Cheese, Glorious Cheese

[Celany]

As long as cheese hasn't got fruit in it I'll eat it.  I have no idea when I turned into a cheese fiend because we only ever had cheddar or red leicester at home.  I don't like biscuits though so I have to eat it with bread or just on its own (which got me into trouble when my mum found out I'd only eaten cheese for lunch for three days over Christmas).

I am so guilty of turning cheese into an entire meal. And not fondue either. Just a slab o' cheese. 

The best cheese ever in my opinion is Wensleydale from the Hawes Creamery in Yorkshire.

http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/cheeses/

It's so wonderful and creamy and goes with everything from crackers to fruit cake.  I don't much care for cheese on its own but this one I can't resist.

POD x 100000000   Except no one sells it here, and I don't even know if I can eat it anymore. But it's freakin delicious

WAAAAAAH, I want the delicious English cheese too!!! Someday, maybe I'll see if I can get someone to smuggle me some... 

[EmmaJ.]

POD everything above.  I can (and often do) have cheese with every meal.   

I simply had to try Wensleydale cheese because of a movie.   (Don't judge me.  It was Wallace and Gromit.  I love them!)

[Seraphia]

POD everything above.  I can (and often do) have cheese with every meal.   

I simply had to try Wensleydale cheese because of a movie.   (Don't judge me.  It was Wallace and Gromit.  I love them!)

Was just going to say: whenever I hear Wensleydale, I think of Wallace and Gromit. Then I start quoting, and it's all downhill from there.

I'd love to try some, but for now, my favorite cheese is Havarti, especially on triscuits with a bit of dill pickle.

[NestHolder]

I love little tiny cubes of Rocquefort in a salad.  It's too mighty a cheese to eat on its own, but really delicious with greenery.

[gorplady]

We are cheese fans here. And we have turned our kids into cheese fans...

I love smoked gouda, and I love making it into a cheese sauce for pasta...

SO loves Kaltbach and loves when I make french onion soup with it...

Hazel loves CoJack, Walter loves cheddar, and Leo loves everything.

[Giggity]

Kerrygold Dubliner: very sharp whitish cheddar.

Cahill's Porter: cheddar with Guinness mixed in.

Harlech: Welsh cheddary cheese with horseradish.

Tintern: ditto with shallots.

Red Dragon: ditto with mustard seeds.

Very sharp, aged cheddars that have the little calcium crystals in 'em.

[Maujer]

Kerrygold Dubliner: very sharp whitish cheddar.

Cahill's Porter: cheddar with Guinness mixed in.

Harlech: Welsh cheddary cheese with horseradish.

Tintern: ditto with shallots.

Red Dragon: ditto with mustard seeds.

Very sharp, aged cheddars that have the little calcium crystals in 'em.

Those are the absolute best. We almost always have Dubliner in the house. Yum. I'll have to look for the rest of these.

[Shea]

I agree with a previous poster - Dubliner is *amazing*. So is Trader Joe's Honey Chevre - especially with gewürztraminer.  Amazing!   

And Tillamook extra sharp cheddar. (I grew up on the Willamette Valley area of Oregon, so Tillamook is my preferred yellow cheddar. Loleta, California has a cheese factory; they're another local producer I favor.)

The selection at Trader Joe's, for the prices they offer, generally keeps me content, but I may have to explore the artisan shops on the area. Maybe even do a tasting of three or four chevres, or Bries, or . . . to see where the price break and value best intersect.

Now you've made me want to try that cheese w/the gewurztraminer, and I don't normally like that wine!

OH!! How could I forget Tillamook??? That was one of my saddest moments when moving out here and realizing no one sells Tillamook. Last year for DH's birthday I actually ordered some online from them. Needless to say we enjoyed the heck out of the 3 blocks while they lasted. Again, another reason I'm excited for CA. Tillamook sharp cheddar at any grocery store!! And one place I want to visit is the Tillamook factory. One day we will go and gorge ourselves. 

Tillamook! I'm from Oregon so I grew up on Tillamook extra sharp cheddar. They don't sell it here.

There's a cheese shop nearish to where I live where I almost never go because it's dangerous (for my wallet and arteries, that is), but they have some incredibly cheeses, among them a soft, sweetish chevre topped with cranberries, and an oka (a semisoft Quebecois cheese) with mushrooms.

[mechtilde]

POD everything above.  I can (and often do) have cheese with every meal.   

I simply had to try Wensleydale cheese because of a movie.   (Don't judge me.  It was Wallace and Gromit.  I love them!)

Wallace and Gromit helped save the Hawes creamery. I say this in all seriousness.

There are a few sharp slightly sour cheeses such as Caerphilly and Leicester which I love. A good strong cheddar is wonderful. Plus there are some great local cheeses like Northumberland cheeses or Cotherstone. I've had some wonderful cheeses in SWest Scotland as well.

[Schmoopie3928]

I adore cheese! I love sharp cheddar. Tillamook is good and I'm always sampling different sharp cheddars. I'm in chicago, and DH and I have taken many road trips to WI to hit the cheese shops. I a actually prefer ones without the crystals. I lie them, but a little goes a long way with me.
Gouda and Edams are great! Havarti is absolute heaven in scrambled eggs.
A good creamy Monterey Jack is wonderful on a grilled cheese and Swiss! Oh lovely Swiss! I think I'm going to have to hit up Whole Foods and use this GC I have.

[HeebyJeebyLeebee]

Y'all are making me jealous.  When we lived in Chicago and would drive to WI to visit friends, we'd always make a stop at the Mars Cheese Castle and pick up some yummies, usually a ton of squeaks, some sausage, and a few Green River sodas. 

(squeaks are unpressed cheese curds without the whey.  They can be aged, smoked, herbed, or seasoned in many ways)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_curds

[cicero]

I live in Israel.

We have some local cheeses but they are various forms of feta-style cheese not hard cheese. There is one that is called "safed cheese" (Gvinah Tzfatit) named after the city of Safed (northern israel) where there are two family owned cheeseries (?) who have been making them for close to 200 years. It's usually made from a mixture of cow/goat/sheep milk. They also make a semi-hard cheese from the same cheese by letting it dry out - that cheese is great for grating /melting. there is also a local Halumi type cheese that is good grilled or fried.

in the past decade or more, a bunch of amazing small cheese makers have started producing cheese - many raising their own free-range sheep/goats. yum.

[iridaceae]

If cheese curds are not fresh enough to squeak, they just aren't worth it.  (Unless we get into the deep-fried cheese curds, which- heaven!!)  Add some ice cold apple cider (non-alcoholic) and it's sheer heaven.

I do love a good colby and that's hard to find here. Mostly they try to pass off very mild cheddars as colby and there is a difference, darn it!

I also like a good queso blanco and that's easy to find here.

I miss this wonderful cheese I used to buy at the Farmer's Market in Madison, WI that had green onion in it.

[Giggity]

Leeby, fresh squeaky cheese curds are on my bucket list. I understand you have to eat 'em within 24 hours of manufacture or they don't squeak.

Y'all might want to cast an eye toward Sartori cheese: http://www.sartoricheese.com/

My current fave: their Balsamic Bellavitano. It has the crystals of Dubliner, but is slightly more creamy, and has balsamic vinegar all over the outside.

[HeebyJeebyLeebee]

Fresh squeaks are amazing, but they can be hard to find - unless you live right by the creamery.  I don't let that bother me.  Some of the smoked and herbed squeaks are still heavenly.