What's in a Name?

For some time now I've been thinking how the previous name of this blog, "Bread, Beer & Cheese" was a little bit of a misnomer.  Truth is: I haven't bought a loaf of bread in months, let alone bake any bread. Just been cutting the bread out of my home-diet.  My toaster collects dust rather than bread crumbs.
So, this name "Fromage Garage" has become a better moniker for my recent concentration on all-things-cheese. (pretty clever Photoshop image, eh?)  Cheese making, tasting, and researching have occupied me for several months, once again.

 This last weekend I cut open the three-month old Asiago-style cheese I made in November. It made me very happy! The cheese is very firm; good with the slicer and the grater.  Its flavor is on-target, I think; a little salty, a little nutty, and delicious. I grated some on my salad and later cut some into my morning omelet.  I will try to repeat this one soon using what I hope will become my new go-to source of milk: Ithaca Milk Co. pasteurized, whole (or skimmed) non-homogenized Jersey Cow milk.

Also, I cut open the oldest Tomme cheese I made in early December.  While I followed a recipe from Peter Dixon for Tomme, this cheese had no surface molds on the rind; so maybe 'Tomme' is not entirely accurate.  It looks very similar to Havarti, with all the small openings.  Its texture is soft and pliable, again much like Havarti.  Its flavor is OK, but it borders on 'tart' rather than sweet and creamy. All-in-all it was enjoyed by all.

I finally sampled the Port au Salut cheese that I purchased many days ago at Danny Wegmans.  This particular cheese was made by a company named Atalanta, from somewhere in France.  Port au Salut is soft cheese for people who don't like soft cheese with strong aromas.  It spreads easily and has a cream flavor with very little aroma that most associate with Brie or Camembert.  In fact, Port au Salut does not have a bloomy rind.What you see is a thin plastic, breathable label that gives the reddish appearance.


That's all for now, but I did pick up a few more cheese samples that I will report on, soon.

'til then....Peace,
Cheesey-boy

Sheep and/or Goat Cheese sampling:

Here is a sample of a French cheese made from a blend of goat and sheep milk. I enjoyed the earthy flavors and the aroma was not too strong. 
From the website "WB Cheese" (world's best cheese) comes this description:
Onetik, one of the largest producers of Ossau-Iraty, makes this 2-3-month aged tomme. Whereas most Basque cheeses are made entirely of sheep's milk, sheep and goats' milk are used here to create a well-balanced cheese, with a friendly, nuanced flavor that will please the palates of novices and gourmands alike. Nutty, sweet and herbal, with a clean finish. It has a toothsome, semi-firm texture, and is covered with a rustic natural rind. 

The first cheese that I sampled after the trip to Wegman's Cheese Department was called Miti Cana Oveja.  It is a sheep's milk cheese from Spain with a semi-soft center and a bloomy, white rind.  It was not over-powering in either its aroma or flavor, just a tasty, slightly-salty center section surrounded by a layer just inside the rind that was creamier.  The cheese is made in the shape of a log, about 3 inches in diameter. (not my picture, but very true to the piece I bought)

Hope this inspires you to try something different from the cheese-monger near you.
Peace,
Cheesey-boy 

Mid-winter sampling

In an effort to not let this Blog sit too long between entries, I will tell you of some sampling I have done and will do.

I stopped by the cheese department of my local supermarket named Wegman's and picked up a variety of imported cheese to sample. Also grabbed a 6-pack of Brooklyn Brown Ale and Ruthless Rye from Sierra Nevada for good measure.  Maybe a Rhine wine would be good for this project too. (more later about my own "Braggot" experiments).  I will try the Port Salut this weekend,......













but I did open a small 'puck' of Saint Vernier. Saint Vernier a soft washed-rind cheese that is made in the Haute Jura region of France. The rind is washed with a local wine 'Affine au vin de Savagnin (Jura)' that gives the cheese its stickiness and the rind also shows the red bacteria "b.linens" that makes a strong aroma that might scare you at first.  But, have faith and give this cheese a few minutes to air-out. The flavor of the cheese is extremely rich and soft; it has a delicate sherry-like flavor and when you cut the cheese it is so creamy and soft it runs for your crackers. Quite delicious!

More to follow, gotta go shovel snow from Winter Storm "Nemo" - great! now the Weather Channel can hype winter storms, too.

Peace
Cheesey-boy