Mont Des Cats: Monks Strike Again

While I realize I've been a bit cheese heavy on the posts recently, I couldn't resist buying a piece of Mont Des Cats at Zabar's recently. After all, I've reviewed Chimay Cheese as well as Abbaye de Tamie, making me one of the leading reviewers of cheese made by Monks on the Upper West Side, if not the World.

The cheese is made of cow's milk and has a 50% fat content. It has a brownish thin rind, which is a result of the washing in salt water and then being dyed in roucou, which is derived from annatto seeds. The cheese is a beige color. It is a very mild tasting cheese with a bit of an odor, sort of like a dog whose bark is worse than its bite. I found it felt a little rubbery when chewing.

Many commenters, from the little sign at Zabar's to Wikipedia, note that Mont Des Cats is made in a similar manner as Port Salut Cheese. While I don't disagree with this, the one thing that I have noted in my European tour of Trappist Cheese is how similar all of them taste to each other. All have a similar color and texture (although Chimay and Abbay de Tamie do a better job of it than this one), smell and taste. I happen to like the taste, but I can not see a reason to ever buy more than one. Given that Chimay is widely available, reasonably priced and good, I would go for that one in this category. Although I think I have to buy a piece of Port Salut just to make sure. Guess who created Port Salut!!!!

Abbaye de Tamie Cheese: More Monks Gone Wild!

And I thought that only monks in Belgium made cheese! Well, yet again I was proved wrong, this time by our friends from London. When they came to stay on Fire Island for a week, they were kind enough to make a pit-stop at Murray's and buy us some excellent cheese. One of these cheeses was Abbaye de Tamie, made by French Monks of that same named Abbey.

The cheese has a thick, edible rind. It is a aged, raw milk cow's cheese. The monks suggest eating it from 21 to 45 days after it is finally packed. The cheese is soft and has an earthy flavor. It was quite tasty, but I am not sure it is worth the $27 a pound they are charging for it on the internet. I hope it is less in the store. The Chimay cheese which I got at Zabar's has a similar taste and cost less. Its not quite as attractive, rindwise, but its close. But if you want something a bit more exotic in your selction of religious cheese, go for the Abbaye De Tamie.

Beware of Cheese in Leaves!!!

Although this may be an absolute generalization, I am officially coming out against cheeses that are wrapped in leaves. After last weeks drubbing of Sarl Beillavaire "Montrachet", the lovely wife purchased an attractive looking cheese named La Rossa. This soft cheese, from Italy, is covered in Brandy soaked cherry leaves, and looked great. Its when you unwrap the leaves that the problems start happening.

The cheese has a yellow and white striped soft rind. It is aged 30 days and is made from a combination of cow and sheep's milk. After I removed the leaves, I couldn't decide if the actual cheese was attractive or not. Sometimes I thought it looked pretty (it sort of does in the photo), but at other times I thought it looked a little like fish skin. The cheese itself does not taste bad; in fact it does not taste like much of anything. It's sort of like cream cheese. With leaves.

If anyone knows any leaf wrapped cheeses that they like, please post and let me know!

PS: Some people really liked this cheese. You can look here for an alternate point of view.

Soumaintrain Berthault: Gives Vacherin a Run For MUCH Less Money

As I have noted before, I really like Vacherin. Although I prefer the raw milk version, the pasteurized Vacherin is not bad and is available in the States. However, it is quite expensive. So when I saw a similar looking piece of cheese, Soumaintrain Berthault, at Zabar's for about $11 for a 6" wheel I couldn't resist. Although I am the type to do research on cheese, the reality is that I bought the cheese because it looked like the Vacherin, and cost 1/3 as much. My reasoning was, if worst came to worst, it would look pretty at dessert.

The cheese is a washed rind cheese. It has a sticky brown rind, and a whitish, soft inside. Our cheese was quite ripe and we used a spoon to serve it. It definitely has an odor, but not as overpowering as other strong cheeses we have eaten.

So I was pleasantly surprised when the entire wheel disappeared. For good reason. The cheese was great. Ripe and soft, we scooped it out with a spoon and ladled it on bread and crackers. The taste is similar to a Vacherin. The best overall description is an article from 2005 by Janet Fletcher. She describes the cheese as having a fifth flavor (savory) or what the Japanese call umami. I'll just call it good, and a great value.

Fletcher also notes that there is no apellation control for Soumaintrain cheese, so she (and I) strongly recommends buying the Berthault brand of Soumaintrain.

