Cheese #2: Charnwood

Loyal cheese lovers and readers this week I will be reviewing a cheese I picked up at the wonderful Dekalb Farmers Market, not far from my home. Before I delve into my post I wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming response to last week's inaugural post. I found myself flooded with comments/suggestions about other cheeses to ponder from readers around the globe.

Charnwood

After my wife informed me early this week that I was not to eat any of the shredded cheese in our fridge as a snack, (I always thought this was a normal thing to do until I got married) I decided I would start my pondering early. I picked up a small wedge of Charnwood (Smoked De Applewood) a cheddar cheese that is not actually smoked but instead seasoned to have a smoky taste. If your first thought is "wow sounds like a fancy cheese" you are on the same page I was when I picked it up. If you have never had the pleasure of tasting Charnwood, imagine how it tastes to eat a piece of string cheese that has shared a package with a smoked meat stick (usually found near the counter at a classy gas station). You know the deliciousness of the cheese is still somewhere in that poor and helpless piece of cheese but it has been masked by the overwhelmingly cheap smoky taste. Before you start to think this post will focus only on bashing Charnwood let me tell you, Charnwood does have some positive qualities. It is a very soft and snackable cheese. It would be wonderful for any party's cheese platter except for the fact that the smoky taste may seep into the other cheeses on the plate. In comparison to the world's favorite cheese (Colby Jack), Charnwood is equally soft and would be an excellent sandwich cheese as far as texture and versatility goes in the cheese world but I am afraid that the strong smoke flavor takes away from Charnwood's ability to be a well respected cheese with many uses. I would give Charnwood a C+ for an overall grade. While it was not one of the best cheeses I have ever pondered it was tolerable and enjoying Charnwood was much easier than enjoying a night without cheese.

Charnwood

I will end this post with another quick review. On Friday night my wife and I enjoyed dinner at 246, a restaurant in Decatur, Georgia. 246 was recommended by our friends because of the many unique cheeses on their menu which can be enjoyed as an appetizer. Our dinners were delicious but I will say my favorite part of the experience was publicly pondering Taleggio, a buffalo milk cheese from their menu that was served with homemade sweet pickles and strips of toasted bread. There will be no pictures of this fancy pants cheese as I was informed taking pictures in an establishment such as 246 was probably not appropriate. Taleggio was very soft and almost spreadable like butter. The Taleggio was an off white color with a yellow rind. This cheese from the milk of a horned beast was much less intimidating than the animal that produces it. Taleggio was very creamy with an slight but not overwhelming blue after taste. I imagine that Taleggio would taste fantastic crumbled over a salad but unlike the cheese previously mentioned in this post Taleggio's taste would easily be lost in a sea of other tastes and textures. To truly enjoy Taleggio it should be the center of attention.

Please keep sending any comments or suggestions of future cheeses I should try and check back next week for another installment of pondering cheese.

Peace, Love, and Cheese

Cheese #1: Cambozola

Hello new followers. Welcome to Pondering Cheese, a new hopefully weekly blog that reviews and compares cheeses. I want to start this blog in a strong way to show each of you how serious I take my cheese. In order to do this I will start by reviewing Cambozola, a cheese I was introduced to by my wife's family. Before I dive into my review of this cheese I must make a confession. I do not study cheese, as I started writing this post I had no idea what the process of making Cambozola was but after a simple Google search of Cambozola which led me to Wikipedia and a few other cheese blogs (What there are other cheese blogs!?!? Ryan is not the first with this idea! I know, I was surprised myself.) I found that Cambozola is a cows milk cheese made from French soft ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. Thank you Wikipedia. In the US, Cambozola is marked as a blue brie....Blah, Blah, Blah. Cambozola is pretty good as long as you like a strong blue cheesy taste. In my personal amateur expert opinion it is best served at room temperature and enjoyed on a light cracker or toasted bread. Apparently there are several recipes which call for Cambozola but I am not sure I would try these because this cheese is strong enough that it would probably take over as the dominate taste and is perfectly delicious enjoyed alone.

As compared to the most superior cheese in the world, Colby Jack, I would give this cheese a 7.5 out of 10. Cambozola is soft and wonderfully creamy but takes a little to much work to enjoy. First off, you have to be in a blue cheese mood and lets be real for a second there is no one who is always ready to enjoy this type of taste. Colby Jack can be enjoyed at anytime by anyone. It is a cheese that makes the lactose intolerant community around the world realize getting sick is worth its deliciousness. While Cambozola is wonderful it is not versatile. It would not hold up at the bottom of a picnic basket and when you are eating it you have to avoid its tough, not-so-wonderfully tasting rind. The best cheeses of the world can be entirely enjoyed and there is no need to examine them to make sure you are eating the correct part. The best cheeses in the world are also not spreadable. The best cheeses in the world are easy to melt, need to be cut with a sharp knife, and can be made into snackable sticks for enjoyment. While Cambozola is rich and fantastic it does not fit the criteria for maximum enjoyment.

I hope you have enjoyed the inaugural post of Pondering Cheese. Please read my personal history with cheese and check back weekly for additional posts.

Peace, Love, and Cheese.