Cheese Lives!
 

Thanks UT! Cheese is an amazing category of foodstuffs. Its alive, growing and aging. It offers an amazing array of textures, tastes, smells, and delights. There are as many cheeses to explore as people to meet.

My vote for the best cheese, the one I would weep if lost- Parmeganio Regiano. The real deal. Savory, with the wonderful crystalized bits. grated, shreaded, or chunked off in my greedy hand. Yum

Rho just bought some mascarpone Sunday night...I'm afraid to touch it.

There's a little place called the LeRaysville Cheese Factory near here, that wins all kinds of national/international awards for their cheese. Their milk comes from a few local Amish farms. This is the stuff Wolf finds in every little store around here.

We make a greek pizza with feta, spinach, onions, garlic, oregano, basil etc... on philo dough mmmmmm.....

Almost any culanary disaster can be averted with cheese.

My favorite is havarti, which I was introduced to in Toronto in 1999. I've never had anything so delicious. I've been told by a number of people that they don't like it, but who are they kidding? Havarti is delicious.

A great Dutch cheese is Parano- kinda like a Gouda/Parm, with a great mellow taste. good for grilled sandwiches, or just chowing down. I recently took a chunk up to the lake and it was a big hit. I think its cows milk.

For great sheeps milk cheeses...Here is a link with info about Love Tree Farms. They are a great story, not unlike the beer brewers. Learned artisnal cheesemaking and made it their lives. Mary Falk and her son are regulars at the St Paul Farmers market always ready with a sample. She will age the stuff in the caves nearby, use cedar, juniperberies, other herbs in the rinds. Its not shee-shee, its a working farm.

Havarti is pretty good. Dill havarti is even better.

I would have to pick asiago as my personal favorite. The grocery store finally started carrying bags of it, shredded in the "normal" cheese aisle. I no longer have to sift through the $10.00 assortments near the deli.

When I was in St. Louis, I bought an Asiago Cheese Baguette from St. Louis Bread Co. Fantastic...and their asiago bagels are even better, especially fresh out of the oven--no butter/cream cheese needed.

A good, aged Swiss. It goes great with everything.:D

I had a great pizza margarita with blobs of fresh buffalo mozzarella, big pieces of fresh basil and roma tomatos last night. Simple and tasty.

The best blue cheese I have ever nibbled.
Cabreles, from Spain. Not too strong, just salty enough. Nibbled with some sweet fruit- like pears, figs and walnuts - man o man- its that salt/sweet/savory thing. Next time youre staring blankly into the cheese coffin case and you see this one, give it a go.

I am not a cheese connoisseur and I usually stick to the basics, but I do like Brie. I also like smoked Gouda:)

I grabbed some horseradish/chedder on a whim for Plastic Forks. I've become addicted to it.
It's hard to find cheese, at least made here, that's not made with pasteurized milk. It just ain't the same.:(

Speaking of cheese from unpasteurized milk. :beer:

unintended consequence
 

During the Second World War, more cheesemakers were sent overseas to fight. Those who took their place were less experienced and had to meet the demands of the government to produce huge amounts of cheese to fuel the war effort. Quality and Safety were compromised. By 1949 pasteurization was applied to milk and dairy products across the country. A law was passed that required pasteurization in cheesemaking, unless the cheese was to age for 60 days under specified conditions.

Just another example of creative destruction in war time. Destroy ties to the past and create a vast bureacracy. :(