Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Cheeses of England #5: Nut Knowle Farm ‘new cheese’

Nut Knowle Farm 'new cheese'

At first glance, you’d think this was a small, circular Muenster – the brilliant orange coating is the most striking thing about its appearance.  Cut into it, and it’ll ooze a lot more than any Muenster.

But this is far more interesting than any Muenster.  What really stands out about this cheese is the smell.  Whenever I’ve opened the fridge door the past few days I think to myself, “Eck… what did I leave in here for too long?”  But then I remember it’s the cheese.  So… it’s strong.  And it’s not exactly pleasurable.  But it’s certainly interesting.

As for flavor, it’s actually not as pungent as the smell would suggest, though it definitely has some bite.  The cheese vendor compared it to Langres, but it’s very far from being mild.  The flavor sticks around for a while in your mouth.  That lingering is a bit reminiscent of that feeling in your mouth the morning after you’ve drank too much.  But in a good way.

So… smells like something rotting in the fridge and feels like a hangover?  It’s actually much better than that makes it sound.  But it’s very far from an everyday cheese.  More something to push at the limits of your taste every so often.

(The cheese is so new that they haven’t decided on a name yet.  If you have any ideas based on this description and its appearance, I’ll pass it along at the farmers market this week!)

2 comments:

  1. It looks like an egg has been smeared on the piece of bread.

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  2. Perhaps the next step is to fry an egg, then put it on the cheese-smeared bread.

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