FRANCE, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: The gamer’s delight—an ancient blue once loved by Druids.
Mild, mushroomy, and medieval are the words that come to mind when someone mentions Fourme d’Ambert. Of France’s many blue cheeses, this one tends to be the mellowest and least salty, and yet it’s not without nuance. The smell is earthy, and the taste makes you lust for burgers or grilled portabellas, or both. Why not? The texture is creamy, spreadable. Try serving it at your next Solstice party.
Two thousand years ago, Fourme d’Ambert was made around the village of Ambert in central France. Today, it’s mostly produced in factories, but the quality—particularly of raw-milk versions, if you can find them—is quite good, since government regulators oversee production. Look for half-moon slices that are alabaster in color with plenty of navy stippling. The rind is naturally nubby—you may find it to your liking, but don’t hesitate to cut it off if it’s not your thing.
Good matches: This is an excellent cheese for cooking. Toss it into stuffing, pack it into mushroom caps, or slather it on a bacon-mushroom burger. On a cheese plate, it pairs well with pears or green apples, along with walnuts and light-colored honey.
Wine/beer: Try a Loire Valley Chinon, Vin Jaune, or Beaujolais. This is a good cheese to serve with a lightly smoked beer.
Blue cheeses are the misunderstood loners of the dairy case. The emphasis here is on “misunderstood” because people tend to think all blues are pretty much the same. That’s like saying that all jazz or all punk music sounds alike. Hundreds, if not thousands, of blues are produced around the world, and they vary wildly in taste and texture. Here’s a brief list of greatest hits for the blue-cheese beginner:
ITALY, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A blue cheese in stilettos.
When you walk through a piazza and see women in high heels passing briskly across the cobblestones, you can be sure they are thinking of Gorgonzola Piccante. Like the cheese, they tend to be firm in form and full of zest. Gorgonzola Piccante has always had its place at the Italian table: its versatility makes it a lovely snowcap for salads and steaks, and its rich history extending back to the tenth century makes it a touchstone for Italian families who have served it for generations.
Gentle palates tend to reach for Gorgonzola Dolce (page 213), which is mild and ultra moist, almost runny. The more aged Piccante version leaves a thick impression on the palate and finishes with a spicy flourish. The mold in both of these cheeses tends toward blue-green, rather than indigo or navy, which is common in other wheels that are inoculated with Penicillium. That’s right, blue cheeses are pierced with needles, or spikes, creating fissures so that blue mold can form. Originally, this mold occurred naturally in caves, but today it’s usually added at the beginning of the cheese-making process. The greenish blue veins in Gorgonzola are referred to as erborinato, meaning “parsley.”
Good matches: Buckwheat honey is marvelous as a Gorg foil. So is fig jam. It’s also great slathered onto a panini or burger, crumbled on top of a spinach salad, or stirred into a cream sauce. If you need a gutsy, inexpensive blue, this will give you plenty of bang for your buck.
Wine/beer: This needs a rowdy red, like a Barolo. Otherwise, veer sweet to offset the peppery finish; try barleywine, apple ice wine, or an apple schnapps, like Apfelkorn. Beer lovers, rev your chocolate stouts.
ENGLAND, GOAT’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A songstress, lyrical and wholly original—the Billie Holiday of blue.
A morsel of Harbourne is like a spring walk. The first bite is often floral—think lilacs, violets—then it turns woodsy and sweet, only to finish on a flinty note. You might also detect hints of citrus and licorice. The texture is dry, flaky, and reminiscent of feta, or as longtime Di Bruno cheesemonger Ezekial Ferguson once said: “It’s like Astronaut Ice Cream.”
Esteemed cheesemaker Robin Congdon of Devon, along with cheesemaker Ben Harris, produces this delight. Although this blue is highly sought after by cheesemongers, its existence is still something of a secret from the public. In part, this is because most seekers of British Blue ask for Stilton (page 234) or Stichelton (page 174), with good reason. They’re gorgeous. Deviants recognize that a goat’s milk blue from England is nothing short of anomalous. When they taste it, they are often stunned. As one British friend exclaimed when he ate this cheese for the first time, “Oh, sandy beaches! I’m in East Sussex!”
