Ossau-Iraty (Aquitaine, Pyrenées Atlantiques)

I haven't eaten the cheese for a long time (update: It came back at the and end of 2011) but it's hard to forget its firm, orange-yellow to gray rind. A rind is my favorite part of the most cheeses. It often has more flavor than a paste. Alike a  bread crust which I found tastier than a crumb.
The shepherds from the French  Pyrénées has been making cheese for centuries. Ossau Iraty is made with the milk of the Manech and Basco-Bearnaise ewes. It is dried and regularly rubbed for 3 months and further   aged in the Artisanal Premium Cheese caves until its paste turns a luscious ivory. The cheese is sweet and buttery and the closer to its  rind  the more it resembles toasted hazelnuts.

Pastures of Eden Feta (Israel)

My favorite feta is “Pastures of Eden” is a Balkan style Feta cheese made from 100% sheep’s milk produced by  the Sheep & Goats Breeders Association from Israel. It associates  200 sheep and goat farms located throughout Israel.

From 1998 the association exports its unique line of cheeses – “Pastures of Eden” – to the U.S.

This mildly salty Feta, has unique mellow flavor and texture, and I enjoy it much more than any other Feta cheese. I like it with bread and shrimps, in salads (with spinach and tomatoes) and use it as pastry filling or meat stuffing combined with pine nuts.

Recipes:

Langostino Tails with Spinach and Feta 

Turkey Tenderloins with Spinach and Israeli Feta 

Goat's Milk Creamy Cheese and Brie (TJ's brand)

Delicious, smooth, satiny spreadable cheese from France. I had eaten other similar cheeses : one was also French, and another was produced in Poland, but they were tart and not so delicate like this one.

Another excellent cheese is a small goat's milk brie. Fresh has strong skin, stiff interior with small holes and mild flavor. I usually keep it in my fridge for week or or two until it is matured. When ripened, the interior melts, skin breaks easily, flavor and smell  are very intensive. Perfect!

Idiazábal (Navarra, Basque region)

Idiazábal name comes from the town in the Basque province of Guipúzkoa.  Full of aroma from Lacha sheep is used to produce the cheese. It ripens from to to six months in humid cellars. Idiazábal has waxy yellow rind and beige, compact interior. The holes are hardly visible. The flavor is buttery and slightly piquant.
Some of ripened batches are smoked with hawthorn or cherry wood. It gives the rind a cooper-like color. It also strengthens its flavor and make the paste drier and more aromatic.



I only have a chance to taste the cheese  once a few months ago and it didn't make an impression on me.

Roquefort(Midi- Pyrenées, Averyon)

According to the legend, Roquefort came being in the caves where a shepherd  enchented by a beautiful girl left his lunch: milk and bread. The shepherd was looking for the girl for a few days without success. To make the matter worse, he found his meal covered in mold. He was to hungry to resist eating his rotten lunch,  and to his suprise, he found it delicious.

Legendary shepard's meal was declared by Charlemagne his favorite cheese; then in 1411 Charles IV signed a charter giving the inhibitants of the southern French village of Roquefort in Aveyron: "  the privilege to mature the cheeses as it has always been done in the caves of the aforementioned village".

 Roquefort is made from raw milk of Lacaune sheep - the only breed which can survive in severe mountain climate. The cheese is matured only in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where it develops its piquant, salty, strong flavor and intensive aroma. Mature Roquefort is ivory in color, litlle crumbly and full of mold traces.

Mozzarella di Bufala (Caserata, Salerno, Frosinone, Latina, Naples, Benevento, Rome)

Nothing compares to Mozzarella di Bufala . The name comes from the word mozzare and means "to cut off". Each section (about 4kg) of cheese is cut off from the kneaded mass and then shaped into balls or plaited . Only Mozzarella di Bufala Campana carries the protected origin designation. Mozzarella is made from rich milk of black water buffalo.



A ball of cheese is porcelain white in color...



and resilient.



Its inner structure is flaky and it has refreshing, slightly tart flavor.

The cheese is expensive but worth trying even to compare to cow's milk mozzarella which is produced throughout Europe, in the USA and Australia.

Burrata (domestic/ Murgie in Puglia)

Burrata (means buttered in Italian) is a mozzarella cheese filed with fresh sweet cream. It was created at the beginning of the previous century to use up curds left over from making mozzarella. Burrata in the photo below is made in USA as many Italian style cheeses ( for example Ricotta, Asagio, Fontina), sausages, hams and prosciutto.

