I didn’t try any new cheeses, although there were loads there that I’d never seen before, because I was too busy getting re-acquainted with old favorites. Between my sojourn in Australia, where European cheese costs a fortune, and the supermarkets I go to in KC’s Northland, where the selection is rather limited, it had been a long time since I had been able to get my hands on any real provolone. Or gorgonzola, for that matter. So I stocked up.
The highlight of my day, though, was finding some aged gouda, which I can’t remember eating since a friend introduced me to it way back in 2003, when I was working in Providence. If you haven’t tried it, this stuff is amazing. Its pungency and complexity makes the sharpest aged cheddar I’ve eaten taste like sliced orange American. You know how loopy wine tasters sound sometimes? I’m going to sound like that now: depending on how I’m eating it, it has tasted creamy, butterscotch-y, nutty, salty, and savory. And that’s just raw. I’m thinking about trying to cook it in something, if I can manage it before I’ve devoured the whole block. (What you see in the picture is what’s left.)
I think I’m going to have to restrict myself to going to this store no more than once a month, or reports of my bankruptcy will shortly follow. I’d like to try some new cheeses next time. Do you have any recommendations? And how would you use them?
You went into town just to visit a cheese shop? You're a woman after my own heart, Nancy. :)
ReplyDeleteCelia, yes - definitive proof (as if any were needed) that my prime motivation to do almost anything is usually food-related.
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