Ricotta Means Hugs.

I am glad to report that I had a successful cheese day today. I set out to buy four cheeses for a tasting plate, and I was able to find all four of them by visiting the local grocery and the cool cheese shop. I haven't been to the cool cheese shop in a long time, but I am so happy I went there. The cheese is MUCH cheaper than at the grocery store, plus it is in this nice, refrigerated area where you can be alone with your thoughts and a bunch of cheese. It's a good place.

So, Laura the Cheese Lady groups all cheeses into 8 categories, and so I decided to focus on one category a month. This month, it's been fresh cheeses. This doesn't mean non-moldy cheeses, it just means those cheeses that do not age. They generally have a milder flavor because they haven't been sitting around for a long time.

I had a combination of cow, goat, and sheep cheeses for Doug and me to "enjoy" (one of us did, one of us didn't), and I must say I was partial to the goat. I had chevre and feta, both made by the same local cheesemaker. (And possibly by the same goat!) I love feta, but I don't know that I've ever had it from goat milk before. If "earthy" is the word that describes sheep cheese, "tangy" is the word that describes goat cheese. It's got a lovely acidic quality that I quite enjoyed.

We also tried ricotta salata from sheep's milk. It was an Italian import, not a local product. This isn't soft, like regular ricotta. It's a bit harder and has a salty flavor to it (that's what "salata" means, I think). It was good, and I could definitely taste the sheepiness--I'm such an expert now.

Finally, we had plain old, cow's milk ricotta that you can find in just about any grocery store anywhere. I've had ricotta plenty of times in lasagnas and manicottis and things. However, this time I put some on a bagel and topped it with honey. It was so delicious and a really nice mix of flavors. I told Doug that we didn't have to worry about the ricotta going bad as quickly as the other cheeses because it came in a tub, and he thought I said "Ricotta means hugs," which I think would make a good slogan, if any ricotta company CEOs are reading this.

So, I think I've given a pretty good idea of what I thought of the cheeses, but here's what Doug said (after tasting wee, ladybug-sized portions of each cheese): "Before you started this cheese thing, I thought that I liked cheese as much as you did. But now I realize I hate cheese." That's a ringing endorsement if I ever heard one.

Hey! For any of you who might be near me (either in the city or in M-Town), I've got a lot of extra cheeses from tonight's tasting. If you're feeling adventurous, swing on by in the next couple of days and have a taste.

Song of the day: This little techno ditty was a big hit in Russia a few years back. Enjoy.