You know, it has become apparent that I might be a little too effusive in my praise of cheese.
Sure, I love it just a whole bunch (almost enough to make me get all Marge “Fargo” Gunderson in my turn of phrase) but quite frankly, I think of it as a foodstuff deserving in said praise.
Imagine my surprise then, when I discovered a cheese that was, as the French say, très mal. Well, perhaps not very bad, but still a disappointing manifestation of $6.30 that was poorly invested.
King Island Ash Blue. There, I said it. I love blue. I love ash. In fact, when I saw the two together, I was concerned that they would create some sort of singularity of awesome that would lead to a collapse in the very fabric of time. Or at least give me some GRADE A CHEESE DREAMS!
Not the case. I was underwhelmed to say the least. It was blue in the same way that Adam Sandler is a comedian. Technically true, but an insult to the definition. (Sure, he used to be great. But then came ‘Little Nicky’ people). It was blue enough to frighten off blue-haters, but seriously lacking in punch. It was creamy-ish, without having any luxuriousness of flavour or texture. And the ash seemed like a contrived “isn’t this so provincial?” afterthought.
This pains me to say. It’s a perfectly passable cheese, perhaps even a great gateway blue for newcomers. But it lacks that excellence that I’ve come to demand as a barely-read blogger with little-to-no qualifications.
But that’s all water under the brie.
It did lead me to think: maybe all cheeses are not created equal? Maybe some are so amazing you want to start a blog about them (hells YES I did!) and some are not only underwhelming, but they make you want to yell, "This thing just plain sucks out loud!"
After discovering that some cheeses are less than mind-bending, I decided I needed to discover them all. I must talk to you, dear readers, and find out your loves and loathes in the cheese world.
Send me your thoughts cheese fans. What do you dig and what do you despise? I’m sure I’ll have time to read comments from both my blog readers!
To be honest, after having quite a few imported cheeses other than King Island Dairy (which was the first cheese I tasted and thought WOAH AWESOME!), King Island can be a bit meh.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite blue at the moment is Blue Fromager d'Affanois. I'm interested in your thoughts on this cheese. They also have just plain Fromager d'Affanois, and the same made out of Goats milk. All three are awesome, and I think some are on sale at Broadway's Harris Farms right now! :D
Blue cheese has never done it for me, so I'm not a good judge. But I have a cheese I'd like you to review. It's from the Byron region and it's a decadent brie - it's sold in most supermarkets, has packaging of, like, cows and clouds, a name a bit like Neuve Blanc or something, and is a much fatter version of a usual brie. Keep an eye out for it! I devoured a whole wheel of it when Hazel died, but that might just be me. (Mmm grief-eats!)
ReplyDeleteHey Ness - Went to Simon Johnson and they were all like "What? That stuff ain't here". Rather than being responsible and leaving, I fell victim to the intoxication cheeseromas and bought a Blue de Lacqueuille... post to follow!
ReplyDeleteAnd Jess, I totally support your grief eats! I will have a look around for this elusive Byron cheese. I bought a Byron Bay Chilli sauce the other day and it was so fantastic that I have decided to try more foodstuffs from the area. Guess I'll have to organise another trip ;)