Recently at Oakland Grocery Outlet -
Zippo’s Pick of the Year
Brutal Blue by Rogue Creamery in Oregon (Lisa Wilk)
$10/lb., available in wedges with soft rind at about 6 or 7 ounces each - Rogue Creamery’s Brutal Blue is a semisoft, green veined, raw milk cheese that has been aged for about 3 years in Rogue’s Oregon cheese caves. It was a limited edition issue that is no longer available on its website. It has a tasty rind, is peppery with green veining, and a funky aroma that hints at stinky tofu. Due to the long aging, there is contrasting texture from the cheese crystals.
Even though it’s only June, this is my Pick of the Year and, after shopping at Grocery Outlet for about 25 years, one of the top finds ever. It was in the regular cheese section in a box on the lowest shelf. They also had a few of the Rogue Oregon Blue at the same price, which is one of their flagship products. The Oregon Blue is aged 90 or 120 days and has a tinge of sweetness and vanilla taste to it. I prefer the Brutal Blue.
Rogue Creamery is famous for its blues and at the 2019 Bergamo, Italy Cheese Festival won the award for best cheese in the world for its Rogue River Blue.
I made 3 trips to Grocery Outlet for the Brutal and bought about 5 lbs before spilling the beans.
https://roguecreamery.com/our-story/#worlds-best-cheese
A few other things -
$3.49/12 oz. - Frank’s Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce (mild version) with no stabilizers, emulsifiers or preservatives listed on the label. If you are seeking an alternative to the hard-to-find Huy Fong Sriracha, try this.
99 cents/17 oz tub - Sabra Classic Hummus. That works out to abut 94 cents per pound.
99 cents/10 oz tub - Sabra Bagel Everything Hummus with poppy and sesame seeds.
