The Unofficial Cheese Lovers' Thread

[Roland Deschain]

Warning: Wallace and Gromit moment!

I can't believe there isn't a thread specifically about cheese yet, so I am making this thread and dedicating it to that most beautiful of foods (after the holy meal, of course), CHEESE. I am addicted to cheese. I love trying new types wherever I go, although they aren't always available to buy when I get back home, so some are only tried and loved once . I'm thinking that people could post about either their favourite cheeses, or just nice cheeses they have tried¹ and where they found them. Maybe even add in what other foods the cheese goes with the best. These are some of my favourite cheeses:-

Cheddar - Very strong, mature cheddar is excellent. The stronger the better for me. Melted on some toast, or in a salad, with Branston sweet pickle on top is FSM-sent. I don't know if you guys and gals can get real cheddar in the US, but Canada produces some quality, mature cheddar.
Emmental - I found this on holiday in France and haven't looked back. It was love at first sight. It's a nutty cheese with an unusual taste. It's great on pasta bolognese, in salads, melted, or with any savoury dish. My favourite has to be bread with emmental and chorizo slices, then either eaten as is, or toasted. Divine.
Feta - This is a white goat's cheese. It's crumbly/soft and delicious. There are couple of Turkish supermarkets near me who sell a range of related goat (and sheep) cheeses. Some of them are matured in brine, but aren't as salty as you'd think.
Brie - This needs no introduction. This is a soft cheese made from the milk of the gods. The best brie I have ever tasted is a brand called 'Ail des Ours', which contains its namesake, wild garlic, in the form of a green stripe running through the middle of it. The only place I have seen this was on a random campsite in Ballens (near a place called Bière), Switzerland. Never seen anything like it for sale over here, although I look every time I find myself near a cheese counter. If you're interested, here is a picture of it².

¹Plastic cheeses need not apply, as these are not real cheese.
²Yes. I am so sad I take pictures of cheese.

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

Gorgonzola. Crumbled into a tossed salad. Mmmmmmmmmm. :fsm_drool:

damn non-functional smiley

[Iamtoo]

WhoTFMI?
I
me
myself Irene
else
orelse
lithium = feeling nothing and threatening slow down with numbers on papers
:ugh: FSMsecondhandsmokerinhalation = feeling nothing and imagining world-1 looks better then world+0
grrrrrrrrrrr
I hate being stupify by Zyprexa it slows me down
I lake being clarity by Serquel that looks like torturtling myself of my hurtful mountain on my snowboard when you speak my wonky speak.



O1O

[Iamtoo]

I feel powerful
Thank you Roland ET I needed your crazy alien strength to resist clarities attractivity that looks positive but is just as +/-0 as me and you and Iamtoo.

Iamtoo thanking you
:drunk:

[Iamtoo]

I need more drink
please give me water
I am thirsty
Yourbeerhelpsme

[Julius Aurora]

This is a soft cheese made from the milk of the gods.

You do realise that brie is made from cows milk right? I guess that brings a new meaning to holy cow.

[Roland Deschain]

This is a soft cheese made from the milk of the gods.

You do realise that brie is made from cows milk right? I guess that brings a new meaning to holy cow.

Nice to see you got my subtle joke there , although I was also being serious. Brie is an amazing cheese.

Gorgonzola. Crumbled into a tossed salad. Mmmmmmmmmm. :fsm_drool:

damn non-functional smiley

That's always a nice dish.

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

I prefer my cheese to be as offensive as possible. Much the same as I prefer most of my foods. Chili should be able to remove the chrome from your bumper, spaghetti sauce should have enough garlic to repel a thousand Roman Legionnaires, and cheese should make your teeth curl. We found a swiss two years ago that was astounding - found it at the regular old supermarket. My teeth itch just remembering it. Friends occasionally travel to Vermont to purchase a 25 pound wheel of Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar, and then do Something Mysterious to it and age it for another six months or more. The result is fantastic - a nuclear sharp cheddar that makes good sharp cheddar look like Velveeta. My favorites are the blues, and they can't be beat on a nice garden salad with a bit of oil and vinegar. Though blue cheese on a heavily-garlicked garlic bagel is a pretty close second, especially with a few slices of jalapeno pepper on top...

Asiago cheese is spectacular grated onto Mrs. T's minestrone soup.

[Roland Deschain]

...Friends occasionally travel to Vermont to purchase a 25 pound wheel of Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar, and then do Something Mysterious to it and age it for another six months or more. The result is fantastic - a nuclear sharp cheddar that makes good sharp cheddar look like Velveeta. My favorites are the blues...

