andrew's cheese shop

andrew's cheese shop
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

having been the maitre de frommage at patina some time ago before starting his cheese shop, andrew knows cheese, but he makes the experience of eating cheese very accessible to cheese lovers whether you are a novice or more experienced. His is a wealth of knowledge pertaining to the histories and cultures of cheese that adds depth to the eating of cheese and its pairing with wine.

though i didn't attend one of his informative 101 cheese classes, i did participate in a spanish cheese & wine tasting in which a variety of spanish cheeses were paired with regional wines. all were tasty and great choices (i thought). i eat cheese regularly, but still consider myself somewhat of a novice, so found the tasting interesting.

we started with a nevat, a light colored, semi-soft young goat cheese from catalonia whose name means snow. paired with cava, a white wine, it was very creamy, and the rind had a subtle flavor.

following the nevat, the tetilla, which translates as "small breast" for its shape, is a milky cow's milk cheese, one of the few from spain. an interesting tidbit about spanish cheese is that most are vegetarian, meaning they are not made with rennet, a substance from the intestinal lining of animals used in the cheese process, because most are not made from cow's milk. spain is arid, cold and rough. the environment is not conducive to cows, but is to sheep and goat.

another creamy and sweet cheese, the tronchon, made from goat and sheep's milk, came next. both of these were good, and we ended up bringing some home with us.

then andrew introduced us to zamorano, a more authentically spanish cheese than manchego, due to the loosening standards for that cheese. made from sheep's milk, it was a hard, salty cheese with a tangy finish and was paired with a rioja. another salty but drier cheese followed, mahon reserva, made from cow's milk.

we moved into the blue cheeses, starting with the monte enebro, made from goat's milk. it is a rich and creamy, slightly bitter cheese.

our tasting was ending soon to my disappointment. the valdeon, a strong but creamy blue cheese made from a mixture of cow & goat's milk, comes wrapped in sycamore leaves. a lovely cheese with beautiful blue green mold traversing the soft cream, it went well with the quince paste and had a slight bitterness that made my mouth tingly and numb. the sweetness of the quince was perfect with the rich blue cheeses. some of us had the chance to taste the cabrales, an older, more intense but related blue cheese that had a richer flavor and novacaine effects.

these were only a handful of the varieties of cheeses you'll find here. there are cards with each cheese that tell you a little about the cheese, including where it comes from and what its made of. if there's one you're interested in but aren't sure about, they are happy to cut you a piece to try. i had to ask about when it was appropriate to eat the rind and how you would differentiate between what mold was ok and what wasn't. andrew's first answer seemed like common sense, and steered clear of any pretensions about cheese. taste the rind, and if you like the taste, eat it. none of it is bad for you, but it can be the most intense part of the cheese, so if you don't like it, don't eat it. as for mold, cut off any white and eat the cheese. blue green mold is ok, but don't eat black or purple mold.