorite type? Jason and I are both huge fans of cheese, but we don’t really care for stinky cheeses (bleu, etc.), and would like to be more adventurous and get a nice hunk to sample once in awhile without spending a ton of money on something we’ll hate after one bite. And, if anyone lives in the Twin Cities and knows of a good cheese shop where they let you sample their wares, let me know.
(Also, is it not cool to refer to fancy cheese samples as “hunks”? I need to know this stuff.)
Oh! If you find Comte cheese, you must try it. It is unique. And in fact, that is what it is all about.
This cheese can only be called Comte cheese if it was made by a specific breed of cow that fed on a specific flower in a specific region of France during a specific time of year and the cheese was produced in a small factory so many kilometers from where the cow lives. It is CRAZY and amazing and CANNOT BE DUPLICATED.
It is something TOTALLY AUTHENTIC because it is SPECIFICALLY TIED TO PLACE.
And it tastes ok.
But it is so cool! It is antithetical to the rest of the damn world! Oh, how I love it.
Oh, man. My nerd slip is totally showing under my skirt.
Comment by Artemisia — January 6, 2010 @ 2:35 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comt%C3%A9_(cheese)
Comment by Artemisia — January 6, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
Brie is a good starter cheese, though I assume you’ve already had that. Personally I like Camembert but that does have a very particular flavor to it so you might hate it. (Though I also dislike bleu cheese, so maybe you will like Camembert.) I also really love pretty much all goat cheeses. And really, there’s nothing wrong with a quality sharp cheddar.
Comment by Jess — January 6, 2010 @ 2:43 pm
I love stinky cheese. The more is smells like a stinky old sock, the better! The deli section at a large grocery store should have lots of cheese varieties, sold by the pound. Buy a 1/4 pound wedge of one you have never tried each time you go and you’re bound to come up with something you love.
Comment by LoriD — January 6, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
oh, i’m with LoriD… the stinkier = the tastier. how about (on the non-stinky side) manchego? it’s a nice crisp-tasting spanish cheese with just a bit of tang to make things interesting. eg delicious
Comment by Alice — January 6, 2010 @ 4:53 pm
I like brie. And goat cheese. I got this log of goat cheese covered in cranberries over the holidays and it was AWESOME! I think you can also use “log” as well as “hunk,” depending on the actual shape of the cheese chunk. Or, apparently, “chunk”…
Comment by Fiona Picklebottom — January 6, 2010 @ 5:35 pm
We like boursin garlic and herb on crackers. Not too “fancy”, but oh lord it’s good
Comment by parkingathome — January 6, 2010 @ 5:36 pm
Not a fancy cheese store, but the Festival Grocery store (Old Shakopee Rd and Lyndale) has a pretty nice cheese selection.
There used to be a cheese store on 50th and France but I’m not sure if it’s still there.
And Surdyk’s, the liquor store on Hennepin, has cheese.
I, uh, LOVE cheese. All kinds, even the smelly ones. Delicious.
My favorite thing is slices of fresh mozzarella paired with slices of fresh tomatos and topped with a little olive oil and balsamic (or red wine) vinegar. That’s my favorite summer dinner.
Comment by Buster — January 6, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
I’ll second manchego in the non-stinky realm. And of course brie. There are some very nice mild goudas. Do you like nutty flavors? Smokey? Sharp?
Comment by G — January 6, 2010 @ 5:45 pm
I was surprised when I was in Wisconsin the lack of awesome adventurous cheeses. So much “cheese food product” and processed cheeses. I bet the Twin Cities is a bit more adventureous.
We love a Swiss Cave Aged Gruyere, Irish Cheddars (some Irish Cheddars have a porter or guinness mixed in!, Gloucester (very simlar to aged cheddars, Port-Salut (softer), Emmental…
I could go on and on! If you go to a fancier grocery store they should have a person who knows about cheese. Or what I like to do is peruse the Trader Joe’s cheese section for a cheese I haven’t tried and find a small piece of it. Fairly economical that way, TJ’s has good cheese prices, and if I don’t like it I haven’t spent a ton.
Comment by Sara — January 6, 2010 @ 7:35 pm
I love havarti and muenster cheese…not exactly FANCY cheese…but super yummy. I also adore any type of goat cheese.
Comment by Sarah — January 6, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
Oh and if you have any vineyards up there that do tastings thats always a fun place to discover new cheeses (at least the ones around here are). And you get the bonus of trying new wines
Comment by Sarah — January 6, 2010 @ 8:29 pm
Le Sueur just opened a new cheese shop – Friendly Confines (which is the nickname of Chicago’s Wrigley Field!) Come on down some weekend and we’ll check it out! They also feature brick oven pizza and ice cream. When ordering a pizza, you get to taste-test various sauces to help you choose one! (I pulled all this information off of the front page article in yesterday’s Mankato Free Press!)
Comment by Becky — January 7, 2010 @ 6:53 am
I know next to nothing about cheese, but there is a gas station / mini mart near my house that was advertising something called a “breakfast hunk” on its sign for a whole summer one year. It cracked my ass up every day, and I still regret not taking a picture before they finally changed it (probably because they were tired of people making fun of them).
Comment by velocibadgergirl — January 7, 2010 @ 7:14 am
I don’t have any cheese advice, although I will second the havarti and goat cheese love. I am delighted that your 2010 is starting off so well, though!
Comment by Shelly — January 7, 2010 @ 7:54 am
You guys are so cheesy! (Kidding, of course.)
Try some port salut — the French do know their cheese (if nothing else!)
beth
Comment by beth — January 7, 2010 @ 2:08 pm
Oooh you have to try vlaskaas! It’s not too “fancy” or “stinky” and is so good with crackers. We had it at one work function and my co-workers all loved it and it’s now a must-have at all our parties. In my small city we can only buy it at the cheese stand at the Saturday Farmers Market.
Comment by LM — January 8, 2010 @ 8:20 am
Oh, I love this. I love your Resolutions (I wrote about mine today, too) and I love multi-colored, Sharpie-written, bullet-pointed lists, and I love cheese. This may be entirely superfluous to your question, but our local paper had a great video on a local cheese shop this week. Check it out:
http://www.theday.com/article/20100106/MEDIA0102/100109902
Cheers!
Comment by Ellie — January 8, 2010 @ 8:58 am
My new favorite cheese is called cana de cabra. It’s a mild and creamy goat cheese from Spain. I don’t know if you’ve ever had boucheron but it’s very similar and it’s quite delicious. And it’s not that pricey either! It’s pretty reasonable for “fancy cheese.” I would try that and definitely eat it with the rind. At the cheese tasting we went to when we first tasted it, they sprinkled a bit of lavender over it and it was amazing.
Comment by Anna — January 8, 2010 @ 4:52 pm
Mmm, cheese. Also? So glad 2010 is going well for you! Yay! I love that productive, busy feeling.
Comment by amber — January 11, 2010 @ 12:41 am