So we’ve eaten most of the cheese and the results are in. We’ll start the review with the White Stilton as that is the first thing we ate.
The White Stilton with Mangos and Ginger was good. The cheese is crumbly and a bit tart with sweet bits of fruit throughout. As you might expect, it didn’t go well with the garlic Triscuits or the garlic bread. Erin and I both ranked it below the blueberry and the apple and pear stiltons, but on par with or slightly better than the cranberry. I would recommend this cheese, although it is not my favorite of the four similar style cheeses.
Next, we enjoyed the Bellatoile triple-cream brie. This was excellent as always. Like most (all?) bries, Bellatoile has a slightly tough, bitter, white, edible rind and a soft, almost runny interior. The middle of the cheese is very smooth both in texture and flavor. We’ve had this on a variety of breads and crackers. In our opinion, this cheese needs to be balanced by a salty and/or savory cracker to balance out the bitterness of the rind. That is not to say that this cheese has an unbearably bitter rind (like some other bries I’ve tried), we both enjoy it sliced right of the wedge, but the saltiness of a cracker enhances the overall flavor of the cheese. I highly recommend this cheese – I didn’t like brie until I tried this.
Finally, we have the Red Hot Dutch Edam from Holland (of course). This is a spiced, semi-hard cheese which comes in round balls approximately 8-10 inches in diameter. This apparently is typical of Edams in general. The Red Hot Dutch has chili pepper flakes in with the cheese which gives it a nice, hot bite. The heat is moderate, but not overwhelming – especially not for Mexican food lovers such as Erin and I. In fact, the Dutch cheese is sometimes used in Mexican cooking due to its heat. The flavor of the cheese before the heat peaks is mild and smooth. I recommend this cheese if you like spiced cheeses. Erin and I typically eat this cheese by itself or on a plain cracker.
So there you have it: the results of our first official “Cheese Friday” here at familynewsblog.com. Check back next week for more cheese reviews.
2 Responses to “Cheese Review for 21 November 2008”
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Love the review! We’ve tried all these stiltons as well. Brent loves the Mango/Ginger — largely because he and small B are complete ginger fanatics. I prefer the blueberry I think. Thus far, I like almost all brie and wish I could have them more often in non-supermarket varieties. Have not tried the Edam, but we are not quite the spice lovers you all are so we shall see. Thanks for Cheese Friday!
We don’t have access to Stiltons here in Nicaragua, but the ones you mentioned sound great! And I haven’t found a Brie or Camembert that I haven’t liked! They make a Brie here locally that is very mild and is served with your own individual loaf of whole wheat bread…very tasty, especially with a good white wine.