FRANCE, SHEEP’S MILK
PERSONALITY: The dominatrix of blue cheese—wildly sharp, yet pleasurable.
While there are a variety of Roqueforts on the market, none are as exquisite as this artisanal version made by the renowned Jacques Carles, a persevering Frenchman in his nineties. His hometown, the dinky hamlet of Martrin, has more ewes than people, and Carles draws from several small sheep farms to produce a miniscule amount of cheese—a mere one percent of all the Roquefort produced in France.
By law, Roquefort must be made in southern France and aged in natural limestone caves along the Combalou Plateau. Carles lives just minutes from this labyrinthine edifice, where natural fissures in the rock draw in salty drafts of sea air that contribute to the cheese’s taste and texture. At room temperature, Carles Roquefort turns velveteen. You’ll want to sit down before you bite in: the flavors can last a good minute or more in the mouth, moving from sea-salty sweetness to minerals and milk, until your tongue blazes with heat. A cooling beverage, like Sauternes, is required as part of this baptism by fire, but you’ll have a new appreciation for this highly sought-after delicacy once enjoyed by the Romans and, most especially, by King Charlemagne. After a taste, he requested cartloads delivered to his castle. Hopefully, your first bite will inspire such devotion and turn you away from blue cheese “crumbles” forever.
Good matches: Ripe pears are the traditional pairing for Roquefort. A handful of walnuts bring out this cheese’s earthiness. Really, though, it needs nothing. It’s Roquefort! As the French gastronome Grimod de la Reynière once said, “Roquefort should be eaten on one’s knees.”
Wine/beer: Sauternes is the classic match. For something effervescent, try a wickedly hoppy IPA or Russian Imperial Stout.
ITALY, BUFFALO MILK
PERSONALITY: An opera singer, supple and pitch-perfect, with bodacious curves.
Buffalo milk is known for its richness and its sweet, milky taste, both of which stand out in this luxurious loaf of pure white nougat. Casatica (rhymes with “erotica”) gets her good looks from northern Italy, near Bergamo—an unlikely spot for a buffalo cheese since most herds are raised in the south and milked for mozzarella. No matter, the skill of two brothers, Alfio and Bruno Gritti, who replenished their father’s cow dairy with water buffalo a decade ago, shines through, making this tender bomb a must-try.
Casatica has two layers: a fluffy rind that is slightly bitter—in the way that green bananas can be bitter—and a springy interior that is redolent of Brazil nuts and fresh yogurt. The total effect is a bit like chewing an unimaginably exotic bubblegum. Enjoy the complexity, and if you don’t like the rind, simply remove it. There is plenty of zaftig interior.
Good matches: Around Di Bruno Bros., mongers like to use thick rounds of sopressatta as a landing pad for this cheese, in place of crackers. It’s also good slathered onto baguette rounds.
Wine/beer: Try Prosecco, or better yet, demi sec, an off-dry dessert wine with more sweetness. A fruity lambic works well, too, as does a farmhouse-style saison with earthy, yeasty notes.
UNITED STATES, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: Perfect in every way, just like a new infatuation.
Constant Bliss looks like a snow-covered muffin. It’s just the right size to take to the movies or to eat in bed when you are exploring new realms of decadence with someone special in your life. Like so many laughably good advancements in the dairy sphere, Constant Bliss comes from Vermont. It’s one of the first cheeses that the Kehler Brothers developed at their farm, Jasper Hill, in Greensboro— back when every American had a singular fixation with French cheese (they were attempting to recreate a cheese called Chaource, similar to Camembert, page 46). Today, the Kehlers make a variety of European styles, but Constant Bliss still embodies the simplicity and purity of their first efforts.
When this cheese is ripe, a beautiful creamline forms under the rind. Lemon flavors dominate, along with the fresh taste of Ayrshire cream and a trace of mushroom. Since this cheese ripens from the outside in, the center usually remains cakey, which makes for an interesting contrast in texture. Despite what you might think, this cheese isn’t named after the euphoric feeling induced by eating it. Constant Bliss was a man, a Revolutionary War scout. He’s been immortalized next to his buddy, Moses Sleeper (page 106), another sumptuous cheese that pairs well with summer picnics and new flames.
