We love Cheese!

This week is Gouda and American Camembert.

I’ve looked everywhere for French Camembert, but even though it says it’s French on the label, it’s made with pasteurized milk. I bought some American Camembert because the cheese monger was so nice, but it’s probably disgusting. Oh well…

We do have an amazing Triple Cream from Cowgirl Creamery so all is not lost.

A family favorite here.

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I love everything from CC! My local So Cal WF usually has a decent selection. One of my favorite places is the CC store in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza. Ah, cheese.

French-style Camembert made in the US? I’ve seen quite a few times cheeses labeled as French ‘insert your cheese type’ when its a local imitation of the same style.

Lucky you!

I’m not a cheese expert but the cheesemonger told me even though it says “Europe” on the label and it may even be a European company, the cheese is made in the US, with pasteurized US milk. Sadness.

I finally opened the American Camembert, Presidente Brand, and it was ok. It tasted like brie but firmer. Besides the texture, if you put them side-by-side, I couldn’t tell them apart. Nothing to write home about, I’m assuming @Presunto non-pasteurized Camembert is much better. From the cheesemonger’s description, the closest thing in the US to non-pasteurized, French Camembert is Triple-Cream brie, or just Triple Cream. They both have that fatty, lusciousness that is so desirable.

I’m going to make some bacon jam and make grilled-Camembert, bacon jam sammiches tonight. No cheese is bad cheese. :slight_smile:

Side-note: I found some non-pasteurized cheddar at Whole Foods. I don’t know how they can sell it, I thought it was illegal? Anyways, the milk taste was more pronounced and it had a creamier, smoother mouth-feel. I liked it but I wouldn’t pay $15/lb for it.

They can sell it if it’s been aged a certain number of days.

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that number is 60

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Thanks, both. Didn’t know that. So if left to age long enough then it is considered safe, a process which prevents bacteria growth.

There’s also another method called thermalisation, heat is 60-65 °C/140-150F briefly before chilling. In the US that is still raw, in the EU it’s pasteurised.

I prefer raw milk and think the cheese does have more depth but that is a very personal thing.

You can get raw milk in the U.S., depending on your state. It’s “illegal” in the state of Maryland, but there are a few ways to get around the restriction. You can drive to Pennsylvania where it’s legal. You can buy raw milk labeled as “for pet consumption only.” (This doesn’t work for cheese as far as I know.) Or you can buy a farm membership sort of thing. I do this last one. The raw milk cheeses I’ve had thus far haven’t been worth it, in my opinion. Usually, the milk is sent off to large cheesemaking production centers.

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In California, raw milk and raw milk cheeses are legal as long as there is a warning label. It’s a nice compromise.

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Nice cheese stall at this tiny market. Unfortunately, I don’t have a fridge in the room and the market is only on monday.

Tomme du Jura.

My favourite. All 3 are good in different things.

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Your cheese markets are so much better than anything around here. Nice selections. Cheese is my Achilles heel. I’m powerless

Wish I had this kind of cheese stall at home. This was in Brussels. I’m partial to French cheeses, as are the Belgians. I did pop into Carrefour (French supermarket chain) on the way to the station but they only have standard cheeses and in mid 30s (Celsius) heat no way I could walk around with them in my bag.

The most interesting thing is that two days after I ate the Glarner Alpkase and found it bitter, I ate it again. This time most of the bitterness was gone.

I have no idea what’s going on. I never encountered something like this eating cheese or anything else.

Was it related to something you ate before? Sometimes cheese has some chemical reaction with you other food.

Absolutely!

Not long back I purchased pre-washed and bagged watercress. Everything I ate for a couple of days was WAY off, bitter and taste totally altered. I would not have been able to identify what I ate if I had not seen it.

Never had that experience before. Not sure what the trigger was but had me very concerned and I have not purchased that product again. Not sure I want to eat watercress again no matter where it’s from

Have you eaten watercress before this time? Same problem? I wonder maybe there might be “other” plant mixed in that bag.

As far as I know, they inject some gas to preserve those pre-washed bagged vegetables, because all those herbs and leafy vegetables I harvest from my home, 2 hours without water, they looked lifeless, nothing like those fresh looking bagged vegetables.

Watercress is not something I usually buy but may have had it somewhere. I really have no idea what caused the issue but it was directly associated with that bag and easy enough to stay away from