It's nice to see someone who is as obsessive over cheese as I am. That Cheddar sounds amazing, but 25 lbs of it? Holy FSM! You sure they have enough there? I'll take some off of their hands if it's too much for them .

I do like blue cheese, but find I cant eat it in large quantities, only small. I find the odd one i'm not overly fond of, but more often that not I enjoy it. Blue cheese sauce is a completely different story though :drool:.

[PKMKII]

Not talkin' about Italian cheeses? Fuggetaboutit!

Mozzarella - The best is mozzarella made from buffalo milk. Now what makes mozzarella unique is that it's a cheese that can be made at home. So there's no reason for your local grocer or cheesemonger can't sell fresh-made mozzarella. Besides pizza, a great way to enjoy mozzarella is sliced, topped with a tomato slice and basil. Then drizzle on good olive oil and oregano.

Ricotta - is not made from the curd, but rather the leftover whey. It has a variety of uses, but the two best are by far cannoli and cheesecake.

Pecorino Romano - a sharper, drier alternative to Parmesan. Italian-Americans tend to use this instead of Parmesan for a lot of applications. A lot of places will sell Locatelli; this is a particular brand of Pecorino Romano. Try sprinkling it on pizza to add an extra level of cheese flavor.

Also: Chef Daniel Angerer has made a cheese with an interesting choice of milk.

[Roland Deschain]

That's a novel restaurant in that link. Milk is milk is milk, I suppose, it just has a different flavour. Technically, any animal that breast feeds produces milk, and can therefore be considered a candidate for cheesemaking. It's only the animals who were domesticated for food purposes that were used to get milk and eventually cheese, so I suppose there is social stigma attached to human milk. I wonder if someone will ever start using dog's milk to make cheese?

Holly: Nothing wrong with dog's milk. Full of goodness, full of vitamins, full of marrowbone jelly. Lasts longer than any other type of milk, dog's milk.
Lister: Why?
Holly: No bugger'll drink it. And the advantage of dog's milk is that when it goes off it tastes exactly the same as when it's fresh.

[bacon]

I love cheese. It never fails that when I go to the grocery store for food shopping I always come home with more cheese than a human being could eat in a week. I love the different flavors and textures so much, I can't resist.

Haven't seen a cheese listed above that I haven't enjoyed. Mozzarella is always in stock at my house - usually more than one package. Cheddar is common to find in my fridge. In fact, here is a list of the different cheeses you could be indulging in right now if you stopped by my place:
Mozzarella
White Cheddar
Yellow Cheddar
Feta
Swiss
Muenster
Provolone
Parmesian

Gimme cheese and you make me happy.

Oh yes, almost forgot to add one that I don't think has been mentioned yet.
I absolutely LOVE smoked gouda.

[TwistedSister]

^I always knew you were cheesy.

[Roland Deschain]

In fact, here is a list of the different cheeses you could be indulging in right now if you stopped by my place:
Mozzarella
White Cheddar
Yellow Cheddar
Feta
Swiss
Muenster
Provolone
Parmesian

Gimme cheese and you make me happy.

Ok, I have the plane seat booked, I just need to know whether you'll be picking me up at the airport, or if I will have to get a taxi. I'l be bringing lots of cheese, so no need to worry in that department .

Oh yes, almost forgot to add one that I don't think has been mentioned yet.
I absolutely LOVE smoked gouda.

Mmmmm. :fsm_drool: There are some really nice bavarian smoked cheeses very similar to gouda. That flavour... :fsm_double_drool:

[Almighty Doer of Stuff]

See that GIF in my signature, advertising Blades of Exile? In BoE, you can create a party of up to six custom adventurers. Mine are named Queso Blanco (the male melee fighter, named after a delicious salty Mexican cheese that doesn't melt, literally translates as "white cheese" of course), Emmental (the male mage/priest, named after the cheese most commonly known in the US as "Swiss", although I'm sure if you get it in Switzerland it will be a million times better), Gouda (one of four priest/mages, female, not sure how to describe this cheese but I know it's delicious), Provolone (male priest/mage, a melty Italian cheese that's great on cold cut sandwiches, in Italian meat pies (I CAN'T WAIT FOR EASTER, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL THE NAME OF THE COLD CUT AND CHEESE PIE BUT IT IS DELICIOUS BEYOND WORDS), and just in general), Brie (female priest/mage, has already been described but it's great to just take a wheel of it, cover it with phyllo dough, and bake it in the oven), and Mozzarella (female priest/mage, another Italian cheese which has already been described, very delicious if it's fresh and well-made, but be careful because there's some lousy cheap mozzarella in supermarkets. I'd say that mozzarella, more than any other cheese I've tried, has the most drastic difference between good and bad varieties.). They're not the only cheeses I like, but I thought they would make good names.