Mahon
Spanish cow, Phoenicia bakery, $6.70 lb. Decent
chunk for $3. Later I got this for $12.99
at Central Market. This is from the island of Menorca in Spain. Light yellow, firm,
pretty mild, pungent, but not insanely so.
Not a good dating cheese because your kiss would have the same aftertaste.
Really
mild for a strong cheese. It has
three different levels of taste – buttery, acrid and musty.
This cheese is yummy.
Mahon Curado $12.99 lb. at Central Market. $1.95 for a small piece. This daring little cheese was on demo. This cheese is dark yellow and the texture of Parmigiano-Reggiano. It is like the Spanish version of a grating cheese. The rind is brown and natural, though there may be some paraffin underneath there somewhere. Salty, nutty, and sharp. It is good at first and then it develops a vomit taste that was unpleasant for some tasters.
Maialino Provolone Pigs $9.99 lb. at Central Market. $7.69 per pig. It is a little pig, smoked, and wrapped up in some flat, white ribbon. It looks like it’s been put in Japanese Rope bondage, like it’s wearing a body harness. I bought this cheese for Geoff. It is light-colored, rubbery, and has some holes. Greasy cheese. The rind is chewy. Geoff asked if it was wax. I said no, but then found out that it is, in fact, dipped in light paraffin. I think the rind is considered to be edible or inedible. I ate it. It was my favorite part. It tasted like chewy salami.
Majorero
Goat’s milk from Spain. $11.99
lb. at Central Market, $3.72 for a thick wedge.
It has a slight olive flavor and a faint smoky, outdoorsy taste.
It is not too goaty and is
firm like a Manchego. At Grapevine, this
cheese was $12.99 lb. It comes from the Canary Islands. It is
slightly pungent, but not overpowering. It is a pressed cheese made in the
winter and spring. The goats eat scrubby food. It has a creamy taste
and good mouthfeel. White cheese, semi-hard A little musty and
herby. cheddary.
Malga
$15.99 lb. at Grapevine. $5.40
for a nice chunk, with a mint leaf on top.
Boy is this a great cheese. It
is one of my new favorites. I am
considering taking it off the cheese tray just to keep for myself.
Do drunk people at parties really deserve such treats?
I decided to keep this treasure at home for myself.
It is so flavorful, fresh, lightly tangy.
It is white, looks and tastes like a sheep cheese, but is supposed to be
cow from what the girl at Grapevine said. It
has no rind. The outside is a
little darker from the herbs, I guess. It
has some speckles on it. The big
rounds of it had leaves on top.
Manchego Pomegranate $34.99 lb., $5.25 for a very thin slice. This is the same cheese as Gilboa by Barkanit from Israel, but it is cut and relabeled at Pomegranate as Manchego Cheese and it doesn't have the source country. However, next to the cuts, there is an entire wheel of Barkanit Gilboa, also labeled Manchego Cheese. It is OU-D, cholov yisroel, but then is repacked under Kehilah Kashrus/cholov yisroel at Pomegranate. Barkanit is an artisanal dairy in northern Israel near the Tabor Mountain. The brothers at Barkanit traveled to France and Spain, learned cheesemaking, and then went back to Israel where they set up a goat and sheep dairy. There they make French and Spanish style cheeses, but with an Israeli twist and, of course, Israeli terroir. From the label: "In the north of Israel, next to the Tabor Mountain, the herd of Barkanit family dairy enjoys natural pasture all around the year. Traditional cheese- making and personal caring and attention make this unique cheese to be what it is: reflection of place and people. To enjoy the full flavour and texture of the cheese please take it out of the refrigerator one hour before eating." The label reads "chalav israel under Gilboa Rabbinate Supervision." The ingredients don't say the type of rennet. It is made on the Brakin Farm, Kfar Yechezkel, Israel Tel: 972-4-6531431 It has about 115 calories per oz. and 10 g of fat, 150 mg of sodium. This wheel is likely aged about a year, but the pre-packed Gilboa wedges, also for sale at Pomegranate, are much younger and also from a smaller wheel of cheese. This piece cut off the wheel has a little bit of a musty rind taste. The rind really could be milder. The cheese is tangy, salty (even though the salt content is low), a little olivey, sweet, nutty, intense, floral. It really has a lot of delicious flavors going on. Mostly tangy and nutty. It crunches in between your teeth like peanuts and what is probably crystallized amino acids--which usually crunch--are more like crushed nuts in this cheese. Delicious. Towards the center, it is dark cream colored and very crumbly, but still smooth on the palate, even with the crunch. It dances on the tongue. Once you get to the rind area, which bleeds down sort of far from the rind (looks older than it should be...), the cheese is brown and loses some of that bright, vibrant tingly flavor. It's still good toward the rind, but it just feels a little dead sometimes and I can also start to get the musty flavor of the rind even at about 1/2 inch from the rind. It is also a lot saltier at the rind. Nonetheless, this cheese is very good and it is the closest thing I have found on the U.S. market to a Pecorino Toscano from Italy that is kosher. It can substitute for that. Compare with Gilboa, Barkanit in Cheese Log. Photo of Barkanit Gilboa and Pomegranate "Manchego"
Manchego Don Bernardo, 6 month.
