A Chaource is a Chaource

Let's get down to some individual cheeses.  A few weeks ago, we found the Queen of Ooze, a creamy, luscious French cheese called Cahource (shah-OORSE).   The cheese shop had 1/2 a cylinder of this left and offered us a deal because once it's cut, it needs to be eaten. 

 

Chaource is a soft-ripened, white rind, cow's milk cheese that has been made since the Middle Ages.  The Lincet family has made this cheese, named after the town it comes from in the Champagne region of France, since 1892. They are reportedly the only importers to the US, but there are other producers in Chaource.

Tasting Notes: Chaource was a creamy mushroom bomb with a touch of salt.  A slippery, savory butter friend that had just enough tartness to notice. Earthy, but nothing overwhelms the luscious, indulgent, goo.  Our had a very slight ammonia note, but I think this was from keeping it a bit too long after it had been cut.  Get it, bring it well into room temperature, and then spread it on crostini or a table water cracker.  Delicious with sliced pears.

Compare To: Similar to a camembert or brie. 

Buy Me: We found ours at The Cheese Board in Berkeley, but I have heard reports that some Costcos carry it.  Culture Magazine has a cheese shop finder on their site to find something close to you.

Overall: A sexy addition to a cheese plate and a perfect, spoonable cheese to serve with some bubbly.  Also a nice cheese for a breakfast bowl of fruit.

More Cheeseboard Love

Jonathan already wrote about the Cheeseboard but I have add my two cents about how awesome it is.  This past week, I was staying with Dave and Deborah in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.  Deborah is also a cheeselover and we went to Del Ray's cheese shop - Cheesetique.  We were making a cheese plate for a gathering of our DC gang. We had a great time and the person helping us was great.  We chose an Abbaye de Belloc (more on that in a future post), a nice sardinian pecorino and a Fromager D'affinois (future post!).  In addition, our helper had some really good suggestions, including a soft cheese with cranberries as well as a nice blue that looked like a cheddar with blue veins.  Cheestique is certainly a very good cheese shop but I think I am spoiled by  the Cheeseboard and I wanted to give some reasons why:

1. First and foremost - organizing the customers.  This is where Cheesetique could up their game.  Basically, you have to wait until the person behind the counter notices you.  I had a moment at Cheesetique during an earlier visit when it was particularly crowded.  It was up to the customers to figure out who arrived first and the man who insisted he was there before me may have been correct, but it was an avoidable conflict.  The Cheeseboard stands out because they are able to manage the crowds of customers and still give each of us tremendous amounts of attention.  When you enter the Cheeseboard, you take a playing card.  When they are ready for you, they call your card.   A fun take on the take a number system that would be easy to implement and it takes the guessing out of the "who's next" game.  Simple, easy, understandable.

2.  The sheer expertise of the Cheeseboard staff.  The other thing that is consistent about the Cheeseboard is how much each member of their staff knows about cheese.  They invariably have introduced us to cheeses we've fallen in love with. When we say which cheese we're interested in, they will make suggestions about other cheese we would like.  In one of our favorite visits, one of the behind the counter folks gave us a killer set of fondue cheeses and gave us exactly the right amount for three people.  As a collectively-owned cheese shop, I would assume the Cheeseboard makes a huge investment in training its workers since they are also the owners.  

3.  The Cheeseboard will shove cheese down your throat.  I think they must have a rule that no cheese goes untasted.  Each cheese we take home, we've had a taste of and seriously, even after we've ordered and paid, our behind the counter people, often make suggestions and give tastes of cheeses we should try.  It's also delightful that the behind-the counter-people usually taste right along with us.  They value the opportunity to taste and to hear what we think.  That's a pretty amazing retail experience.  

Now this post isn't to disparage other cheese shops.  We appreciate all of the cheese shops and we've rarely had bad experiences with a cheesemonger, BUT we've also never had a less than extraordinary experience at the Cheeseboard. 

JD adds:  The Cheeseboard is a total cheese experience. One thing I do love about Cheestique and some other cheese shops is the keeping of cheese cards for customers.  At Cheesetique, you can come in, get your card, and see what cheeses you have enjoyed, make notes, and add your new bounty to the list.  It adds a bit of time to the transaction, but it also goads thinking about cheeses and, most likely additional sales.

The Cheese Board Collective and Prairie Breeze Cheddar

Prairie Breeze, a flavorful cow's milk cheddar from a small farm in Iowa, is one of our new favorites.  Picking it up was almost an afterthought, a last minute suggestion from one of the workers at The Cheese Board who thought we would like it.  She couldn't have been more right. 

We're blessed with great cheese shopping options here in the Bay Area, but have most often found ourselves at The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley, about 10 minutes from our house in Oakland.  The Cheese Board is a worker-owned collective bakery, cheese shop, and pizza place (Cheese Board Pizza Collective) on Shattuck, just a few steps from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse.  I love the history here.  A family business became a worker-owned co-op.  They bake, buy and sell cheese, and help hungry customers like us.  Click the history link to learn more about the collective's history and business model. 

When you open the door, the world of cheese is in front of you.  Cases of double creams, cheddars, blues, goudas and more, from the famous to the obscure, fill the cases.  It looks like 300 or more, but we haven't asked yet.  Customers are either waiting their turn or working with one of the collective members on selecting their cheese.  These consultations can be quick or take upwards of 15-20 minutes depending on your needs.  People are there for everything from a fairly standard hunk of cheese to a more elaborate cheese plate (e.g.  "I want to serve artisan sheep cheeses with some that are aged and others that aren't").  Though personalities differ, I have always found the collective members adept at helping us find the cheese we want while offering a cheese or two (or six) we hadn't thought of.  During one of our favorite excursions, the person helping us brought a range of three to five cheeses for each cheese we were looking for.  Asking for something alpine brought us everything from a very quiet, grassy, cheese to one that felt like we could plant it in the front yard and it would sprout a new lawn. She also introduced us to Big Woods Blue, a delicious beefy blue from Shepherd's Way (we'll talk more about that one soon).  She was as excited to share it with us as we were to eat it.

