Nevat Catalunya Sheep cheese from Spain. $13.99 lb. at Whole Foods south, $4.90 for a pretty hefty slice. It comes in big domed rounds with thick white rinds. The white is very white, so that it looks like snow. Vince at the cheese counter said that this cheese is also known under another name in Catalan that meant “snowed upon” because the cheese looks like a snow-topped mountain. The rind is really bitter. The inside is walnut-flavored, milky, slightly bitter (kind of reminded me of a Gaperon without the herbs), and it has a very light tangy aftertaste. It is slightly runny towards the rind, but white and chalky on the inside. It’s interesting. Patrick doesn’t like it much for the bitterness, even without the rind. I like it ok.
Noble
Road by Calkins Creamery $4.94 for a very small wedge at Saxelby
Cheesemongers in NYC. This is a soft-ripened Brie type of cheese with a ton of
flavor, from Pennsylvania. I think that Ann Saxelby said that this was raw milk
of Holstein cows, aged for at least 60 days. I bought it because I liked its
lactic, sort of sour (in a good way) flavor. It has a sturdy rind with some
ruggedness, and on the inside, towards the rind, the cheese is silky creamy and
shiny, even straight out of the fridge. You can tell it is just dying to melt
like crazy. Towards the center, it gets cake-y. It is just so lactic and
buttery, it almost feels like a triple creme. Mushroomy rind that gives a good
texture contrast in the way that melted chocolate chips do in crunchy cookies.
You are eating something creamy, and suddenly there is a tidbit of truffly,
toothsome rind. It is dreamy. I really haven't enjoyed a Brie-style cheese this
much in a long time. It really hit the spot. Photo
of Noble Road wedge plus a great review
in the Miami Examiner by Bob Galivan.