$12.99 lb. at Central Market. Most
of the slices were about $4. It
comes with a light brown/rust rind. Usually
the 6 month Manchego isn’t my favorite – I prefer 3 or 12 month – but this
is great. It is sweet, slightly
nutty, and has good mouth feel. It
really coats the tongue and has a long finish.
It is excellent. Sien paired
this with a smooth cabernet and it was great.
Manchego
el Trigal Young Manchego.
$8.99 at Whole Foods, $2.88 for a medium chunk.
Spanish sheep, I’m assuming. Houndstooth
brown wax rind. Really good cheesy
flavor. It is sort of sweet,
creamy. It has a good sheep flavor,
tastes like sheep. It has small
curd holes. Medium texture.
It is probably semi-curado (3 months aging).
Manouri
from Greece, sheep’s milk. $7.99
lb., $2.88 for a half-moon chunk at central market.
Would stick to knife when soft. Very
mild, firm cheese. Could go into a
salad or on a cracker. Not too
tangy, very very milky and young tasting. You
almost want to eat more and more just to get the tang explosion, though.
I love the name!
Marigold Goat Cheese by Dorothea. $11.99 lb. at Central Market, $4.32 for a big chunk. This is a semi-hard, tangy, salty, dense goat's milk cheese. I can't find out a lot about this company, but I have had their goat Potato cheese. They seem to make some really odd cheeses, but all are good. This one has had marigold blossoms added to it. They are dried out. Some pieces are flecks, but others are bigger chunks of flowers. I had never tasted a marigold before, but it's very herbaceous. The aftertaste is fresh, floral, and lightly goaty. This is a Dutch cheese created by the Van Dijk family. Dorothea cheese is named after the Van Dijk's daughter. The Potato Chip cheese is the most unusual of their line, but the marigold cheese is also interesting. When I first put it in my mouth, I taste a weird bitterness, something herbal like mint or basil, then tangy cream, and then more herbal and floral with goat. It's very salty and very outdoorsy. This is made from pasteurized goat's milk, aged over 60 days to develop a full, nutty flavor and a body that is firm, but hard enough to grate. There are only 4,000 wheels of each cheese made per year.
Mascarpone BelGioioso from Wisconsin, about $3-4 for 8 oz. at most grocery stores. The last batch I got was old. Stupidly, I bought it on the sell-by date, but they should have pulled it. It has a little bit of a mold/blue taste, but it’s ok. It was old at HEB, Burnet. In general, this cheese is really good. The consistency is between a cream cheese and butter. It actually tastes more like butter than it does cheese – when it is fresh. This last older batch tastes like something else. It is barely off-white. It is dense, not mushy like cream cheese. It is creamy with a good milk after-taste. It is good with bread, just like butter is. It is 13 g of fat per oz., 16 mg. of sodium, so it tastes sweet.
