Karoun Curd Cheese $4.29 lb. at Phoenicia Bakery, $4.33 for a big pack. This is cow's milk and it is supposed to have the "taste of springtime." It is distributed by Karoun Dairies and is made in CA. I didn't need this much of this cheese, but I couldn't buy a smaller pack. It is a part skim cheese. It says it's a curd cheese, but I really don't see any curds at all, since it has been pressed in the shrink wrap package. It is white and firm, almost like something between a cream cheese and a Mozzarella. At first it tastes fresh and milky, but then it is very bitter. It was packed Jan. 9. I didn't see that when I bought it. It may have lost some of it's fresh taste in the past 5 months. I am not sure if it's supposed to be this bitter. It is like eating a pecan or a walnut, and accidentally eating part of the shell. http://www.karouncheese.com They have won some cheese awards, including first place for their Labne, or Kefir cheese. This cheese is a little more bitter than I like for snacking. It is semi-soft to soft. When I melt it, it gets really really runny. It might be good to put in a dip. This cheese is made by a Lebanese family from Beirut. Karoun, in Armenian, means Springtime. The cheese family Baghdassarian is well-known in that part of the world. An article on the cheesemaker is found at http://www.cheesemarketnews.com/articlearch/retailwatch/rw15sept00.html.
Kashkaval,
Bulgarian $5.90 lb. at Phoenicia
Bakery, $2.24 for a big chunk. This
one looks like all the other hard Greek-type cheeses – light white/cream,
sturdy, comes in a big wheel. It
seems to be semi-hard. Cooked hard
cheese from Bulgaria (or Hungary). It
is made from sheep or sheep/goat, raw. Slightly
salty. It is creamy, tangy.
Patrick says it tastes like Provolone and mozzarella mixed together with
a kick. I think it has an
aftertaste of rubber, but it might be the provolone flavor I’m getting.
It is good, would be good on sandwiches.
I am grating it over chunks of polenta with pepper and Italian seasoning.
It is really good melted, and it melts well, doesn’t get all chewy.
Kasseri,
Stella $4.75 lb. at Phoenicia
Bakery, $1.62 for a nice slice. This
is really good. Sheep’s milk, but
almost tastes like cow. It is
creamy, tangy, and also very cheap. It
makes a nice party cheese. The
manager at Phoenicia Bakery really liked it.
He went out of his way to have me try everything.
It tastes kind of sparkly and nutty.
It’s got a really good aftertaste, comfortable cheese, though a little
bland. It would be good to balance
out a cheese plate with. I liked
it, though it got a bad review in one of the cheese books for being boring and
waxy. It makes my lips feel kind of
tingly.
Kefalograviera
$5.95 lb. at Phoenicia Bakery, $1.55 for a nice chunk.
Off white, hard cheese, came in a big wheel.
“Kefalo” – “head” in Greek.
I also read that it was named after a Greek hat.
This one was from Greece, but the other one that was similar to it
(below) was from Italy. This was
the creamier, less piquant of the two. They
say that this one is a sort of sheep’s milk Gruyere.
It is younger than Kefalotyri. This
cheese is supposed to not have holes. It
is kind of a weird-tasting cheese, sort of sharp, but in a weird way.
It seems like a cheese that would be better to cook with.
Is a parmesan type, but very mild. Not
too sharp. It tastes like rubber to
me. It tastes like bacon or
something.
Kefalotyri
Italian (accent on the Kef, and then tyr) $4.69
lb. at Phoenicia Bakery, $1.27 for a big chunk.
This is a semi-hard cheese that is supposed to be used grated in dishes.
It is like Kasseri. “Kefalo”
means “head” in Greek. The
cheese is supposed to be the size of, or bigger than, somebody’s head, or
maybe even look like a hat. Off
–white, hard cheese. It came in a
big wheel. It is described as being
kind of like Italian Romano. This
is supposed to be raw-milk, Greek, sheep or sheep/goat.
This variety is supposed to have holes in it.
This cheese is like the preceding one, but it made my ears itch.
It was really sharp. Pretty
salty, rich tanginess, musky parmesan type of flavor, but it’s not as hard as
Parmesan.
Kefir -- see Lebni
Kefir Cheese by Alta Dena About $2 for 8 oz. at Whole Foods. I thought Kefire and Lebni were the same thing. I am not sure if this is exactly the same thing as Lebneh. It comes in an 8 oz. sour cream style tub and advertises itself as an alternative to sour cream (but with more fat.) Cow's milk. It tastes tangy like Lebneh, and has the same fresh, white color, but it is much thicker. It is made of pasteurized milk and cream, nonfat milk, lactoce reduced nonfat milk and enzymes. It doesn't contain growth hormones. I have been dipping little pieces of pita bread into it. It is distributed by a CA company, but I don't know where it's made. There is a note that says it can't be sold in the U.S. without a stamp on the side.
Kilorglin $11.99 lb. at Grapevine, $2.16 for a nice big slice. This was the cheapest cheese they had at Grapevine, and maybe one of my favorites. Boy is this a delicious cheese! It is light orange, hard and creamy. It has a little bit of hard speckles in it like a parmesan, some crystals. The crust is orange wax, light wax. I got so excited over this cheese, that I ate the wax, too. It smells like a sheep cheese, but it is cow. It is a little tangy like a sheep, but nice and milky-tasting. It would be good for a party. It seems pretty salty, but not too bad. I guess it is sort of like Cheshire, but not so crumbly. It is a good snacking cheese. When you cut a piece, it stays in one piece.