I am sorry to report that day 1 of cheesefest was a minor flop, mostly because I discounted one major element of this whole cheese project: In order to buy new and exciting cheeses, I am probably going to have to TALK TO PEOPLE. And until the local grocery gets a drive-up cheese lane, or until my blog is internationally syndicated and I am a mega-kajillionaire, which would allow me to have all cheeses dropped from the air onto my front porch by a flock of low-flying European geese, I am probably going to have to talk to people face-to-face.
Today I struggled. I have two pretty good cheese shops within close proximity to my home--today, against my better judgment, I chose Big Grocery Store Cheese Shop over Cool, Small Cheese Shop. I started walking around the cheese counter, trying to gather up the four cheeses that Laura the Cheese Lady (she wrote my book!) recommends for my first tasting.
As I was preparing to ask someone at the counter if I could get a smaller portion of the feta that came in 20-pound blocks, I looked up, and who was working behind the counter? The Not-So-Nice Cheese Man. (I hesitate to call him mean, because he may just be very passionate about the cheese.) My last interaction with Not-So-Nice Cheese Man went a little something like this:
Me: Excuse me kind cheese man, about how many slices could I get from a 1/4 pound of Munster?
Man: I can't tell you that. It depends on the thickness of the slice.
Me: Well, what if it was just an average thickness?
Man: I can't tell you that.
Me: Oh.(And then I skulked away and looked at Kraft Singles for 15 minutes until I summoned the bravado to order my 1/4 lb of Munster, even though the slice quantity was unknown, and he gave me a sample, so he kind of redeemed himself. He still scares me, though.)
So instead of getting the whole tasting plate, I opted for another cheese that Laura recommended in the fresh cheese family: Mizithra. If you've had this, it was probably grated on top of some pasta at the Spaghetti Factory (that's the only place I had it). This time, I had some with a bagel. It's a Greek cheese and, in one word, Mizithra is earthy--not as strong as blue cheese, but it definitely has a distinctive taste. After Doug tried it, he said he might eat it again sometime. But that was before I told him it was made with sheep's milk. Now he's worried about what other animals might be responsible for the cheeses I bring home. Just you wait, Doug! The fun is only beginning.
Song o' the day: If I shared the song in my head with my fair readers, the readership might drop from 3 to .5, so I will spare you the agony.
5 comments:
I think you should host a cheese tasting party.
That is an excellent idea! Doug and The Bean are willing participants in the cheese tasting, but they're not terribly excited about it.
Ab and I tried to be all romantic once and had date nights with just different cheese and crackers and juices (we aren't much in the way of wine drinking). Anyway, then came kids, and Kraft slices seemed to slowly creep into our fridge...
If I have my way, The Bean will never know that Kraft Singles exist (that probably won't last for long, though).
Any memorable cheeses from the date nights that I should put on my list?
I remember I really liked Brie, and some Irish cheese I don't remember the name of. I do remember that it was moderately expensive. But my all time favorite cracker is a butter cracker - I think you can buy it almost anywhere - especially at Costco in the variety 4 pack, but we always eat the butter crackers first.
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