Mascarpone BelGioioso from Wisconsin $3.49 for 8 oz. at Pomegranate. This is about the same price as it was years ago in Texas. I was surprised to find it so cheap in 2011. Unlike the tub that I had bought in Texas (above), this one was in good shape. It is dense and buttery, white. It has a very plain flavor of fresh milk and butter. Its texture is silky smooth, but very stiff and dense. I can just barely see where the texture is flecky. It isn't gritty by any means, but up close, Mascarpone cheeses in general have just the tiniest bit of texture that you won't find in a cream cheese or a butter. This one spreads well, but then when it is melted alone on a plate, it separates into some white groupings of cheese and yellow butterfat. 12 g of fat per oz. 120 calories. 10mg of sodium. Pasteurized milk, and cream, citric acid. There are serving suggestions on the package. Use it as a spreading substitute for butter, with jam or honey for breakfast, or mixed with Gorgonzola or maple syrup for a creamy spread or dip. It can also be served with fresh fruit or cookies for dessert. It is CRC kosher. http://www.belgioioso.com
Mascarpone, Pomegranate $7.99 for a big fluffy 8 oz. worth of cheese, but it actually looks and feels like much more. I weighed the container and it was 11 oz. with the plastic, which must weigh 3 oz This cheese is made by a guy from Mexico named Eric, the main cheesemaker, upstairs in the store in the dairy kitchen. It is based on heavy cream and citric acid. He cooks the cream and adds the citric acid. Then I have seen the hot, sort of bubbly milk in a big bowl before. Once again, I have seen the sacks draining in the kitchen, too. It seems to be a fairly easy process. This is under the store's neighborhood Kehilah Kashrus certification, cholov yisroel, so it is very marketable. There is not a commercial mascarpone out there that I know of that is cholov yisroel and people seem to be looking for it a lot. Most want it either for Tiramisù or they are using it in place of butter. This cheese is smooth with that tiny tiny bit of texture if you look at it really really close. It is off-cream color and a little sweet. It also sometimes has a little sour taste on the finish, but this could be because it is at the end of its code. Mostly I taste the sweet and the milk. It is smoother, I think, than the commercial ones, but every once in a while, I get a clump of something that is like a curd. It also doesn't melt so well. It tends to separate and becomes sweeter. This is great, however, for strawberries, melted a little on cheese latkes, or as a spread for hot challah. Delicious. Photo of Pomegranate Mascarpone
Mascarpone Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery Handmade in Vermont $5.49 for a 8 oz. at Pomegranate. This cheese is billed as "Italian-Style Cream Cheese." It has an intense buttery flavor and a depth that I don't always find in other Mascarpone. It is soft and ready to whip up into little spikes, even fresh out of the fridge. The color is white, but more on the cream or ivory side; I see a hint of yellow in the milk. It also has some texture. There are not curds, but rather miniscule flecks. When heated, this Mascarpone flattens out a little bit, but stays a cream. It turns into about the most delicious white cream sauce I have ever tasted. It is rich and supremely decadent. Dangerous! The full cream flavor really comes out when heated. The label doesn't list cultures as an ingredient--just pasteurized cow's cream, milk solids, and acidulant--but it almost tastes cultured. rBST-free Vermont cream. The label suggests whipping it for Tiramisù or using it in an Alfredo sauce, risotto, pasta, or as a fruit topping. 120 calories per oz., 12 g fat. 10mg salt. KOF-K kosher. VBC Mascarpone Photo
Maytag
Blue $10.99 lb. At Whole
Foods. Small, medium slice for $3.
Cow's milk. It is not too strong of a blue, not too blue either.
Young, I suppose. Very
creamy. I like this cheese a lot.
I tried it later for $11.99 lb. at Central Market. Light
cream taste, dark green/blue mold, soft, sweet, and medium-blue.
Then I had it at my wedding. It
was good, creamy, but also had a bite to it.
It spread pretty well. I
think people ate it. I always like
Maytag because it’s non-offensive and pretty, although it doesn’t have a lot
of blue in it. It came in a foil
wrapper.
Meadow Creek Shitake Leek $14.99 lb. at Central Market, $4.20 for a nice wedge. It is a raw milk cheese with shitake mushrooms in it and leeks, hence the name. It is yellow and firm with large curd holes. I can see flecks and chunks of brown in it, which I assume are the mushrooms. This cheese is excellent! I will get this again. The leeks aren't too strong. I get a nice, smooth dairy flavor, earthy from the mushrooms, and then a little oniony from the leeks. It tastes very much like an outdoors cheese. It has a nice long finish, plus the leeks. I think people at a party would like this. Meadow Creek Dairy is in the Virginia Highlands. They have Jersey cows. They only use raw milk for their cheeses and handle it very little so it won't bruise. There is a very good description of how they make cheese (equipment and all) at http://www.meadowcreekdairy.com. This website was really cute and informative, and they have a lot of creative-sounding semi-soft and semi-hard cheeses, not just goat.
Midnight Moon Cypress Grove
$19.99 at Central Market, $4.00 for a tiny piece.
Pasteurized goat’s milk. I
would love to take this cheese to a party, but I can’t afford it.
It’s delicious. It’s
lightly goaty, white, semi-hard, and has a great mouth feel.
It reminds me a lot of goat gouda. It
is nutty, creamy-tasting, and has a good rich flavor.
It is slightly musky. My
only complaint is that it is a little too salty and I feel like the salt covers
up some of the good goat taste and takes away some sweetness.
Aged 1 year. It seems to go
well with chardonnay so far.
Mirableu $13.99 lb. at Central
Market. $3.25 for a nice little
slice. Sheep’s milk from Spain.
It is white with blue colored veins, though the veins are not so intense.
