Eva at “What’s Eva Eating” has announced an exciting cheese and wine pairing event scheduled next week at The Grape in Dallas. Cheesemonger Ali Morgan is presenting four cheeses from Scardello Artisan Cheese and The Grape is presenting wines to pair.
Check out Eva’s article and then go to The Grape website to reserve some seats. I already have!
Yesterday I cut into the Edam and was startled at how many holes there were:
I just looked up some information on the Flora Danica bacteria culture that I used and indeed it produces a fair amount of carbon dioxide. Flora Danica (literally flower of Denmark) is commonly used in Danish cheeses such as Havarti, Gouda and Edam.
Tasting notes:
This milk for this cheese was from All-Natur_L farm near Alvarado and Cleburne. I will probably concentrate my efforts on raw milk from here on out. The quality and flavor of raw milk is remarkable and that is a quality I want in the home made cheeses I produce.
I still have a cheddar from All-Natur_L milk aging. I will wait a couple more weeks before cutting that one.
Tomorrow I plan to buy several gallons of raw milk for more cheeses. A friend has asked me to make him some Gouda and I want to make an Emmenthaler. I guess I’ll have to make both!
Yesterday afternoon the CheeseWife™ and I trekked into Dallas to check out Scardello Cheese on Oak Lawn near Lemmon Avenue. I had in mind a cheese plate, with a few different selections of cheeses that I had never had before. Scardello’s was unlike another cheese shop in two ways: no bazouki music and they actually had cheese. Lots and lots of glorious cheese!
Scardello’s has cheese, wine, sandwiches, books, chocolate, olive oil and much more. The CheeseWife™ was really hungry so we ordered a Mountaineer sandwich, a cheese plate and a bottle of wine. For the cheese plate you can select the cheeses yourself or ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff to select something. There is a $5 set up fee for the plate, which includes some bread, fruit and nuts and then you pay for the cheeses by weight.
I was blown away that they had Persille de Tignes which I had been searching for for quite awhile. I also selected a Brazos Valley Gouda, a Tête de Moin and a Caerphilly. Here’s an iPhoto of the plate:
(left to right: Gouda, Tête de Moin, Caerphilly and the Persille de Tignes).
To the upper left is part of the salad on the plate with the Mountaineer sandwich. Also we enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Peltier Station Viognier. The wine was an excellent companion to the cheeses, fruity but dry. If you squint hard you may be able to see some dark-colored figs on the plate with the dried apricots and fresh roasted almonds.
Proprietor Rich Rogers stopped at our table an chatted with us about the cheese, the wine and the upcoming American Cheese Society meeting in Montreal in August. Rich described an ACS meeting as a life-changing event. I have got to go to this one!
My niece dropped by the shop on her way to work and enjoyed a little of the cheese with us. She works too hard and long (medical profession) so it was a rare delight to get to see her.
On the way out I purchased some more of the Persille de Tignes which has shot to near the top of the list of my favorite cheeses. Maybe all the way to the top! It is a blue cheese with subtle, earthy notes and an almost dry, crumbly texture. In no way am I diminishing how great the other three cheeses we had were. Someday I will have to get a Girolle to enjoy the Tête de Moin to its ultimate expression. We also need to tour Brazos Valley Cheese near Waco some time. I think the Caerphilly was the CheeseWife™‘s favorite of the cheeses.
If you are in or near Dallas, get thee to Scardello’s and do so often! You won’t regret it!