Cheese, Glorious Cheese

My sincere apologies to my five readers...I have not updated my food blog in a few days because Matthew and I have spent this entire week and weekend moving to our new place. Once we get settled into our new home I'll start posting new and exciting recipes, pictures and more fun cooking stuff. In the meantime, I found these very interesting cheeses that I am dying to try. They all sound so weird and stinky and I can't wait to order them online!!!!

Stinking Bishop

The name says it all. This is a washed rind cheese dating back to the Cistercian monks who once settled in Dymock, England, where this cheese is made. Washed in fermented pear juice (also called "Perry"), the cheese develops a stinky, pungent, orange-colored, sticky rind. Eeeuuugghh! Apparently, this cheese is a spectacular dairy experience. We'll see.

Fourme au Sauternes

This is a lovely cheese soaked in Sauternes...and if you're a wine lover like I am, you know that Sauternes is sweet, white wine from the Bordeaux region of France. I've always paired blue cheese with red wine and when I saw that this particular blue is soaked in a white wine, I just had to order it. From what I've read, this blue cheese is an incredibly smooth yet complex cheese that is a must try for any true blue cheese lover.

Tibetan Yak Cheese

Yes, this cheese is made in Tibet from pasteurized yak's milk. Can you believe it? After I Googled for a picture of a yak, I could not believe that these animals let themselves be milked. It seems, though, that yak's are extremely gentle animals...and they sort of look like Chewbacca from Star Wars. Yak cheese is most likely the world's highest altitude cheese, being made at over 14,000 feet above sea level. This unique cheese has a firm texture and a complex herbal flavor, owing to the fact that the yaks graze on wild grass. It takes a full minute or two for its true flavor to unfold. At first, it has a familiar cheese taste, although it is apparent that its milk came not from a cow, goat, sheep or water buffalo, but from some other animal. Then hints of wildflowers, leather and even wood appear. It is a clean, subtle flavor that builds up to a gentle rise and then fades out into a long, slow, earthy, and, slightly funky note. This cheese is not only a fine gourmet product, it is also a lifeline for the nomads of the Tibetan plateau and their unique way of life. So make sure you buy some yak cheese!

Juustoleipa

Pronounced HOO-stah-lee-pah, its name means "bread cheese" in Finnish. Juustoleipa has been produced for more than 200 years in northern Finland and Sweden, originally from reindeer milk! This cheese is unusual in that it is baked during the cheese making process. The heat from baking caramelizes the sugars on the outside of the cheese to form a tasty crust similar to brown bread. This cheese doesn't melt but can be warmed (put in the microwave for 10 or 20 seconds until it glistens). It has a sweet flavor, especially toward its brown crust where it has been caramelized. We recommend it served as a dessert with honey or lingonberry jam. For an unusual treat, try it dipped in hot coffee!

O'Banon

The O'Banon is an old cheese with a new name. The cheese is made in the same fashion as the French Banon, a small disc of goat's or cow's milk cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves. However, while the French version has succumbed to largely industrial production, the O'Banon is still made in tiny batches by hand. The chestnut leaves used to wrap and preserve the cheese are soaked in artisanal Kentucky Bourbon - YES, Bourbon!!! Enjoy O'Banon either young or aged, with a shot of whiskey or a fruity California Viognier.