Good matches: Fresh berries or preserves work beautifully. Try sour cherry jam. For something decadent, slide a wedge of Constant Bliss under the first sautéed morels of spring. Good baguette is a must.
Wine/beer: Pick up some Champagne or, on the cheesemaker’s recommendation: a citrusy wheat beer with plenty of effervescence.
If you’re a Brie-head, check out what’s happening in the American triple crème scene. Within the last decade, there’s been a flurry of great domestic bloomies made by American cheesemakers who have studied in France. If you like Constant Bliss, try its brother, Moses Sleeper (page 106), from the same maker in Vermont, then try Largo (page 104) from California—it’s dense and cakey—or seek out Pennsylvania’s Noble Road (page 106). For an interesting spin-off, seek out Jasper Hill’s Harbison (page 96), a triple crème wrapped in spruce bark.
FRANCE, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A satin-shouldered temptress, the queen of French triple crèmes.
Délice has one thing on her mind, and that’s a party. She’s the kind of cheese that you can set out before or after dinner and, either way, she’ll be the talk of the room. If you’ve grown weary of Brie, you’ll be pleased with this strumpety sister. Give her cherries and bubbly, and you’ve got all you could ever want for breakfast or dessert.
You can tell a ripe Délice by its surface. If the rind is perfectly white, it’s probably young; the interior will be rich and cheesecakey with a fresh, lemony taste. If you want something plusher, let this cheese sit in your crisper for a couple of days. When the rind has a stippled look—almost as if someone has drawn squiggles across it in pencil—the center will likely be gooey and the flavor will be more concentrated. This is a thick cake, much taller and moussier than Brie de Meaux (page 89), thanks to the addition of crème fraiche. It’s sold in 4.5-pound wheels or in tiny muffin-sized portions, known as “mini Délice.”
Good matches: For a classic Di Bruno Bros. pairing, serve Délice with Amarena cherries in syrup and spiced pecans. Duck prosciutto is an especially good addition. You can even wrap the duck prosciutto around half a cherry and a teaspoon or so of Délice for a ravishing bite before dinner.
Wine/beer: Go sparkly or pair with a Duvel. For something different, try a fruity lambic or gueuze.
UNITED STATES, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A sexy librarian’s cheese—all horn rims and whispers.
This cheese really is named after a librarian in Greensboro, Vermont, and it really is sexy: it’s the consistency of cake batter. It comes in a bark-wrapped wheel about the size of a 7-inch record, and if you’re lucky enough to snag one, you just might want to plunge a spoon into it on the spot. Harbison, from the much-loved Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont, is essentially Moses Sleeper (page 106) banded with pine bark. That means you get the sweet vanilla notes of a triple crème imbued with forest spice and an unusual fruity note that can only be described as the smell of someone sucking on a cherry cough drop, perhaps in the back stacks.
Harbison is the recent invention of cheesemaker Mateo Kehler, a great experimenter. When he wrapped some especially runny Brie-style cheeses with bark he’d collected from around his farm, he discovered that the flavors blended quite naturally. Thus, this new cheese was born. Jasper Hill is also famous for its spruce-girdled Winnimere (page 112), a funky cheese that’s available from winter through late spring. Harbison is decidedly more summery, but it’s available year-round.
Note: Make sure your wheel gives a little before you cut into it; the texture should be gooey. If the wheel feels firm, you may need to let it age in your crisper for a week or so, preferably in a sealed container, not in plastic wrap.
Good matches: Set out a jar of cherry preserves and some rustic bread, or use Harbison for dunking wild strawberries, pears, or black cherries. Because this cheese has notes of fruit and pine, it also pairs well with nut breads and rosemary crackers. For a strangely good pairing, try Harbison with Peach and Balsamic Compote (page 98)—the combination tastes like peach cobbler.
Wine/beer: Pair this with a berry lambic or a sparkling rosé. The cheesemaker recommends serving Saison Dupont.