Featured Cheese - October 2022

You are about to enjoy a cheese that was savored, and even written about, by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Its rich heritage was born in central France in the Auvergne mountains at an altitude of over 3000 feet. Auvergne has exceptionally lush pasturelands due to the volcanic soil, mountain storms, and summer sun - all of which give this celebrated cheese its rich and vigorous taste. Two thousand years ago, the curds were put into a wooden cylinder called “le Formage,” which is now the French word for cheese.

Cantal bears the AOC designation and can be found in 3 sizes – the largest wheel weighing about 95 lbs. It has a thick smooth, grayish/brown rind, and some say it smells like its fertile pasturelands. The interior is close textured and pale yellow with a sweet milky aroma, a nutty, buttery flavor, and a slightly acidic finish if it’s aged. Typically this cheese is matured from 3-9 months, and you will find it is quick to show fleur de bleu – a blue mold which the Europeans gladly eat.

L’Etivaz, named after a small Swiss mountain village, is said to be made as Gruyere cheese was once made over a century ago. An AOP designated cheese, L'Etivaz is made from milk from a small cooperative of 76 cheesemakers that felt that government regulations were enabling cheesemakers to produce Gruere in a way that compromised its original flavor profile and integrity. In the 1930s they created L’Etivaz and eventually sought and obtained AOP designation.

Procured and aged at the renowned Fromagerie L'Amuse in Santpoort-Noord, Holland, just outside of Amsterdam, each batch of L’Amuse Gouda is selected for us by L’ Amuse owner Betty Koster. It’s aged for over a year, allowing big crunchy flavor crystals to develop. Over the years, owners Betty and Martin Koster have built up the L’Amuse brand to be one of the more respected gouda producers in the country through their affinage, or cheese maturation process.

This is a labor-intensive cheese… the curd is literally cut by hand. The cheesemakers reach into their kettle of warm curd, and ever so slowly, break it into small pieces from which the final cheese will be formed. This ancient technique protects the gentle flavor of the finished cheese. Pyrenees cheeses aren't the kind that hit you over the head. Instead, they're lovely, smooth, subtly fruity with a nice little bit of a nose, the kind of cheese you might eat every day at lunch, or with a simple dinner and glass of dry white wine. P'tit Basque offers floral and sweet caramel notes.