cheese, glorious cheese

I'm not sure at what age it happens, but at some point our cravings turn from foods like candy to cheese. It starts slowly, with tentative nibbles of brie and cheddar, and soon you find yourself eyeing sexier cheeses and thinking, "Man, that mold looks tasty" or "Which piece has the most ash in it?" and even "You know, stilton might not actually be the worst smell ever."

Don't believe me? Put out a cheese plate at a party and prepare to see just rind and the knife the next time you walk by. Watch a cheese newbie take the whole gooey center of a triple-cream cheese and hear others gasp at the unfairness of it all. Pay close attention as people stand, toothpick at the ready, mentally calculating just how many cubes they can take without looking greedy.

Enter this luscious slate cheese board set from VivaTerra. Sure, you can put some cheeses on a plate and poke little flags into them to claim your territory and indicate what kind they are, but this is something special. A heavy, cool slate slab that comes with chalk you use to write the cheese names right on the board. I break mine out when I'm trying to set a bistro-y mood, and it always gets as many compliments as the cheeses. And yes, the included cheese knives are shaped like mice — I know!

Comments

Brilliant that you can write on that cheese board!

The cheese slate is also available at Williams and Sonoma... I have two (a small one and a bigger one) and they are great!

I want it too!

My better half threw a cheese & wine tasting party for my birthday two years ago, and we were amazed at what a good selection of upscale cheeses we found at Costco. You wouldn't think so, but they have a kind of decent selection.

I'm totally with James on the Costco cheese selection. They have decent chevre and parmasean that i've tired.

Mmmm...cheese. I haven't seen the selection at Costco, but Trader Joe's is pretty well stocked as well.

For those readers in LA, I went to a great cheese tasting class at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. I think it was through the New School of Cooking. Ever since then, I've been wanting to throw a tasting party of my own and now I am re-inspired.

For those of you who have done this, what did you serve with the cheese (and what cheese did you serve)?

www.dibruno.com

This is a selection and if you can visit their stores in Philly-do so.

>For those of you who have done this, what did you serve with the cheese (and what cheese did you serve)?

Some accompaniments can be: whole grain mustard, cornichons, sliced cured meats like salami or prociutto, fruit preserves (try fig!), pate, good baguette and/or crackers, fresh fruit, and olives. My favorites to serve are the mustard, fruit preserves, and olives for ease of setup alone. If I'm serving a baked brie, fresh grapes and sliced apples are almost mandatory.

When setting up a cheese plate, I'll use 3 cheeses minimum. They should range in texture and pungency. I'll often pick representatives of sheep, goat, and cow milk cheeses. And the more cream, the better! A cheese plate is not the place for low-fat cheese!

Great suggestions, Cathy.

As for specific cheeses, some big crowd-pleasers I've served are Petit Basque (sheep, Pyrenees), Humboldt Fog (goat, California), St. Andre (cow, Pyrenees -- triple-cream, baby!) and white stilton with lemon zest (cow, Leicestershire).

While these are my go-to cheeses, I also like to mix it up by asking my cheesemonger (and no, I don't call him "cheesemonger" to his face) to recommend cheeses similar to these. It's a good way to learn about new cheeses -- and, best of all, they usually give me free samples to try.