It is crumbly, but also really creamy and smooth, but with the usual blue
cheese bite. I liked this cheese a
lot. Central Market demo-ed this
cheese one day with some super-strong Italian chestnut honey and walnuts.
I liked the cheese much better plain or with walnuts.
It was good with bitter kale and tomatoes because it’s milky flavor
balanced things out. I’d
definitely buy this cheese again for a salad or snack.
Montagnolo blue Brie, $10.99
lb. at Central Market, $2.86 for a slender slab.
This cheese was on sale and brand new for the week.
It is from Allgau, Germany in Bavaria, Champignon cheesery.
It is a sweet, buttery, rich blue cheese with camembert mold on the
outside and Roquefort mold on the inside. It
is really luscious. Although it’s
salt content is high (250 mg.), it doesn’t taste too salty.
The flavor was truly buttery with a great blend of molds.
It is creamy with a perfect musty, moldy finish.
Read more about it at http://thecheeseshop.com/cgi/SoftCart.exe/scstore/p-0050.html?E+scstore
Montasio
$7.99 lb. at Central Market, $2.80 for a nice slab.
Cow’s milk. Semi-hard.
It’s straw-colored with a golden-colored thin wax rind.
This is the closest thing I’ve ever had to an Italian cheddar.
It is mild, salty, a little sweet, tangy, not stinky at all, has a good
little cheddary bite in the aftertaste. It’s
very smooth, but not boring and squishy like havarti or something. It really coats the tongue well.
I love this cheese, and it’s also cheap. Theresa at CM likes it, too.
Very good with the Tocai Friulano white wine. From the Friuli region.
However, in later tastings, every once in a while, I didn't like the Montasio.
Sometimes it tastes like mayonnaise to me. Read more about it at http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Montasio
and in Italian, at http://www.formaggio.it/montasio.htm.
Montegrappa Aged from the Veneto region. $11.59 lb. at Central Market, $3.25 for a big chunk. It is very firm, beige to straw-colored, and comes in a medium-sized wheel with an orange-brown rind. This cheese reminds me of Piave and Montasio. It is nutty, grassy, and tangy, but mild. It is like a northern Italian semi-hard type, with a very faint flavor of Parmesan. It would be great as "the hard cheese" on the platter since it has the texture of Cheddar. It has been produced for centuries in the town of Montegrappa, in the region of Veneto. It comes from the same area as Asiago but exhibits a different flavor: nutty with a sweet finish and the texture of cheddar. It is aged for at least 8 months and is stamped "Montegrappa" on the rind. Sini Fulvi is the only importer of it.
Montenebro
Catalonia goat Cendrat $15.99 lb.
at Whole Foods, $4 for a slice. It
came in a log. In Spain, they call
it a mule’s hoof. It was a log
rolled in a bunch of spices. It was
very very salty and sort of hard for a goat cheese.
It tasted lightly of goats. It
is a little too salty for me, but Patrick liked it a lot.
I liked it more the next day. I
need to eat it with bread since it is so salty.
It is supposed to be rare. It
was a tasty cheese. I got into it
more when there weren’t other cheeses around because the salt sort of
overpowered it for me. Patrick
loved it. In isolation, the salt
didn’t bug me as much and I ate a good bit of it.
It was pretty – herbs on the outside and firm white cheese on the
inside. We sampled this in the
parking lot at Whole Foods. You can
read about it at http://www.brindisa.com/cheese.html
Montenebro Goat Cendrat $14.99 lb. at Whole Foods, $2.10 for a slice the width of my pinky finger. It is a log with white, dense cheese on the inside. It is very pasty, almost like peanut butter or Gjetost. The rind looks like bark – grey, brown, and white, and rough like a bark. Towards the rind, the cheese gets gray/green and is almost translucent. It looks like some kind of glue that has dried. It is salty, spicy, very salty, in fact. Musky, sticky, rich, and creamy like butter. It has a sharpness to it that reminds me of cheddar, for some reason. I think I taste some herbs in there somewhere. The rind tastes good, too, but is kind of scary-looking. I’m probably not supposed to be eating it. I’m also not quite sure how to serve it at the party. In my other review of the herbed version, I had written that it they call it a mule’s hoof in Spain. It looks like it’s been trecking around in the barnyard.