Prairie Breeze was suggested to us after we had selected cheeses for a fondue night.  I think it is usually clear to the person we work with that we are incredibly curious about and eager to learn more about cheese.  We've enjoyed learning about how variations in geography, technique, temperature, aging process, and more affect the cheese we eat.  We know more than some folks and less than many, but always have a good time, even if we are just dropping in for a quarter pound.

Prairie Breeze  was on my list to try because it was a winner at the American Cheese Society awards.  I'd read about the winners in Culture Magazine, but had forgotten to have a look at my list before our visit.  It took first place in the Aged Cheddar category.  It's not hard to tell why.

This is a smooth and flavorful semi-aged cheddar.  It's deliciously balanced between some fruitiness and nuttiness with a restrained sharp edge.  It's not a hit-you-over-the-head sharp, but makes a strong statement.  I also love the lactic acid crystals that give it a bit of texture.  Since enjoying our first bit, I've learned that Prairie Breeze is made by a teenager in Iowa at his family dairy, Milton Creamery.  The family uses milk from area Amish farms to make a handful of cheeses and has spent years selling cheese at local markets.  If this is something he can make this early in his career, I can't wait to see where he goes next if he sticks with it.

Further Reading:
Learn more about this cheese by downloading this article from Cheese Reporter (pdf). 

Click for a Google Blog Search.

Looks like the top cheese, Gordon Edgar over at Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, likes it too! See his top cheeses for 2009 here.

Have you tried Prairie Breeze?  What did you think?  Comments welcome :)

In the Kitchen: Making Fondue and Fresh Ricotta

Welcome to Cheese Friends, a group blog exploring and enjoying cheese.  We're talking about cheeses we love, sharing recipes, and, every once in a while, making our own.  Our first post is from Jonathan, Rebecca, and TC, friends who met in DC now living in the Bay area.  We look forward to involving more of our cheese-loving friends as writers, tasters, and foragers.  Find us on Twitter @cheesefriends and let us know if you have a cheese that makes you swoon.

We decided to kick off the blog by getting together for a night of fondue and cheese making.  We wanted something to snack on while we made our first attempt at homemade ricotta so my husband TC and I thought it would be fun to surprise Rebecca by visiting Berkeley's Cheeseboard and gathering the ingredients for fondue.

The Cheeseboard Collective is our go-to place for cheese in the East Bay.  The people who work here also own the place (a co-op) and we have always had informed help from their team as we look for cheeses we describe as everything from "grassy and soft but lighter on the salt and leaning towards funky" to "a blue that is friendly for people who love blue and people that are skeptical of blue but willing to try."  We'll talk more about them later, but have a look at a few of their cases.

We came to The Cheeseboard knowing we wanted to make fondue and familiar with the basics: wine, Emmentaler, Gruyere, and touches of garlic and nutmeg.  We approached the counter and took a playing card from the stack. They called the "four of hearts" relatively quickly and we started the consultation.

The person helping us was familiar both with fondue recipes and proportions, verifying the approximate weights for a generous fondue for three with one of the other workers.  She helped us select a Le Gruyere Cave Aged and Emmentaler from Switzerland, with the unexpected suggestion to add some Appenzeller (silver label aged 2-4 months).  Fondue regulars would be less surprised, but this was new to us and a welcome addition with its sharpness and its fruity kick.

For the wine, we went with a Gewurztraminer.  This was not a standard choice.  Most fondues are made with a reliably dry wine and this California Gewurztraminer was not.  It was a bit too sweet, but fairly weak so the sharpness of the cheeses tamped the sugar down a bit. Our meyer lemon juice from our backyard lemon tree had a nice bite as well so it all worked out.

Cheese Friends Fondue

1 clove garlic

1 cup dry white wine (plus some to thin as needed)

2 T lemon juice

3/4 lb Cave-aged Gruyere, 1/4 Emmentaler,  6 oz Appenzeller

1 T cornstarch

Nutmeg to taste (2 pinches)

Pepper to taste (2 pinches)

Dippables: 

Warm brown bread (or other thick, stout bread), blanched cauliflower florets, blanched green beans, sliced apples, sliced pears, whatever you like!

Steps:

Peel garlic and rub inside of pot thoroughly. 

Squeeze lemons and put 2T of lemon juice in a medium-size pot

Add wine and turn burner to medium heat (do not allow to boil)

Grate the cheese and toss it in the cornstarch

Add cheese 1/2 a cup or so at a time to wine/lemon juice

Raise the heat to medium high, stirring slowly to melt and combine

Add a few pinches of pepper and nutmeg (optional, but delicious)

Stir thoroughly until melted
If it seems too thick, add a bit more wine and stir through
Transfer to fondue pot or bring the pot directly to the table for dipping

If it gets too thick or cools, just place it back on the heat

Enjoy!

We served the fondue with a salad of crisp romaine, cherry tomatoes and a Point Reyes Blue Cheese dressing.  Point Reyes Original Blue from Farmstead Cheese Company is a creamy blue with a big, flavorful, taste without much edge or sharpness.  It's simply delicious crumbled on a salad and in dressing,  Read an exhaustive article here.


Next Post: Making the Ricotta!