Cheese Hunt

I've never really cared for cheese. Good mozz on pizza, smoked gouda, and decent swiss were the only cheeses I really gave a rat's posterior about. Once in a while, I'd try something or other at Trader Joe's that sounded snazzy. The wife would generally finish it after I gave it my mark of indifference. She purchased two of the Marion Street Cheese Market groupons. We used the first one to try four or five cheeses, some crackers, and Red Australian Licorice. My favorite of the purchased lot was the licorice. So, a few days ago, the second groupon was set to expire, so we headed back (it seemed every patron in the place was flailing around soon-to-expire groupons as well -at least four of us joked about having them at the cheese counter as we waited to be called upon by our fromista (yeah, I just made that up cuz I'm so clever.) So, I told the cheese lady, that I basically don't really enjoy cheese, but I'd like for her to have fun, and put a $30 package of samples together for me to try. She happily agreed and then cut off two bil ol' hunks of cheese at 10 bux a pop. Luckily I caught her before she lopped off a third and final $10 hunk. I then reminded her that I'd like to try different things, and not just big hard hunks. She suggested something "soft." (brilliant!) So, before she lopped off a 10.00 hunk of something soft, I asked if maybe she would consider two 5.00 hunks so I could, you know, try different things. One of those 5.00 hunks happened to be Cowgirl Creamery's Cowboy MT Tam.

I NEED MORE.

That stuff was $%^&ing delicious. So, anyone know of a similar and cheaper recommendation? Most of the brie type cheeses I've had like that seem to have a "plasticky" taste to them. This Cowgirl stuff was nothing like that. Smooth and buttery from start to finish. Do I gotta pay 29 bucks a pound for that kind of quality, or does anyone have something I can find that is cheaper, and just as good?

Try Big Ed's Saxon.
Fantastic stuff.

Young, mild, but full of flavor, with a buttery body. Enthusiastic, like Ed Klessig, whom it was named after, it hugs you back, never offends, and is great both for first time tasters and afficionados.

If you're even remotley interested in blue cheese try the Hook's Little Boy Blue.

Little Boy Blue won 3rd place in the World Cheese Championship 2010.

my store retails Mt. Tam at 29.99 per round

you might indulge in a wedge of Delice DeBourgogne, or some Fromage Dauphinoise

neither are techincally Bries, but both have a similar lactic fullness to Mt. Tam

of course, if you really wanna experience Cowgirl's excellence then you need to try some Redhawk preferably with a bit of honeycomb

I'm not huge on cheese either - but I love coffee. So when I saw Barely Buzzed by Beehive Cheese Co. (cheddar style rubbed w/ espresso) I had to try it........LOVE IT! Don't expect a "coffee - coffee" taste but it is something magical

Thanks for the recs, but where can I get this stuff, and what are the roundabout prices? The website for Big Ed's shows it's only avail in Wisconsin, and a retailer online that no longer carries it, cuz, well, why update a site with any useful info, nobody looks for info on the web, right? Grrrr.

Just so you know, they do have the cheese available directly from the producer online.

http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/Buycheese.asp

You can get three of the Mt Tam for $58 plus $20 for overnight delivery, not bad if you want that much cheese...

EDIT: It looks like they are only 8oz per cheese which when adding shipping puts it at over $50 per lb, not such a deal

Seebee--i would suggest hitting up one of our better cheese purveyors--Marion St., Pastoral or the Sauganash Whole Foods (I think that's the one--where the guy who used to own The Cheese Stands Alone works/worked), and see if they can recommend something similar but more accessible.

seebee wrote:Thanks for the recs, but where can I get this stuff, and what are the roundabout prices? The website for Big Ed's shows it's only avail in Wisconsin, and a retailer online that no longer carries it, cuz, well, why update a site with any useful info, nobody looks for info on the web, right? Grrrr.

Both the Big Ed's and Little boy blue are available at Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park.

Go to Binny's South Loop. You can tell them what you're looking for and you can taste it first. I am in love with
the chatelain brie at 11.99 a lb.

This might be more than you are looking for, but Ill just throw it in there. You can also make your own brie and if you are in a cow coop and put enough care into it you will have the type of cheese you can only legally find outside the US. Im currently working on making my own cheese, but it really depends on how badly you want the creamy complex brie.

So I guess I should have read this thread more carefully, since the OP is clear that they are not mostly a fan of cheese, and everyone else is just giving advice about where to find what. But somehow what I remembered was that Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam was fabulous. So I bought some, at a pretty outrageous price, on Friday.

I AM a big cheese lover. And I have to say, I don't get this cheese. It's boring. Should I be ripening it or something? Or is it just the kind of cheese that is made for non-cheese lovers (but at this price, really??)?

It is buttery and nice, but bland. Am I missing something? Is there some subtle essence I haven't noticed, or some food or drink combo I should be using?

It's a perfectly fine cheese for folks who like mild, but a) I don't particularly favor mild most of the time and b) it ain't cheap.

As a confirmed Cheese-a-holic, I took a friend along to Caputo's House of Cheese in Melrose Park this past Friday, and
we had a shared tasting experience that was quite memorable.
There was a young Mexican "kid" working behind the cheese counter, who answered our inquires as to the differences of the
Bulgarian versus The Greek versus the sheeps milk Feta's- and offered us samples of all of them.
That led to my asking him what his favorite chesse was there- which led to tasting a Fig/Sticky Toffee Dessert Cheese I had never
experienced before that is now my new fav cheese!
What a great array of tastes and textures in that one dark orange/dark yellow colored cheese.

Caputo's is now adding an area where they are making cheese- visible to the public- in the section where the Soprasetta's used to be sold.

While we were there we saw Mr. Caputo's shiny black Masseratti pulling up w/ his
personalized "Wiscon" cheese plate . Obviously - his business is good!

Caputo's Cheese market/WisconCheese
http://www.wisconcorp.com/caputocheese.html

1931 N.15th Avenue
Melrose Park, Ill 60160
708.450.0074

Christopher Gordon wrote:you might indulge in a wedge of Delice DeBourgogne, or some Fromage Dauphinoise

Nice moves.
I finally got around to the Fromage d'Affinois (hopefully it's the same stuff, I'm using the spelling on the pkg.)
I dig it. Not as rich or buttery as the Mt Tam, but at 11.99/lb on sale at Whole Paycheck, it's relatively a bargain. Caveat: as I'm finding out right now, the Fromage d'Affinois does NOT pair particularly well with 2012 DietRite Cola.

seebee wrote:Nice moves.
I finally got around to the Fromage d'Affinois (hopefully it's the same stuff, I'm using the spelling on the pkg.)
I dig it. Not as rich or buttery as the Mt Tam, but at 11.99/lb on sale at Whole Paycheck, it's relatively a bargain. Caveat: as I'm finding out right now, the Fromage d'Affinois does NOT pair particularly well with 2012 DietRite Cola.

seebee-

I believe that the Fromage d'Affinois is much better with a Coke Zero.

ahhh...typing faster than my brain can think leads to humorous misspellings; glad you liked the sub recs