Chimay Cheese: Who Knew?

I first had Chimay Beer, made by Trappist Monks, when I was in college. I liked the beer, and, at the time, really liked the really large bottle it came in. Over the years I have enjoyed Chimay, particularly when I eat at Belgian restaurants (its great with fries and mayo!). So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that in addition to beer, those Belgian Monks made four type of cheese, too. Zabar's had two types for sale: Grand Cru and Chimay with Beer. I bought a piece of the Grand Cru, which is only available as a large wheel. I found to be a mildly nutty semisoft cheese. It has a pleasant aroma and an edible rind. There is a mild bitter aftertaste, which works well in this cheese. The cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk. Most importantly, the cheese tasted good on crackers. The Chimay website also has recipes, which I am linking too but do not necessarily recommend. I would definitely add this cheese to a cheese plate at a party. And yes, it would taste great with beer.

Ciabot: Pretty Cheese For the Holidays

The lovely wife bought Ciabot for a gathering because, well, it looked lovely. And it does. A rinded wheel, it comes wrapped in plastic with its own little ribbon. Even the label that comes with it is stylish. And why not? Ciabot is made by Cora, an artisinal Italian cheese make known for wrapping cheese in leaves. Ciabot is made of cow and sheep cheese. It stored well (although only briefly) in our refrigerator, and warmed up quickly to a mildly gooey, minimally tangy cheese. It is not strongly flavored but definitely tastes like something. It would be good early in a cheese plate. In fact, it is on the cheese plate at the Gramercy Tavern. All in all, a good cheese that looks great. We bought ours at Zabar's, although it seems to be more widely available.

Smelly Cheese Looks Like a Brain

Despite its appearance, this cheese is not a prop from the movie "Young Frankenstein." I should add that its appearance is what convinced me to plunk down about $20 for this one pound piece of cheese that I had never heard of. In case you were wondering, its called Cap Gris Nez Cheese. Cap Gris Nez means "gray nosed cape" in French, and I guess, since the cheese also looks a bit like a pet rock, that this is a reasonable name. It is a raw milk cow's cheese aged more than 60 days (Of course. God forbid we allow those French to kill us with Listeria) .

When the cheese is unwrapped, the first thing that you notice is that it stinks. I mean old feet stinks. The cheese has a thin washed yellow rind, and is cream colored on the inside. It is quite firm. I liked it. It has a strong flavor that would pair well with a "big" red wine. It sits well on crackers, too. The lovely wife believed that not only did it smell like feet, but it tasted like feet. So much for total agreement on all issues. Its other problem is that it only really looks good as a whole, very expensive, one pound piece of cheese. Cut up, it loses its "brain appeal." And having a cut up piece of stinky cheese in your refrigerator is also not a great way to promote marital harmony. Having said that I really thought it was good, and would buy a smaller piece (if available) as one of the later cheeses to eat on a cheese plate.

Epoisses: A Strong Cheese That Runs a Bit Too Much

I was originally going to write about onions today, but the website that I had first consulted, from the National Onion Association, was down. So I decided to write about this tasty, but rather liquid cheese. Before buying, my research consisted of going to Zabar's cheese counter and looking for what was interesting. I tried the Epoisses and thought it was good in the store. When I got home, I googled Epoisses and found the usual zillion websites commenting on Epoisses and informing you that you can buy the cheese from their website right this second. The best site is actually from the Syndicat de Defense L'Epoisse, which has an English language web site. I found out that the cheese is normally sold 5 weeks after production and that, if you don't think its ripe enough, you can leave it for up to two weeks in the bottom of your refrigerator. I also found out that the cheese is especially flavorful in July, August, November and December. They suggest eating it with dry white wine or young red wine. Traditionally it is served with other cheeses as part of a cheese plate.

The cheese is rather good. It is very pungent, although it does not smell like feet as many other bloggers seem to think. The cheese was extremely runny, and it actually oozed out of the Saran Wrap it was packed in. As you can see from the photo, I was warned about this. Having said that, I would strive to buy an under-ripe piece next time and let it soften in the bottom of my fridge. I would also remove it from its plastic when purchasing it and store it in an airtight plastic container on a plate. This will make it a more attractive piece of cheese to serve. In addition to serving on a cheese board, t he Syndicat's website also suggests spreading it on pain d'epices de Dijon (ginger toasts) and serving it as an aperitif. I may try that.