Cheese #7: Swedish Greves (it's just Swiss)

Loyal Pondering Cheese readers..... I'm back! I wish I could tell you I was off wondering the world in search of the best cheeses to review but I wasn't. I have just been caught up in the parts of life that are far less interesting than cheese. With that said, I will share one April adventure that I took where I had the opportunity to experience a cheese based sandwich with tradition. In early April I was privileged to accompany a friend at The Masters in Augusta, Georgia (A tradition unlike any other). Before our trip to The Masters I had no idea that this classic golf tournament is known for a delicious Pimento cheese sandwich. The sandwich itself was simple, two pieces of the whitest bread you can buy with a thick layer of the most wonderful Pimento cheese spread in between. Wrapped in a thin green plastic with a sticker on the front with The Masters logo, this sandwich was dense. In fact it was so dense that when you picked it up you could already feel the rock it was about to leave in your gut. I had two of these wonderfully heavy and delightful sandwiches within a few hours and was sure I would never need to eat again. The actual cheese in the spread was a perfectly shredded cheddar held together with a mixture of creamy greatness. Growing up in a NASCAR family, I worried about being shunned for attending a professional golf tournament but the risk was worth it because of these traditional Pimento cheese sandwiches that were unlike any other.

And now on to this weeks (or months) cheese. When I bought this cheese a couple weeks back I was ready to scoff at it. I was ready to make several comments about how its appearance makes it look like the perfect cheese for a cartoon mouse. The cheese itself was a long skinny wedge with appropriately placed holes through the entire wedge. This large wedge of Swedish Greves was just a wedge of Swiss Cheese with a fancy name. I wanted so badly to come back strong with negative feelings about a stupidly stereotypical looking cheese, but I can't. This hunk of Swiss was fantastic! It was not overpowering like some Swiss cheese. This Swiss was mild and smooth. It cut with ease right out of the refrigerator and was so perfectly snackable that I almost finished the entire wedge in one sitting. I ate this cheese on crackers and feel this was probably the best use for it as mixing it with other tastes might have hidden the mild taste of Swedish Greves (Swiss). For this reason Swedish Greves was not the most versatile of cheese but I would give this fancy Swiss cheese a 4 out of 5 when compared to the most wonderful cheese of all times, Colby Jack.

Peace, Love, and Cheese