Gye Greene's Thoughts

Gye Greene's Thoughts (w/ apologies to The Smithereens and their similarly-titled album!)

Thursday, January 07, 2021

Going through a cheese phase

If a book is well-written, I'll tend to read it -- even if it's not about a topic I'd usually be interested in.  Thus, about a year ago (Oh!  July 23, 2018 -- I wrote inside the front cover) I bought a "Cheeses of the World" book (A First Course in Cheese).  I've always thought cheeses were nice, but I was never "into" them.  But, after reading the book, I bought a few "fancy" cheeses from the "fancy cheese" section of the supermarket -- one or two per trip.  That lasted a few weeks -- but then I drifted away.

For some reason, though, a few months ago I came back to cheese.  I had two or three at work (I sometimes mix it in to my microwaved veggies, for added flavor), and a few at home as well (just for nibbling).  And this morning I started a notebook, and sat down and methodically tasted each of my cheeses -- logging the (approximate) date of purchase, the type, the location I bought it and the cost per kilo, and my impressions.  At the moment I have nine recorded (and seven in the 'fridge [I finished off two, which were just lingering -- small little pieces]).

I logged the cheeses because I have a poor memory -- especially for names -- so I knew that I'd lose track of which I'd tried... and more importantly, which ones I really liked (so that I could come back to them!).  My favorite thus far is the Meredith Dairy chevre goat cheese:  soft, creamy, full flavor; would be good on toast; niiiice!  (Noting that I bought it in mid-October (it's currently January 7th), but it got pushed to the back of the 'fridge -- so it may have continued to age more than if I got a "new" batch. 

The prices of the cheeses range from AU$38-AU$60/kg -- but because I'm the only one in the house that likes cheese (except for The Girl -- and she'll only eat mild cheddar -- I get the smallest little pre-cut wedges I can find -- which usually comes to around AU$3.50-$6.00 per purchase.  And then because I tend to only eat little nibbles, they last me a few weeks.  

The one I'm least enamored with is the Swiss gruyere:  nothing wrong with it -- but because I have a somewhat dull sense of taste, it just tastes like cheddar to me.  And at $52/kg, I'm better off just buying cheddar. 

I haven't ventured into the "stinky" or blue cheeses yet:  I tried one a few months ago, but it was too strong for me and had to give it away to a co-worker.  But I've just put into the microwave some veggies with an over-ripe (i.e. bought it three months ago) Tasmanian Heritage double brie:  it's getting a little "tangy" -- but I anticipate it being good on veggies.


--GG

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