Monterey Jack with Jalapeño and Cilantro by Sugar River Cheese $6.29 for an 8 oz. square at Pomegranate. This is the pepper jack to end all pepper jacks. I can hardly put it in the same category with the others. It is one of the mellowest, smoothest base jacks I've ever had. Long-lasting with an extremely buttery, tangy flavor on its own, and then when you add in a low buzz of jalapeño peppers and a bundle fresh cilantro, the cheese really comes to life. This cheese does not have an inferiority complex, nor should it; it knows its milk is good. It doesn't have to overcompensate with blown out peppers that burn your palate to a crisp so you don't notice that the milk is blah. This cheese is based on pasteurized, hormone-free milk sourced from small family dairy farms in Wisconsin. The texture is so soft and creamy, and the ingredients shredded so delicately, it doesn't even look like a regular pepper jack. It looks more like a garlic cheese from afar. It melts well, but I feel the flavors shine through best at room temp. Photo of Monterey Jack with Jalapeño and Cilantro
Monterey
Jack with Tomato and Olive by Sugar River Cheese $6.29 for an 8 oz. square
at Pomegranate. This is Sugar River of Wisconsin/Illinois' excellent Monterey
Jack with sun-dried tomato and black olive mixed in. Always a crowd favorite at
parties, it is an excellent match for Merlot and other medium-bodied reds. As
with the other Sugar River Cheeses, the base cheese is of the highest quality
local cow's milk and the added ingredients (herbs, vegetables, and such) are
kept to a minimum so they are in perfect balance with the cheese, never
overpowering. This cheese has a sweet and savory smack of Tuscan antipasto
vegetables, spread out on a sturdy blanket of cream. I love the almost smoky,
meaty tomato finish and the hint of brine. I also love that there is no garlic
in this cheese to distract from its focus. cRc
kosher, cholov stam.
Photo
of Monterey Jack with Tomato and Olive
Montrachet
Chèvre HEB $3-4 for 3.5 oz prepackaged log.
Goat cheese, soft, lower fat. The most recent I had was the garlic and
herbs version, which was very flavorful and good on English water crackers.
An accessible goat cheese. The garlic/herb goat cheese would be a little
strong very everyday consumption. The garlic/herb variety is not a
breakfast cheese.
Morbier
I was so excited to finally taste a Morbier again that I tore into the
package in the parking lot of Home Depot. It
was a nice firm cheese that broke off skillfully under my fingernails.
It had a light wax-looking crust, buttery-colored paste, stripe of ash in
the middle. It made my tongue and
ears tingle from the weird Swiss/Fontina flavor.
Mozzarella Biazzo This 8 oz ball of fresh Mozzarella comes from
Ridgefield, NJ. It is tightly bound in cryovac that makes it look sometimes like
a square and sometimes like a circle. Biazzo Mozzarella dates back three
generations when the Biazzo family brought their authentic recipe from Italy to
the U.S. This was not overly expensive, though I forgot the price. It is an
ivory-white color and has retained all its moisture in the wrap. Though firmer
than the floating Mozzarella that you get out of the bins at the grocery store,
it is also easier to slice and "bleeds" less onto other ingredients.
It is just as a Mozzarella should be--firm, yet squishy, fleshy, and extremely
milky. It melted well and got all stringybut I felt like I lost some of the
flavor. I like it best not cooked. 160 mg of sodium. It is also kosher, but just
has a K and not a well-known hechsher.
Mozzarella,
fresh cow’s milk, from the Mozzarella Company in Dallas
$14.79 lb. at Central
Market. I paid $2.51 for two tiny
bocconcini. They were really good,
fresh, bland, unsalted. I ate them
with Kalamata olive bread, so it was balanced out.
The cheese seemed to melt well. I
had it on olive toast with some salty goat cheese sprinkled on top.
I also liked it plain, though it was watery.
It had the texture of raw meat, cold, little slabs, rich with cream.
Mozzarella, Fresh, Formaggio See Formaggio Mozzarella.
Mozzarella, Fresh, Formaggio Sundried Tomato & Parsley See Formaggio Mozzarella Sundried Tomato and Parsley
Mozzarella, Fresh & Healthy, Jalapeño with Cilantro. About $7 for a 10 oz. braid at Pomegranate. Certified kosher by Mordecai Ungar and cholov yisroel. I can hardly read the label of this, but it is distributed by Best Value Kosher Food in Brooklyn, NY 11231. I can't read the calories or the ingredients, but it has some sort of oil in it along with the jalapeños and flecks of cilantro. In a photograph, I can see the ingredients and the oil is extra virgin olive oil. It also contains onion powder. It says "rennet," but I am sure this is vegetarian. It is called low-moisture, but it is braided almost like a fresh mozzarella. It has the consistency of regular block Mozzarella in that it melts really well on pizza without making everything soggy. I thought the peppers and cilantro sounded like a strange idea, but it actually works. This cheese is fairly mild at room temperature, but its flavor comes out more (not just the pepper flavor) when it is melted. It is good even melted on crackers and it gives pizza a crushed red pepper kind of heat. Photo of Fresh & Healthy Mozzarella Jalapeño with Cilantro
Mozzarella, Smoked from the Mozzarella Company in Dallas Made with vegetable rennet. $13.99 lb. at Central Market, $6.02 for a baseball sized ball. Smoked over pecan shells. It came wrapped in plastic instead of floating in brine. It is not as moist as unsmoked Mozzarella. Light brown like a barely toasted marshmallow on top. It is a little sticky on the outside from the plastic and maybe the smoke. It seems to have lost its skin. It is much easier to slice than fresh Mozzarella. It is much more dense inside. It is a very mild cheese, so the smoke overpowers it a little, but I can still taste the fresh milk. The goat cheese was a little better because it was smoky and tangy, too. I love this, though. It tastes hickory smoked. It is excellent and would be really good on a cheese platter already sliced. Otherwise it would be a little difficult for guests to slice.
