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Cheese lovers: What's your go-to/favourite cheese?
Always a tricky question, and always an interesting answer - personally my favourite cheese right now is Blacksticks Blue, a creamy blue that goes excellent melted on a pizza (subject to change at a moment's notice, mind you).
I'm pretty simple here - smoked gouda. I love the smoky flavor in most dishes. It's overall fairly subtle, which makes it somewhat versatile and it's readily available.
I want to offer a slight twist on this one: smoked gruyère. I like it in a lot more applications than smoked Gouda (great in Mac and cheese), because it's just a bit smoother. Both are great, though, and I will always support a good smoked Gouda.
Oohh yes, love that as well! Sometimes a bit more difficult to find (at least at the stores I go to), but another great one for sure.
Definitely mine as well. Most grocery stores I've been to will slice it paper thin if you ask, and that's my preference for sandwiches. I recently ate at a restaurant which had smoked gouda and ricotta fritters, and I definitely have to figure out a good recipe for those now.
I've never really liked Gouda as a standalone cheese before. But at the farmer's market a couple of weekends ago, I discovered a new stall for a local Amish farm that was sampling and selling its homemade applewood-smoked Gouda, as well as an aged plain Gouda.
Feel free to hate me to death out of jealousy, because I can't even believe I got lucky enough to try that. It's not like I needed to fall in love with yet another cheese.
My wife and I were in Italy years ago and fell in love with Pecorino. It's really great with honey or grapes. I must admit I have a hard time stopping eating once I start (a serving for me is the entire block)
If you are ever in Italy again or you can find it where you live, the Pecorino from Sardegna called Fiore Sardo is amazing and one of favourite Pecorino cheeses.
There are some other great ones as well. Like Canestratto which is formed in reed baskets (canestro) or another favourite, Formaggio di Fossa, which is aged in a pit in the ground and has a very sharp taste.
Pecorino cheeses are very diverse and all of them tasty :P
I've had this conversation with a buddy of mine that although Pecorino probably isn't my favorite cheese in the world, if I could only have one cheese for the rest of my life it'd probably be that. It just works so well in do many places, IMO. I buy the big ol' wedges from Costco.
Came here to say Pecorino. I use it as part of a carbonara, but if it was cheaper/more available I'd probably just munch on it as a little snack more often.
I also find the texture its pretty chewy (in a good way) for a hard cheese... but I'm no cheese aficionado.
Havarti on toast is the only way to start my morning. Also like a good brie.
I love Havarti, I didn't think of using it on toast in the morning. I use it instead of feta for my lasagna, and it makes it so much richer.
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Delice de Bourgogne is a very ripe, bloomy rind cheese with the consistency and richness of triple-créme Brie, but a lot more flavor. It makes a great butter substitute on crusty country sourdough.
I really enjoy cheddar aged to the point that it has crunchy, tongue-stinging crystals, and Prairie Breeze is my fave.
Trader Joe's Parmesan-cultured Cheddar is also delicious and inexpensive.
Not in the same category, but that caramelized onion cheddar from Trader Joe's is so addicting.
I can’t go past a really good, crumbly, mature, cave-aged cheddar. I grew up near cheddar (the town where it was invented) and let me tell you, a pint of cider, wedge of cheddar and a few pickled onions is the perfect lunch. We actually had some shipped all the way from cheddar to Sydney for our wedding cake!
My favorite is probably mimolette, which you can fortunately find at a lot of grocery stores at least in the US. I would describe it as a slightly less sharp, nuttier Parmesan which is bright orange in color. Some people find the pock-marked rind a bit unappetizing but I don't think you're supposed to eat it (I never do) so you can just cut it away and not look at it.
Highly recommend this for people looking to branch out a bit. It is a very approachable cheese other than the price, but a great one to get in the rotation. It's very successful cut into wedges for cheese boards while hosting.
The cheese that I can use with every kind of recipe is the French Cantal, but I also fell in love with the English Truffle Cheddar which you can eat with some wine.
In recent years, my go-to has been the Fromager d’Affinois triple cream brie. I love a good aged cheese, cheddar, etc., but this brie won me over immediately.
Oh yes, that is a truly delicious cheese. It's only available here occasionally, but irresistible when it is.
My favorite hard cheese is Wensleydale, but that is even rarer here. A small whole (artisanal) Wensleydale is wonderful.
This is mine as well. Just divine on crackers and it goes really well with honeycomb if you're doing a grazing board!
Port Salut is my go to. Mild cheese with a slight tang... Consistency of Velveeta (but that's all it has in common). Perfect accompaniment to grapes and a glass of wine.
I always check the scraps bucket at the Whole Foods cheese counter and discovered Catamount Hills Cheese the last time I did. Unfortunately, it looks like it's a Whole Foods exclusive from Cabot, but whoa is it good! It's meant to be a blend of Swiss and Parmasan, but I feel it leans in more to the parm end. I shredded some to put in a marinated kale salad with a French onion style dressing I made, and it paired perfectly. I'm also a big fan of pairing cheese with fruit spreads, and it went excellently with some apricot preserves.
Some stores other than Whole Foods offer great cheese counters and they'll sometimes have a "scraps" basket as I mentioned above. I have found some great cheeses at a low price point just by grabbing something random from them. It's a great way to find a new favorite without a steep investment.
