A couple weeks ago 40 protesters took the streets of New York City to protest the U.S. ban on Mimolette, a classic French cheese.  Mimolette has been imported into the United States for over 20 years and just recently the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it not fit for U.S. consumption because of the microscopic cheese mites on the rind being considered an allergen.  Currently there are hundreds of pounds of Mimolette being held up by customs because of our friendly mites.  These mites are important to the production of Mimolette and its distinct crust.  The mites were invited to the party being intentionally introduced to the cheese, so let them stay and enjoy their company.  

Mimolette is a cheese lovers dream and at times a cheese handlers nightmare.  Not because of the mites but because of the cantaloup shape that makes it move around while trying to cut.  It also has a tough exterior and interior making the cheese cutter use all their well developed cheese handling muscles to get through it.  The taste is similar to well aged gouda, edam, and cheddars.  It has caramel like flavor that can be more pronounced the longer they are aged.  

So why would I be telling you about this delicious cheese that you now cannot get?  Because I currently have two wheels of 22 month aged Mimolette at the bistro waiting to be consumed.  Stop in and try some, you just mite like it.

Steffen Kenney

Yesterday was the fifty seventh inauguration of the President of the United States of America.  Now what could that possibly do with cheese you might ask.  It just so happens that cheese was served during the third course of the inaugural luncheon.  Not just any cheese but two cheese made by Cooperstown Cheese Company, some of my favorite people in the cheese world.

I was ecstatic to hear the news from Sharon Tomaselli of Cooperstown Cheese Company that their cheese was selected among a long list of New York State cheeses.  I have known Sharon for many years and remember first trying her Toma Celena and Jersey Girl cheeses and have proudly sold them ever since.  One of the first things I did when starting here at Artisanal Bistro was called Sharon and asked her to please send us her cheeses.    

Sharon has also granted us the pleasure of doing a tasting of these two fine cheeses in our cheese cave one Saturday afternoon.  Talking to Sharon about cheese has only made me more knowledgeable about cheese production and I look forward to some day visiting her facility in Milford New York to get a hands on cheese making experience.

Jersey Girl is made with 100% raw jersey cow milk and has a golden color with grassy notes.  It is great for melting and as a table cheese.  It is the type of cheese you should keep in the fridge at all times.  

Toma Celena is a raw cow's milk northern Italian Alpine style cheese.  It has a musty aroma and a bite you back sharpness that makes itching for more.  Stop by Artisanal Bistro Presidents Day weekend during Fondue Month and enjoy a fondue made by both these presidential cheeses. 

So what do you think was running through the Presidents mind while eating these cheeses?  World peace, deficit spending, or maybe global warming.  Maybe he just sat back and thought, damn that is good cheese.

All I'm thinking is congrats to Cooperstown Cheese Company for gracing the table at the White House and for being great people who make great cheese.    

Gamonedo is produced in Asturias in Northern Spain.  It is made in two villages on the edge of the mountain range called "Picos de Europa."  This area of Spain was making cheese back in the 1100's.

Gamonedo is a natural blue which means it is not force molded like most blue cheese.  Sometimes when you cut open a wheel it has hardly any blue and other times it runs through the cheese mostly closer to its natural grey rind.  The blue part of the cheese is reminiscent to a Cabrales, one of the more aggressive blues on the market.  The cheese is also lightly smoked but does not taste smokey except when it is an extra aged wheel.

The cheese is made using raw milk from cow, sheep, goats, or any combination of the three.  The current wheels we have at Artisanal Bistro are 80% raw cow and 20% raw goat.  They use milk from specific breeds of animals.  

Cow   - Friesian, Asturiana de los Valles and Pardo Alpina breeds or crossbreeds

Sheep - Lacha, Carranzana, and Milschalfe breeds or crossbreeds

Goats  - Lacha, Carranzana, and Milschalfe breeds or crossbreeds

Who cares about breeds of animals!  What does it taste like? 