Mozzarella, fresh cow’s milk, from Central Market $7.99 lb. It is much much cheaper than the Mozzarella Co. in Dallas, and I’d say just as good. It is milky, watery, meaty, spongy, but is much saltier than the Italian-style fresh mozzarella. When I chew it, it squeaks against my teeth. Robert, the cheese/deli specialist, gave it to me for free. Robert makes this cheese fresh in the Cooking School several times a week. He is very proud of it. It is greasier and slicker than the buffalo cheese. It has a salty aftertaste. Excellent texture, moist, meaty, and spongy. This is the best cheese to buy for salads, though it’s a little saltier than the buffalo. Lately, it has not been as salty, though.
Mozzarella, fresh buffalo
milk from Bubalus bubalis in Southern California $8.99 for a ball at Central Market. It comes in a little clear cellophane bag with a water
buffalo pattern. Firm, but almost spreadable at room temperature.
It is lightly salty (saltier than it is in Italy), milky and lactic, with
a very very faint bitterness in the aftertaste.
I suppose the bitterness is the water buffalo.
We had this cheese in the Cooking School at Central Market with a
California red wine. This is a
really good fresh mozzarella. It is
worth the money. I like it just to
snack on. We chopped it up in
chunks and put it on spaghetti. http://www.mozzarelladibufala.org/allestimento.htm
Mozzarella di bufala,
Sciccheria from Brianza, Italy. $5.99
for 125g at Central Market. It
comes in a little red plastic pouch with a picture of a woman milking a huge
watter buffalo under the logo. It
was good, a little bland, with a faint hint of buffalo bitterness.
Milky with a subtle tang. “Tastes
like a milk pill,” Patrick says. It
has a salt taste that dies off really quickly.
It tastes rubbery, like a tire. The
texture is very dense and a little grainy.
Firm, but I’m not wild about th etexture.
The package gives the nutrition and it looks like it is about 8 grams of
fat per ounce. I was surprised
because I had read that buffalo milk was fattier than cow milk.
I liked this cheese ok, but it is expensive. These cheeses are rarely on the shelf because the Italian
company kept sending them already out of date, so they couldn’t be put out.
You have to check the cryptic Julian dating system on the back to make
sure it’s still good.
Mozzarella di Bufala Frescolina $4.99 for a ball at Central Market. It is wrapped in a paper package, yet immersed in brine in a plastic bowl. It is not an extremely rubbery mozzarella. The skin is way too hard. I think it was left out. It is better in the brine, but needs some help. The taste is good, but I don't get a lot of the water buffalo metallic flavor in it. It tastes watery, and then has a milky, creamy flavor, but it disappears fast. I like it a lot. It is not too salty and lets the dairy come through, but I don't know that I could tell this from cow's milk. I tried this later and loved it. Unfortunately the price had gone up to $6.59 at Central Market. The rind, again, was a little tough and the cheese was falling apart on the inside, but it was excellent. It was not great in texture -- a little too creamy -- but I liked it like that. The flavor was intense, even for such a mild cheese. I could definitely taste the water buffalo, heavy cream, and freshness. I took it to a tasting and people loved it and preferred it over the Central Market cow Mozzarella.
Mozzarella, Fresh by
Sorrento $3.99 for a tub
with 8 oz. of cheese inside at Far West HEB.
It was in bocconcini. Sorrento
is a large industrial cheesemaker in Buffalo, NY.
This cheese is pretty and very white.
It has a good texture. It is
not too salty, but the aftertaste is somewhat bitter.
It is 90 calories per oz. and has 160 mg. of sodium.
It’s good, but it’s not my first choice of mozzarella.
It seemed a little too watery-tasting and maybe not creamy enough.
