Cheese Tasting, Part II

Armed with our purchases from Cora, Kookie and I had a nice cheese tasting on Saturday evening.  We had a lot of cheese, so the first task was to take down all the names and make a score chart so we’d remember which was which.  We cut up a freshly-baked (shrink-wrapped) baguette, also from France, jotted down notes and flavour comments – we’re not professionals, but we can still say things like ‘strong’, ‘nutty’, etc. – and took pictures, of course.

We tasted a total of 14 cheese, which were (in tasting order):

Pié d’Angloys

K: Mild, no small, camembert.

J: Kind of wheaty, soft and mild with a thin, pale rind.  Runny inside.

Rigotte D’Échalas

K: Tastes old, is it expired?  (lol!)  Has slight smell.

J: Texture = mushy, like frishkäse.  Strong initial flavour of…”plain” =S  Orange rind.

Le Crottin de Chèvre

K: Sustained, nice aftertaste.  Smells.

J: Hard for a goat cheese, mild initial flavour, the rind is pretty tasty (salty and buttery)

Moulé et Affiné en Berry (or something to that effect)

K: Milder than previous

J: Sharper than Le Crottin, slight mushroom flavour

Chamois d’Or

K: Camembert, nothing special

J: Really soft, thin rind, kind of fruit and buttery

Le Brin Pavé d’Affinois

K: Soft, rich, not smelly, firmer than Chamois

J: Very mild, soft, orange rind, slight gummy texture, buttery flavour

Coeur de Lion

K: Not smelly, firmer texture

J: Firmer, slightly sharp, powder white rind, mushroomy

Roitelet

K: Strong, richer

J: Firmer soft cheese, water/metal smell, stronger, earthy, white powdery rind

Camembert Président

K: Solid camembert, mild

J: White rind, slight mushroom flavour, creamy texture

Port Salut

K: Reminded me of cheddar, but not really

J: Medium cheese, orange rind, kind of like…low fat harvarti

Rochebarron

K: It’s cheese =)  Strong aroma.

J: Ashy grey rind with a smoky flavour

Manchego pur Brebis

K: Sorta like parmigiano in hardness.  Nutty.

J: Hard, nutty and buttery rind

Bresse Bleu

K: Mild blue cheese aroma, equally mild taste

J: White rind, large blue pockets, tastes like camembert

Saint Agur

K: Blue.  Strong flavour.  Reaches the nose.  Nutty.

J: Sharp, stinky, salty.

For our favourites, Kookie recommends the Manchego and the Pié d’Angloys.  I also recommend the Manchego (that rind!  Yum…) and also the Saint Agur, because I think it goes great with a little bit of bread.

We were so full after our cheese tasting, and I still have more than half the cheese left.  That night, I went to sleep dreaming of Manchego…