I did not know WF's cheese counter had a scraps bucket! I might be making a small pit stop tonight...
Applewood smoked cheddar is an amazing smoked cheese. I'm also fond of cheese with a stronger taste. There's a local made Emmentaler that I always pick up when I stop in.
Crowley makes the best sharp cheddar I’ve ever found, I love pretty much all of them, but the Jersey Girl, the hot pepper and the muffaletta are my favorites.
Jasper Hill makes a bunch of great cheeses, but I love their soft cheeses, particularly the Harbison
Depends.
Creamy, soft cheese: St Angel.
Hard, snacking cheese: Godminster.
Melty cheese: Challerhocker.
Blue: Roquefort.
Special mention: Burrata with olive oil, salt, and pepper spooned onto baguette as lunch.
I would have to go with manchego. It's simply lovely with crackers and jam. I do love pecorino though, too. Some pecorino shredded over spaghetti or mac and cheese really makes it something special. Oh, and brie. A brie and honey sandwich on a baguette while sitting in the patio garden on a spring day. Perfect!
Pan-fried Halloumi is really damn good for a hearty breakfast side. It's really salty but it's like the steak of cheeses.
Ooo my go-to is not my favourite so I'll answer in two parts:
Go-to: anything smoked. I see the word smoked on the shelf and I'll grab it!
Favourite: anything labelled 'washed rind' - it has such a distinct stank to it that I'm a sucker for. Unsure if it's because I like stronger flavours, pickled foods, or pehaps it's nostalgia bringing back memories of me as a kid sitting over a bucket of brine trying to fish out some haloumi.
Yes! Smoked gouda is lovely 😍
I find Boursin the most addictive when it's offered with crackers. For every day, I usually have a block of St. Albert / Maple Dale marble / cheddar. For fancy occasional cheese, I enjoy La Sauvagine (soft mushroomy cheese). And nothing beats Halloumi grilled cheese or just Halloumi by itself. I cheese a lot.
Gouda - normal, double cream, goat cheese, aged, anything really
My number one would have to be a freshly made Mozzarella di Buffala.
You really need to have it fresh though. Once it’s refrigerated the consistency and taste changes completely.
With a side of prosciutto and some crusty bread it is heaven for me.
Rogue Smokey Blue is my ridiculous indulgence of late. Perfectly melty, a little salty but not too, and just a little funky. So amazing.
And then there's Humboldt Fog, which I could just eat like a piece of cake. Mmmm.
If you like those cheeses (and I'm partial to both of them), see if you can find Shaft's Gold Mine Blue. It's got that perfect amount of funk with nearly spreadable creaminess. Lovely by itself or with fig jam and prosciutto.
Cypress Grove's Purple Haze lavender and fennel pollen crusted goat cheese is amazing, but it's too intense to be a regular staple. I've put it on a holiday cheese plate to great effect, though.
A few years ago I read through Wikipedia's list of cheeses but despite its length, it still only represents a small subset. I had been trying to find this rare Irish cheese that in the 90's gave me a transcendent experience. It was at an agricultural show in Norn Iron, I never realised how many Irish cheeses we have
Chateau De Bourgogne, similar to triple cream brie. It's rich and buttery and almost liquid at room temperature. Funny leave me in a room alone with that cheese
I've recently been introduced to Kaasterkass which a delicious and powerful washed rind cheese.
Blacksticks Blue is very good, a little expensive for me to be a go-to though!
I love English blue cheese though, a little does go a long way in any recipe as well.
For anyone that really likes smoked cheese it's worth knowing that it's actually quite easy to cold smoke cheese yourself, every year around Christmas I make a whole lot of different smoked cheeses. Don't even really need a dedicated smoker.
I love the flavor and creaminess of good Gouda, similar flavor is Mexican "menonita", they have one with jalapeño bits and is really nice.
I love me an aged cheddar.
Smoked gouda. The first time I had it was on a delicious hamburger about 20 years ago, and I've been hooked ever since.
So the Mennonites down the road from me make the absolute best aged cheddar. You can only buy it at their stone and only for cash but it is super worth driving 7 miles once a week to buy a pound.
On the fancy import side I do love me some pecorino, it's like parm but not as "deep" flavored, I can find just parm to be a little overwhelming.
Overall, I'd say my favorite is cheddar - the sharper the better. I'm partial to Snowdonia Black Bomber but unfortunately it seems nowhere around here sells it. On burgers, I could go for cheddar, swiss, or blue.
I've seen a bunch of people here saying they love smoked cheese, but I've never been able to get into it. Is there a food that really brings out its flavors?
Having grown up around poutine, I’m quite partial to cheese curds. I now make them myself though since I left Canada for Asia and they aren’t really a thing here.
Favorite cheese to buy is probably Burrata, which goes very well on Pizza and is surprisingly easy to find.
It really depends on the dish. For Italian dishes, I prefer asiago over parmesan—I feel like it has a better aged, nutty flavor that complements red sauces well. Meanwhile, for tacos I love oaxaca cheese. But I live on the West Coast Oregon where they make some absolutely dynamic local cheddar cheeses that are fantastic as a cheese snack standalone.