Good matches: Harbourne is an excellent cheese to eat with chocolate. Pick a dark bar of high quality, like Éclat, made in Philadelphia. Because this cheese is rather precious (read: spendy), you don’t want to gussy it up with knick-knacks. Serve it alone in the afternoon, or make it the dessert of someone’s dreams.
Wine/beer: Find an aromatic wheat beer, or something light and simple. Di Bruno cheesemongers favor Stouts Pilsner. A summery wine with mineral notes pairs well, too. A cheese this complex needs an understated pairing.
SPAIN, COW AND SHEEP’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A sweet señorita with kid gloves.
Northern Spain is known for three blue cheeses, and La Peral is the gentlest one. You don’t even have to like blue cheese to fall for La Peral. She’s rich and flirtatious, a blue blood but without a whole lot of blue markings. Her sisters, Valdéon (page 240) and Cabrales (page 233) have more fire, which can be fun for those who enjoy spice, but if you want a blue to cuddle with? This is the luxuriant choice.
La Peral is made in the region of Asturias on Spain’s northern coast. Picture rocky beaches, fishing villages, and lush pastures. There, a single family produces this beauty, using a recipe passed down through three generations. This cheese only appeared recently in the States, and it’s much beloved by cheese geeks for its fudgy, slightly granular texture. Whenever I eat La Peral, I taste white chocolate on the front end and mushrooms on the finish, so you can swing sweet or savory in terms of pairings.
Best matches: On a cheese plate, serve this with fresh figs or tiny Champagne grapes. For an appetizer, spread La Peral on toasted baguette rounds and top with sautéed mushrooms or caramelized onions; serve with a dish of plump Spanish olives.
Wine/beer: Follow the season: in high summer, pour a Spanish sparkler or a Tempranillo; in winter, choose an Oloroso sherry. Otherwise, pick a dark beer with hints of chicory or chocolate.
I named the cheeses in this chapter “Pierced Punks” because they really are pierced. Cheesemakers puncture the wheels with needles in order to create air vents, not to inject mold, as many people suspect. The mold is actually introduced early in the cheesemaking process when a cocktail of Penicillium roqueforti is stirred into curds. Blue mold in cheese is harmless, but if the veins scare you look for a sample with very little “bluing,” like Cremificato Verde Capra.
UNITED STATES, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A salty bloke, well-loved for his punchy attitude and burger-friendly vibe.
Year-round grass feeding makes Point Reyes Creamery a special place. The Holsteins that wander along Tomales Bay graze on pastures that are laced with sea spray, a detail that you can actually taste in this stunning cheese. As far as blues go, this one leans toward the salty end of the spectrum, much like Roquefort. But don’t let that scare you. A salty blue is perfect for topping burgers and steaks, which is why you’ll find this cheese on pub menus across the country.
At Point Reyes Creamery, farm duties are shared by members of the Giacomini family. When they founded Point Reyes Creamery in 2000, they brought Italian cheesemaking roots with them. That means they handle all of their own milking and produce a beautiful, briny wonder that is as stunning to look at (the blue veining is usually quite pronounced) as it is to eat.
Good matches: The big spice here loves a drizzle of light-colored honey. Serve with black grapes, oatmeal crackers, or wafer-thin ginger-snaps, along with dried pears or fig jam. For an intriguing dessert combination, serve this cheese with Amarena cherries and a spot of dark chocolate.
Wine/beer: Try oatmeal or milk stout, or a glass of sherry or Sauternes.
UNITED STATES, RAW COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A burly, outdoorsy blue with bacon-like appeal.
