One cheese to rule them all - Page 21

36 mo Comté. This one was just great.



It's gone bad. Too yeasty and a little too much ammoniac.

On that one you said was bad. Actually looks OK for what it's worth. May be just a bit damp. Leave it out for part of a day and dry it some and see. The core looks consistent and the rind doesn't appear damp.

Some ammonia is normal in ripened, aged cheese. Sometimes it gets trapped in storage and just needs a bit of air.

Yeah, I thought it looked fine, too. But it's much more -- unpleasantly -- yeasty than the last one. Thanks for the tip to dry it out. I'll try it.

Eight hours into today's cheese class. 12 cheeses, 3 milks, 3 yogurts in vertical and horizontal tastings.

Last three hours are cheese and wine pairings.
And it's only day 1.

damn where is this class?

Have they mentioned in what way they are associated with Cheese Plus? It's my local cheese shop, and I believe they have something, if not ownership, in common.

i want to move to san francisco

Ray Bair owns Cheese Plus, coming from several years as director of cheese, wine, and specialty foods for Whole Foods Market. He speaks occasionally at the school. We'll be there Tuesday.

The School is owned by Kiri Fisher and Daphne Zepos who bought it last year from Sara Vivenzio.

On that plate at 12 and clockwise:

l'amuse Gouda
Aged Mimolette
Epoisses
Colston Bassett Stilton
Gorgonzola Piccante
Purple Haze
Pierre Robert/Brillat Savarin
Comté

I'm interested to hear your impressions. I think it is probably at least as good as many of the more pretentious shops in SF. Nice people running it, too.

Forgot to say, Matt, that the cheese school sort of started through classes Ray held at his shop, but there was never an ownership connection.

Dropped in Saturday.
Nice staff at the cheese case. Decent selection in good shape.

Cowgirl curd, set this morning. Tastes a little like buttered popcorn albeit very light.

Fromage Blanc (Cowgirl)
Inverness (Cowgirl)
Keen's
Cabot cloth
Asiago, aged
Wagon Wheel (Cowgirl) - started out as an attempt at an Asiago Pressato.
Red Hawk Julian Date 61 (Cowgirl) 5 days old
Red Hawk Julian Date 73 (Cowgirl)
21 days
Red Hawk Julian Date 90 (Cowgirl) 
30 days (when it is first sold/minimum age)

Matt- some time you mentioned you felt that Cowgirl was selling too young. Here's a tip from Cheesemaker Maureen Cunnie:

Each Cowgirl is stamped with a five digit number.
1) batch of the day, a 0 means only batch made that day.
2) creamery, 0=Point Reyes & 2=Petaluma
3) Julian date (date made). Last three digits. "093" is today.

Maureen's personal ideal for Tam, Red Hawk, Inverness, is around 40-45 days.

Red Hawk made today meets her ideal, then, around day 133.
So if you think +40 from the Julian...

Perhaps your cheesemonger can flag you when they have them, or hold and age for you.
Edited by Cary Grant - 4/2/12 at 7:22pm