Its blue portion tingles the taste buds long after it is chewed and swallowed.  It is the type of cheese where not only every wheel taste different but every bite from each wheel taste different.  It has a crumbly texture and a pleasantly salty flavor that dances around looking to have something boozy poured over it.  

I've been very impressed by our customers reaction to this exotic cheese.  Many have said it's the wildest cheese they have ever tasted.  I thought people would be terrified of Gamonedo but instead they have embraced it and given it a good home in their belly. 

Most of the producers of Gamonedo are elderly and their knowledge and tradition is in jeopardy of disappearing.  So get into Artisanal Bistro before these guys keel over and you can't find it anymore, I double dog dare you.     

Steffen Kenney

It's less than one week to Xmas and I have already started thinking about this years cheese plate.  I tend to lean towards what I find eye catching and my problem this year is that everything looks so damn good.  

Should I bring some Canestrato, an Italian raw sheep milk with a complex flavor that builds as you chew it, for a hard cheese or some amazing 3 year Comte (see previous post).  My brother in law loves soft stinky cheeses so maybe a Rush Creek Reserve, which have been outstanding this year, will satisfy his stinky cheese craving.  My sister loves soft and buttery cheeses but do I dare do something as pedestrian as Brie.  Why not?  The Brie we have at Artisanal Bistro is far from what can be bought at a grocery store and has pleasant mushroom notes that make you want to scrape every last bit off the cheese board.  Too many decisions.

So here are the cheeses I will be schlepping on a New Jersey Transit train to my sisters lovely home.  

3 Year Comte (raw cow, France) 

- Possibly my favorite cheese in life

Canestrato (raw sheep, Italy)

- I know it was between this and the 3 year Comte but they are both so good.  It was like Sophie's Choice only no children were involved and I had the luxury of being able to choose both.  I guess it's nothing like Sophie's Choice.

Gratte Paille (cow, France)

- They have looked so perfect lately and should provide something buttery for my sister.  She used to sneak into the fridge and eat sticks of butter when we were little.

Rush Creek Reserve (raw cow, WI)

- They just ooze yumminess and are seasonal so how can I say no.

Clochette (goat, France)

- Bell shaped goats milk cheese may come off as a bit of a novelty but they came in so perfect so I just have to have one.

Cremificato Capra Verde (goat, Italy)

- Amazing blue to round things off.  So creamy and tangy.  

Come by Artisanal Bistro and make your own holiday cheese plate or feel free to copy mine.

Happy Holidays,

Steffen Kenney

Lately at Artisanal Bistro I have been excited at the arrival of several cheeses with wood wrapped rinds.  The most notable of the group is Vacherin Mont d'Or, one of the most talked about cheeses in the world.  Vacherin Mont d'Or is a seasonal cow's milk cheese from Switzerland that is wrapped in a band of spruce.  The spruce along with the brine washed rind gives this cheese an unforgettable earthy taste that screams holiday season.  A gathering this time of year is not complete without a Vacherin Mont d'Or for friends and family to share.  Just dip a spoon in, drizzle over a fresh baguette, and enjoy.  Repeat this process until the entire thing is gone.  You know you want to.

Some other wood wrapped cheeses we carry at the bistro are Forsterkase and Holzige Geiss.  Both these cheeses are wrapped with a fir bark that provides an earthy almost smokey undertone to the cheeses.  Holzige Geiss is made with raw goats milk, while Forsterkase uses raw cow's milk and both come from the Swiss Alps.

Last but certainly not least is the Rush Creek Reserve from Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville Wisconsin.  This is much like the Vacherin Mont d'Or in that its seasonal and wrapped in spruce wood but the beauty of it is it's made domestically.  This cheese is extremely rare and limited so try one soon before the season ends.

All theses wood wrapped cheeses are both wine and beer friendly or can even be enjoyed with brown spirits such as whiskey and bourbon.  Stop by the cheese counter for a taste.