11/20/2023 0 Comments Artisan cheese boards![]() Later on, it became an unwitting symbol of the French Revolution when it was reported to be King Louis XVI’s last snack before he was arrested in an inn near Varennes. However, some version of it seems to have been made on farms throughout the Ile de France region during the time of Charlemagne, who was said to have been eating Brie and extolling its virtues in the eighth century. Brie is a soft-ripened, bloomy-rind cheese, a category that accounts for about a third of all cheese produced in France.Įasily one of the most famous cheeses in the world, and also one of the most imitated, production of Brie may extend back as far as the fifth century, although legend and fact may not always be the same. Perhaps the quintessential party cheese, Brie was one of the first specialty cheeses that helped awaken the American palate to what cheese could be. It takes its name from a small market town where the cheese was first aged and sold. It is a superb melting cheese, making it a fine choice for gratins, soups and omelets, and it is delicious on its own as a table cheese. It tastes of the mountain meadows, redolent of wildflowers, honey and hazelnuts. Beaufort has slightly concave sides and a natural brushed rind, with a lovely smooth, creamy, ivory-colored interior paste with rarely any holes. It is almost twice as thick as traditional Gruyère, and has a higher fat content. ![]() It is very much in the style of Gruyère, made just across the border from Switzerland, in fact, but significantly larger. The colorful French 19th-century gastronome Brillat-Savarin called it the “Prince of Gruyères.” Part of a trio of great cheeses from the Savoie region of eastern France that includes Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie, Beaufort is a hard, pressed-curd, cooked cheese made from the rich, raw milk of Tarine and Abondance cows. ![]() When fully mature, it is like a finely aged grana-type cheese. When young, it has a soft, yellow paste with a sprinkling of tiny holes, growing harder in texture as it matures. Older versions take on a degree of sharpness lacking in younger cheeses. The youngest is called fresco, medium aged is mezzano, and cheeses aged for nine months or longer are known as vecchio.Īsiago is basically a mild cheese that is easy to slice, shave or shred, and it melts well. Mature Asiago is made from partially skimmed raw milk and can be aged anywhere from three months to a year. status allows the milk to be collected from the adjacent provinces of Vincenza and Trento, as well as parts of Treviso and Padua. Though it takes its name from the town of Asiago and the surrounding plateau, its official D.O.P. Its flavor has been compared to “hot toast spread with Marmite.” It is great for cooking or as a table cheese.Īsiago has been made more or less the same way for over a thousand years in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. It is relatively soft and easy to cut or shred, and has a full, buttery flavor with fruity overtones, its sharpness increasing with age. The natural rind should be a light to medium brown, and the interior should have a pleasing ivory to yellow color with a scattering of pea-sized holes throughout. Appenzeller is aged from three to six months, whereupon it reveals a mature and spicy character. The newly formed wheels are washed in an herbal jelly consisting of pepper, herbs and spices, either white wine or cider, water and salt, the exact recipe of which is a closely held secret. Appenzeller is a pressed, cooked-curd, brushed-rind cheese made in flat, round loaves that range from 12 to 16 pounds and are about three inches thick. The region of Appenzell lies in eastern Switzerland, a picturesque area wedged between Lake Konstanz and the Austrian border. One of the glorious cheese triumvirates that go into a traditional Swiss fondue, Appenzeller is thought to have been made since the time of Charlemagne (ninth century). Ask our cheese specialists for cooking, serving and wine pairing suggestions. Our unique cheese selection offers the very best of domestic and imported varieties, which includes handcrafted farmstead and artisan cheeses. When you visit our Fromagerie, you’ll discover why AJ’s has earned the title of Best Cheese Selection from Phoenix magazine.
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