#selfieswithcheese

[fromageselfies]

Hello, cheese lovers!!! Life has been crazy these past few months, and I've accidentally abandoned you- but never fear! I'm still living the cheesiest of lifes, and am back to spread the word of the curd! I recently accepted a job in Seattle, working for a kick*ss family owned cheese company, and get to drive this beautiful truck around the PNW, slinging cheese. Isn't that AMAZING?! I'm officially a cheese trucker! I get to curate the selection of cheese and charcuterie that I load up on the truck, which is basically a warehouse on wheels, and go around to chefs and retailers and sell directly off of the truck. Cool, huh?! I won't bore you guys by telling you how FLIPPING ridiculous our cross country move was- it was long, it was strenuous, it was expensive, and lots of things went wrong. But we made it, and are totally loving the great Pacific Northwest! I'm going to be much better about keeping up with you guys- from my travels around Oregon and Washington with the cheese truck, to Fancy Food Shows and the American Cheese Society Conference- I'll make sure your lives stay cheesy 😉 I'm back, baby!

[fromageselfies]

So, here's the thing- that bucket of gold that you were always promised at the end of rainbows? It might not be the kind of gold that you were thinking of!

[fromageselfies]

Bonjour, my cheese loving friends! I finally feel settled in at the new job, and am so excited about all of the cheeses available to me that were not before- and I can’t wait to tell you guys about them! Let’s start it out with this adorable little guy: Cowgirl Creamery’s St Pat!

Country of Origin: United States- California, to be precise!

Milk type: Pasteurized Cow’s milk (moooo!)

Rennet type: Vegetarian (safe for everybody!)

Cowgirl Creamery is one of my American producers of cheese. Based out of Point Reyes, if you’ve ever been to the Ferry Building in San Francisco, you’re sure to have seen Cowgirl’s cheese shop! Not many of Cowgirl’s cheeses make it to the middle of the United States, but I’m always thrilled when they do!

St Pat is Cowgirl Creamery’s spring seasonal cheese (it’s fall/winter counterpart is Devil’s Gulch, which has red pepper flakes on the rind), and these small format wheels are each wrapped with nettle leaves!  Now, if you’re thinking ‘nettles in my food- are you crazy!?’- I’m not! The nettle leaves used in the making of St Pat are frozen, which removes the sting (although I *have* had a nettle cheese where the ‘sting’ was still there- it’s not devastating or terrible, just a very strange sting at the back of your mouth! Some cheeses even use nettles as the coagulant, in place of rennet).

Another awesome thing about St Pat’s, is that like Mt Tam (another one of Cowgirl’s greats!), it is made with organic milk! Not many cheeses in my specialty case can claim to have been made from organic milk- a great point of distinction! In the beginning, St Pat’s was made from a mix of Jersey and Holstein cow milk, but in 2009, a local farm near Cowgirl Creamery received their organic certification for their herd of jersey cows- and Cowgirl decided to run with it for St Pat! Jersey cow milk generally makes some of the creamiest cheeses out there, due to it’s high fat content. That higher fat content helps lead to a very decadent and rich end product! Another neat thing about production of St Pat- it is a washed curd cheese; meaning that extra whey is washed off of the curds, which results in a sweeter cheese (without the addition of sugar!).

St Pat is a soft ripened cheese (think bries and triple cremes!), and is only aged for 4 short weeks. When you cut into it, you’re immediately stuck by the distinct yellow hue of the cheese- which is due to the jersey milk- and you’ll notice small eyes speckled throughout the cheeses soft paste. A milder cheese, with a slightly bitter herby taste from the nettles, it’s hard to recommend anything more than a baguette, and a glass of Chardonnay to pair with it!

[fromageselfies]

Dear cheese lovers, Don't worry- I haven't abandoned you! Last week, I started a new cheesey job- and look! I have an actual cheese case again!!! It's no longer a recycled sandwich case! WOOHOO! And check it out- Humboldt Fog minis makes me feel like a GIANT! Love it! Be on the lookout for updates soon!

[fromageselfies]

You guys may have guessed that I love decadent things- especially when it has cheese involved! Well, I would like to present to you a cheese who's photo should be in the dictionary when you look up "decadence"- Cremeux de Bourgogne! Let's get the basics out of the way:

Country of Origin: France of course- they've perfected bloomy rinds!

Milk type: Cow's milk, pasteurized.

Rennet type: Animal (stereotypically French, sorry vegetarians!)

Cremeux is a triple creme (hey, I guess that I should have mentioned that from the get go, but really- 'decadent' and 'triple creme' pretty much go hand in hand for me), made in the Bourgogne region of France- which is something that sets it apart from other French bloomy rinds; most of them are actually produced in Normandy, in Northern France.

One of my favorite customers comes in asking for the "butter cheese"- this is what he's looking for. What he means though, is that this cheese is so melt-on-your-tongue rich, that it is reminiscent of butter. I mean, come on! Just look at that creamline right underneath the rind, where the paste has evolved into something spreadable, spoonable, silky- looking like it wants to just ooze out of the cheese (but it doesn't, not quite yet- which means that it is pretty much 'a point'- or perfectly ripened!). The texture is almost like creme fraiche, and while the flavors begin with a milky hint to them, by the time the cheese has reached this ripeness-  buttery is absolutely the best descriptor!

Like many French cheeses that don't age for long, the  Cremeux that we see in the United States is a pasteurized version, though within France, you're more likely to stumble upon a raw milk version. As a cheesemonger, I daydream about the day when I'll be able to get back to France and find the raw milk, traditional, original versions of cheeses. It'll come!

Cremeux is great just smeared on a piece of crusty, fresh bread- it makes a great breakfast that way! I like to call it a "lounging cheese"- meaning that I can picture myself lounging around my home all day, with nothing but a good book, a wedge of Cremeux, a dab of honey, some fresh bread, and a good bottle of sparkling wine or champagne.  So, go ahead- try a piece of Cremeux for yourself, and tell me that you don't agree with that!

[fromageselfies]

According to Timehop, I posted this set a year ago last week- saying that 'selfies with cheese is my new favorite thing, and it should definitely catch on!' The idea for a blog wasn't born for a couple more months after that, but I'm still saying it- happy selfieversary!

[fromageselfies]

What sort of cheese do you think Mary Poppins and Bert the chimney sweep eat? These costumes made their debut at a party this weekend, and they probably will reappear with some cheese over the next week or two ;) I'm thinking Cheshire or Caerphilly?!?

[fromageselfies]

Because I can never resist this cheese, I just wanted to do a quick revisit to one of my favorites: ewephoria. (I’ve always had a sweet tooth, so my love for this caramely, butterscotchy cheese is absolutely no surprise.) We couldn’t get the extra-aged version for a couple of months earlier this year, and though it was still tasty, the younger version was just … not as flavorful and didn’t have as many tyrosine crystals. (Did I tell you guys that tyrosine is an amino acid that our bodies can’t produce, but that works with our olfactory bulb to create norepinephrine, a depression fighter and focus aid, and dopamine, one of our feel-good neurotransmitters? There’s actual science behind cheese making us happy!)

Stop by your favorite cheese shop and grab a piece on the way home!