It was too rubbery. Also, I bought this one day before the sell-by date.
That happens too often at that HEB, though it does say on the label that
it should be consumed within 3-5 days after opening.
Mozzarella, Fresh by Full Quiver Farmstead Cheese from Kemp, Texas (903) 498-3884. $8.99 lb. at Whole Foods. $4.49 for an 8 oz. wad at Whole Foods. This cheese didn’t come packed in brine or vinegar. It was packaged in plastic and, on the inside, wrapped in paper. It was very wet. It has a good, very natural texture. The layers just fall apart. They aren’t as tight as the industrial cheeses. The cheese also seems softer. Excellent cheese. The aftertaste is that of heavy cream and luscious cheese. It really melts in your mouth. It is saltier than what I remember in Italy, though. On the inside of the cheese there was a little piece of paper telling about the Sams family. “We are a Christian farming family in Kaufman County, Texas.” The cows eat green grass. They don’t use BST or homogenize their milk. The cheese is handmade. The cheese is also vegetarian – uses vegetable rennet. I will definitely buy this cheese again because it wasn’t too expensive and it was really really good. This family, I found out from a local, is probably part of the Full Quiver religious Christian movement where the families have a lot of kids. Years later, I hear they are still in biz and selling a lot at Austin farmers' markets. They also have a raw milk white cheddar, a pepper jack, and a feta. Full Quiver Link
Mozzarella Fresca Bocconcini $2.99 for a tub at Whole Foods. I needed a buffalo Mozzarella for my cheese class, but they were out. This one was all they had, and it was cheap, but it is not flavorful enough for the tastings I usually do. It will be fine for a Caprese salad. It has a really nice texture, but just not much milky, tangy flavors like the buffalo Mozzarella. It seems kind of plain, yet I'm still chowing down on it. I think part of the reason it seems plain is that it is only 20 mg of sodium per ounce. It is only 70 calories per ounce and 6 g of fat. It is made in California. http://www.mozzarellafresca.com They have an excellent page with pictures and a flash movie (Curd Demo in the menu) of Mozzarella making at http://www.mozzarellafresca.com/flash/movie.html. There are 8 parts to the process in the pictures. On DSL, it is taking me 1 minute to download each 10-20 second film, but it is interesting. Once you have downloaded it all, then it is easy to replay and is less confusing. First, the cheesemaker pours hot water (180-200 degrees) over the curds. Then they mesh together. Once they are attached, he kneads and stretches the clump of cheese. It becomes shiny on the outside. It looks a lot like bread dough being folded and worked. The cheesemaker says that the curd is mostly butterfat and protein. He says not to over-exercise the proteins or else the cheese will be come tight like rubber bands. He pinches the cheese and makes a ball that is separated from the bulk. Then he pinches the open part of the cheese together so that the cheese will seal itself. Finally, it is immersed in icewater to firm up the shape.
Mozzarella "Capriccio" Fresh Mozzarella Cheese by Fresh & Healthy About $6 at Pomegranate for an 8 oz. round. This is the Tuscan Olivia version of this extremely mild line of flavored mozzarella. Tuscan has a coating of crushed black and green olives, sweet red pepper, minced garlic, and parsley on the rind. The cheese is bright white and semi-soft, in between a super fresh mozzarella and a low-moisture mozzarella. It slices very easily. It has no oil on the outside. Its flavor is very mild, as is the coating. It almost seems like it needs more flavor, like some sea salt or olive oil drizzled on it. It does melt well and makes a great presentation on the plate. I also like that it is not drowned out by the usual garlic flavor; the garlic simply adds a savory spritz, as it should. The coating tastes more nutty than anything, though it contains no nuts. Capriccio's other flavors are Pesto di Genoa with basil, sundried tomatoes, sweet red peppers and garlic, and Florentine Delizia with diced spinach, sweet red peppers, and garlic. Distributed by Best Value Kosher Food Brooklyn, NY 11231 I googled this company, found a phone number, called it and it was disconnected. The cheese is cholov yisroel and certified by Rabbi Mordechai Ungar of New Square, NY. The hechsher is extremely difficult to read. Even with a jeweler's loupe, it just comes out all pixilated and the printing on the label is overall not very good anyhow. 90 calories per oz., 6g fat, 135mg sodium. Photo of Capriccio
Mozzarella, reduced sodium, reduced fat Mozzarella with vegetable rennet. $4.99 lb. at Wheatsville, $.65 for a small cube. It is light white, soft to the touch. It tastes kind of weird, like a little like chemicals. It tastes a little like herbs or something weird. I might be able to cook with it, but I wouldn’t really eat it by itself. The texture is good, though.