Very few smoked cheeses make the cut at Di Bruno Bros., where the mongers frown on smoke flavorings, often used in commercial cheesemaking. Rogue River Smokey is special, however. This wonderful blue from the Pacific Northwest is cold-smoked over hazelnut shells to produce a creamy, caramel-tinged opus that is sharp and sweet. Under the delicate layer of smoky flavor, you can still taste milk—the sign of a good smoked cheese.
Rogue River Smokey is made at Oregon’s Rogue Creamery, which was established in the 1930s. Although the business has changed hands, Rogue remains one of the all-time great cheese operations in the United States. The company produces about a dozen handmade blues, many of them award-winning. Something about the Rogue spirit makes this an especially good cheese for camping trips; it fulfills those morning bacon cravings, especially alongside pancakes.
Good matches: For a snack or fireside conversation piece, break out the hard liquor and candied pecans or walnuts. Fig cake, dried cherries, maple syrup, nut brittle, and even fudge all pair nicely.
Wine/beer: Play off the smoky-salty notes with a fruity lambic, a sweet-leaning whiskey, or oatmeal stout. Believe it or not, smoked beer works well with smoked cheeses. The folks at Rogue River Creamery recommend a glass of Cabernet Franc or Zinfandel.
SCOTLAND, COW’S MILK
PERSONALITY: A beachcomber with gentle eyes and a craggy smile.
Cheesemaker Ruaraidh (“Rory”) Stone lives in a converted brewery at the tippy top of Scotland. There, his herd of Ayrshire cattle munches along the seacoast, and the salty mist that settles on the grass finds its way into the cheese. Yes, this is a blue for the beach. Not only does it taste of saline and cream, there is something rocky here—flint? slate?—that makes you feel as if you have wandered into a sea cave. If you’re a fan of Point Reyes Original Blue (page 239), a coastal creamy from California, try this one for the sake of comparison. Both cheeses are lush and briny, but Strathdon definitely has more wilderness in its flavor profile.
Strathdon Blue showed up on the scene a few years ago, and it’s still morphing and improving. It started as a crumbly bard, but in recent years it’s become a rich crooner. Careful handling at London’s Neal’s Yard Dairy, where this cheese is aged, brings out the best in it, in terms of balance. Although this cheese might look intimidating (avoid eye contact with the furry blue pockets), Strathdon is surprisingly mellow. It looks and tastes like a velvet asteroid.
Good matches: Pack a beach hamper full of fresh fruit, bread, figs, and dark chocolate. On a cheese plate, serve Strathdon with pears or chutney, oat cakes, and caramelized pecans. If you want a buddy cheese, add a hunk of Isle of Mull Cheddar (page 170) for a gorgeous Scottish duet.
Wine/beer: A salt-tinged stout, like Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout from Flying Fish Brewery, is an extraordinary pairing. You can always lean on Port, Scotch, or late harvest Riesling. Look for plums, pears, or flint in the flavor profile.
SPAIN, COW AND GOAT’S MILK
PERSONALITY: Elegant and assertive, a spunky Spanish grandmother wrapped in a heavy shawl.
Valdéon is one of the all-time great blue cheeses from Spain, and it’s always easy to recognize because it’s wrapped in sycamore leaves. The leaves keep the cheese moist and contribute to the flavor, which is peppery and earthy with a sweet finish. Because Valdéon is ripened in limestone caves, you may also detect a faint minerality, a lovely quality, especially if you choose to drape a wedge over steak.
In the blue cheese realm, Valdéon is considered one of the saltier selections, which makes it a good fit for sweet pairings. It’s often compared to its sister cheese, Cabrales (page 233), a fire breather, but despite the fact that these are both cave-aged blues from northern Spain, they taste very different. Valdéon tends to be a good gateway blue, ever popular, while Cabrales attracts thrill-seekers.
Good matches: This is a lovely capper for a Spanish cheese plate, alongside Monte Enebro (page 78) and Idiazábal (page 49). Serve it with honey, dried figs, and Marcona almonds.
Wine/beer: Try a Riesling or an Oloroso sherry, or swing toward barleywine.