Some Christmas Cheeses

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  December 26, 2012]

This one was a disappointment.  Sage Farm Dairy's Belvidere, a creamy blend of goat's milk with Jersey cream from the cows at Butterworks Farm. Both farms are in Vermont.

They got the creaminess level up to 11 here, which is doubtless the point, but I was looking for some other flavors.  There's a rind, which adds a little interest, but this is basically a cream cheese.

In other words, it doesn't hold your attention. Nibble it with a glass of wine, and you could be nibbling fresh air.

Indeed, I used about half of it in sandwiches, with other ingredients. It's fine for that, but I could have picked a sandwich-filler cheese for less than...well, the equivalent of well over $30 a pound.

I mean, what happened with cheese?  $30 a pound?  My mistake, this one.

 

I picked up some Stilton for Christmas, of course.  Traditional, not much to say about it, except that it was too big for the Châteauneuf-du-Pape I was drinking.  Port, sherry, dessert wines, or maybe very big, fruity reds for Stilton.  Or eat it from the refrigerator with chilled white wine.

The solution for the Beaucastel was Fromager d'Affinois, something between a Brie and a triple-crème, packed with black truffle crumbs.

Seasonal, I suppose, and doubtless not made with the finest truffles, but it had that aroma, and it didn't overwhelm the wine.