Mozzarella, Smoked, by
Cappiello $6.49 for an 8 oz. braid at Food Bazaar Hickory
Smoked, hand-crafted, braided mozzarella cheese. This is OU-D kosher, vegetarian
(microbial rennet), with no added hormones. It is 80 calories per oz. with 6 g
of fat. It doesn't list smoke as an ingredient. Made in Schenectady, NY. This is
a firm cheese, especially compared to Cappiello's fresh cheeses. Cappiello is a
very good brand, made by an Italian immigrant family. They went the extra
stretch to get the OU hechsher. http://www.cappiello.com
Mozzarella, Smoked, by Formaggio This mozzarella is made in
Hurleyville, NY in the Catskills. It is called "Golden Smoked
Mozzarella." The label reads: "smoked process with hickory wood
chips." I have been to the plant, so I know that this means that they
actually do smoke the cheese. They double smoke it, in fact. After the first
smoking, they brush off the soot and then re-smoke it so that it gets two
layers, each adding a different depth of flavor. You can see the smoke patterns
in the rind where it looks dusty and mottled in spots, and then it looks like a
lightly baked bread on the bottom. This cheese has a nice, sweet hickory smoke
flavor that makes you feel almost like you are eating meat. It is an excellent
melter with good butterfat that makes it luscious on the palate. I love the way
the rind is just a little chewy. It has won many awards. It comes hand-wrapped
(shorter shelf life) or vacuum-packed in cryovac (longer shelf life).
Mozzarella, Smoked, by Lioni $7.99 lb., $3.80 for a small ball. Made at Lioni Latticini in Union, NJ. It is vegetarian with "natural smoke" as an ingredient. I don't know if that means it is actually smoked over wood or if it's liquid smoke. This cheese comes hand-wrapped in little half pound balls at the grocery stores in NJ. It is a delicate little mozzarella with a fluffy, light interior and a rind that is barely smoked. It is very pleasant for snacking. The smoke isn't overpowering at all and is not bitter. The cheese itself almost tastes a little sweet, and though it is fresh, it is a little dry, too. It says that it is 60 calories per oz. with only 3 g of fat. That seems really low, but who knows. http://www.lionimozzarella.com
Munster, French $10.89 lb., $3.05 for a nice slice at Whole Foods. In Patrick’s opinion, a good cheese. Would be excellent melted on dark rye bread. Paste is dark cream, darker than a Brie. Has curd holes, a little bit rubbery, bitter, nutty, not overly bitter, though. Full-bodied, meaty flavor, mild, light orange crust that is soft, possibly from having been in the wrapper for too long. This cheese stunk so bad that we had to put it back in the fridge right after we ate some because it was smelling up the apartment. Definitely has a stinky foot smell. It is too strong for me to eat by itself. I can eat it with bread, though. It’s a good cheese, but I can’t appreciate it right because I’m not so much into washed rinds that are really strong. Snakepit came over and had some. Afterwards, his girlfriend refused to kiss him and now forbids him from visiting while we have cheese.
Munster, Petit Munster from Alsace. $9.99 lb. at Central Market, $4.90 for a small round. It didn’t smell quite as strong as the big Marcillat munster. Thong said it would keep better in a small round. It came wrapped in clear plastic with a picture of some Alsatian cows drinking water out of a trough. It is light orange on the outside, and light straw-colored on the inside. It’s soft, but not as soft as a brie. It smells spicy and meaty. It doesn’t taste too stinky or too bitter. It is rich with washed rind musk that goes up your sinuses. This is one of my favorite softer stinky-foot cheeses. This cheese would be good with beer.
Murcia al Vino at Grapevine. This is a wine-bathed cheese made from pasteurized goat's milk in the Murcia region of Spain, which is next door to Valencia on the southern coast. This region has a rich variety of grasses, shrubs, and wild herbs o which the goats graze. The cheese is washed in red wine during its ripening, giving the cheese a burgundy color and a floral bouquet. It has a bold, memorable flavor with the intoxicating aroma of a good bottle of wine. Tangy, lightly goaty, and olivey.
Mutton Buttons by Old Chatham Central Market $17.99 lb. Expensive, from Chatham, NY, but the tiny 2” button I bought was only $1.80. It is soft-ripened sheep’s milk cheese. It doesn’t have as much of a bite as goat’s milk cheese does, but you can definitely taste the cloven hooves in the mix. It looks like a tiny brie that you could hold in the palm of your hand. Same texture as brie, though perhaps a tad softer, tangy, yet also has the light musty aftertaste of a brie mold. I would definitely buy this cheese again – but might get two buttons instead of one.