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