Cheese of the Month Club, May 2008
May 9th, 2008
While we haven’t tried any of the cheeses yet, they all look and smell wonderful. We plan on taking our cheeses over to my Mother’s for Mother’s Day to share with my mother, my sister the mother, and my girlfriend/fiance the mother to be.
Artisanal Premium Cheese is excited to continue our Cheese of Month membership for 2008 with cheeses and cheese collections of quality unparalleled in the United States. The selection our affineurs put together for you each and every month includes a well-rounded variety of textures, flavors, and types; and the cheeses you will taste in the coming year are the absolute best examples of cheese types, cheese making regions, and seasonal specialties available.
Smokey Oregon Blue, cow’s milk, United States
Smokey Oregon Blue is Rogue Creamery’s Oregon Blue cheese, cold-smoked over hazelnut shells for 16 hours. Oregon Blue was the first blue cheese made on the west coast of America, and the Rogue Creamery felt it only fitting that this classic recipe become the first blue cheese ever smoked. Smokey Oregon Blue has a creamy sweetness, from the 100% natural full cream of the sustainable Bonanza View Dairy, in addition to the pronounced smokey flavor. Pair it with Sauternes or - for the brave at heart - a Rauch beer.
Laguiole Vieux, cow’s milk, France
Laguiole Vieux is the ancestor of all English farmhouse Cheddars. Made in the Massif Central region of southwestern France, this raw cow’s milk cheese was first produced in the eleventh century and is cooked and pressed to achieve its moist, granular texture. Much like farmhouse Cheddars, Laguiole is wrapped in cloth and turned and rubbed during its three-month affinage process. Laguiole is similar to Cantal, Cantalet, and Salers. Try this buttery, tangy cheese with a Moulin-a-Vent or Cotes d’Auvergne.
Monte Enebro, goats milk, Spain
Monte Enebro is handmade in Avila, Spain, by legendary cheese maker Rafael Baez and his daughter Paloma. The Baezs make their complex goat’s milk cheese from pasteurized milk and inoculate the logs with the same mold used to make Roquefort, adding to Monte Enebro’s complexity and distinctive appearance. Air-shipped to Artisanal at only 21 days, Monte Enebro arrives creamy, lemony and slightly acidic; as it ages, the texture becomes denser and the flavor acquires a more intense, pungent finish. Pair this cheese with Sauterenes or a Spanish dessert wine.