My husband's favorite breakfast,  sliced open Burrata, fresh tomatoes and cilantro.

Domestic cold cuts

Traditional Burrata from Puglia is tied to form a little brioche-like topknot, and moistened with a little whey. It is also wrapped in green leaves of  Asphodelus , which indicate the freshness of cheese. While dried out leaves indicate that the cheese is past its prime. Burrata is highly perishable and should be consumed in a week from being made so most of us won't be so lucky to try an original.. Traditionally, the cheese is served with ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and olive oil.

Queso Manchego/Iberico (Spain)

Produced in La Mancha in Central Spain, Manchego is made from 100% sheep’s milk. Due to climate conditions ( raw, cold winters and dry summers) milk is  exceptionally fatty and aromatic.

It is easily recognized by the zigzag pattern etched into its rind and moist interior with tiny holes.

Manchego can be ripened from two to six months. Young (fresco) has fresh and elegant flavor, older (curado) is more salty, piquant and aromatic. The oldest (anjeo) ripens up to two years and becomes extra hard.

Iberico is a Manchego-style cheese made from a blend of cow (50%), goat (30%) and sheep’s milk (10%). Interesting, Iberico cheese is produced only in the province of Valladolid in central Spain. 

The interior paste has a light yellow/ white to slight beige color, mild  aroma and interesting flavor.

Both are great as table cheeses; they also melt well and delicious in omelets or salads (Snow Pea Salad with Manchego).
Recipes:
Broccoli Rabe with Chestnuts and Iberico

Goat's Milk Gouda Cheese (Holland)

Goat's Milk Gouda (matured for 6 months) is my favorite all the time. I believe it has a lot of fans. It is always in stock at "Trader Joe's" where I buy  cheese.
 I like it much more than any Gouda made from cow's milk. It has satiny, light texture, tangy flavor and bright white color. Very pleasant taste, not tart at all.  In the photo below you can also see the cheese with added potatoes and herbs. Nice variation but I haven't seen it for a year or more in the store.







I also enjoy Aged Goat's Milk Gouda, which has been aged for 16 months. Flavor is more savoury and characteristic, but still not so strong like aged cow's milk Gouda.

St. André ( Coutances, Normandy)

St. André is coated with a satiny, edible rind which hides a rich (up to 70% butterfat) center.  I don't like butter but the cheese flavor is more complex and  I can't help from eating St. André from time to time. It's delicious with sourdough bread, dried fruit and nuts. Much better than any sweet dessert. No gilt at all.



Recipe with Saint Andre: Rice Stuffed Green Shells Mussels

Dutch Gouda/Spring Gouda

I enjoy a young Gouda cheese much more than  those aged. It's firm, easy to cut, has silky and smooth consistency and has only a few small holes. Taste is mild and creamy, not sophisticated. It is sometimes good to eat a simple sandwich with a slice of Gouda topped with tomato for breakfast.
Double Cream Gouda has buttery flavor but  it's rubbery and not easy to slice.

Meadowkaas Spring Gouda – a gouda that’s only available in springtime. It’s cheese’s version of Beaujolais Nouveau. I didn’t expect much from it but the cheese is delicious: mild, creamy, nutty, and salty. It has nice small but visible holes, has natural yellow color and smells like fresh butter. The best Gouda I have ever eaten. If only spring could last at least for 6 months.

1,000 Day / Old Amsterdam Gouda ( Netherlands)

 Gouda has very good keeping qualities, and some are aged for even for 4 years. It's the Netherlands' specialty and represents over 60% of the entire Dutch cheese production. Gouda comes from  the small town situated between Rotterdam and Utrecht and was exported as far back as 13th century. 

Below, three aged Gouda  cheeses I have tasted so far.

Tagen Dagan Gouda must be the oldest cheese I have ever eaten. I'm not a  connoisseur of aged cheeses and I taste them once or twice a year. It's hard and but not so dry. It is coated in  orange wax. Caramel color , a uniquely crystalline texture and nutty smell make the cheese very tempting. The taste is sharp and intensive.  At the beginning, I thought that the color comes from natural process of aging. Then I noticed annatto at the list of ingredients.  When cheese is melted you can feel how salty and fat it is. I don't like it at all.

Recipe for warm sandwiches with mushrooms and cheese.

On or two years ago  I had tasted Old Amsterdam Gouda and it is said " to be ripened to perfection" and regularly checked for flavor. It's matured for only 18 months and its paste is pale yellow and coated with black wax.

Sheep's Milk  Aged Gouda has some caramel flavor, which I found very interesting.