One is not “the loneliest number,” and Cypress Grove of California proves it with the latest single serve goat disks!
Single serve goat disks from the front and back, courtesy of www.cypressgrovecheese.com
Solo cheese snacks have been a “thing” for some time, beginning with mozzarella sticks and moving onto Colby Jack, Cheddar, French Brie, Swiss Emmentaler, and even real Italian Parmigiano Reggiano. (In Pennsylvania, one can buy tiny gourmet cheeses at the Sheetz gas station/snack store!)
Cypress Grove dairy is located a few hours north of San Francisco, the birthplace of movements. The Cypress Grove cheese experimentation started in the 70’s as a grass roots movement by Mary Keehn, a self-proclaimed “serious hippie.”
Mary Keehn with her company’s cheeses. Pic from the Cypress Grove website
She adopted a few goats, and then more, and even more. She decided to make a then revolutionary domestic goat cheese—chèvre. Thus, an American rock star was born, and it spawned a brood of great cheeses, complete with groupies!
In the past, the Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog soft-ripened, ashen goat has made its mark, but as the decades progressed, many other CG goat (and sheep) cheeses also earned their claim to fame, including fresh and hard cheeses.
Go, groovy goats, go! Pic from Cypress Grove’s site
These fresh chèvre rounds come in many flavors now, and with very interesting, era-inspired names: Purple Haze (lavender and fennel), Ms. Natural (unflavored), Herbs de Humboldt (French Provence style), PsycheDillic (dill), and Sgt. Pepper (peppers, of course!)
Check out the “Fresh” page on the www.cypressgrove.com site. It lists the cheeses with pairing and recipe ideas. These little nuggets are great for single snacking, a decorative cheese board, or warmed and set atop a mixed green salad.
Elizabeth Bland, The Cheese Mistress
www.thecheesemistress.com
Cheese balls come in many styles and flavors; likely every cheesemaking part of the world has some version of a cheesy orb, be it rolled in nuts, herbs, spices, peppers, and dried fruits, or marinated in oil. The Middle East’s traditional cheese ball is Shankleesh, or “pickled Labneh,” a dairy delicacy native to Lebanon.
The store is named for a historical outdoor market in Cairo, Egypt, yet sells products from all over the Middle East. This local Wekalet El Balah sports a thriving cheese section full of exotic Middle Eastern cheeses—cheeses I had never heard of—and I have eaten a lot of cheese in my life!
The whole cheese balls are an attractive addition to a meze appetizer selection, and in recipes, they are usually crumbled, especially over diced tomatoes and onions. Its tanginess is enhanced with a squeeze of lemon. Other additions include cucumber, parsley, mint, avocado, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers, black pepper, and olive oil. It’s also tasty over a green salad.
I was excited to see Arla cheese come on the market in my area. Cream cheese, though mild and fairly standard, is nevertheless a favorite of mine. Its smooth, creamy texture and taste of fine cream make it both refreshing and versatile. I once attended a seminar on the history of cream cheese. During its evolution in the U.S., this ancestor of French Neufchâtel gradually acquired gums and stabilizers as ingredients. I longed to taste the more delicate cream cheeses of a bygone era, but found none on the market. Until Arla.
Arla’s line of Danish cream cheeses—which includes Original, Light, Peppercorn, Herbs & Spices, and Blueberry—are free of added hormones, stabilizers, thickeners, artificial flavors and preservatives. Not only are they lighter on the palate, they are also lighter in calories and fat; two tablespoons range from 60 to 80 calories with only five to seven grams of fat, depending on the flavor. One especially intriguing ingredient is buttermilk to the cream, which possibly accounts for the lower fat and added tanginess in the Light, Blueberry, Peppercorn, Herbs & Spices flavors. The Original contains both cream and skim milk.
Peppercorn, which is spiced up with black pepper and pink peppercorns, is a personal favorite. Gerry, who was presenting samples and “$1 off” coupons, said the Herbs & Spices was especially popular for its savory blend of onion, garlic, paprika, and dill. The lightly sweet Blueberry needs no explanation.
Deep in the heart of Pennsylvania at a Sheetz gas station and grab n’ go shop, I found a basket of tiny gourmet snack cheeses. One was a single serve cup of Il de France Brie.
When I looked at the sell-by date on the side on my Brie Bite, my chest froze; the date February 24th is the anniversary of my mother’s death. Although it’s a sad day, it’s also one I spend remembering her, especially with foods she loved like pralines, Milky Way bars, and buttery cheeses.
But it was not cholesterol that shifted her fate. It was an accident. When I realized how haphazard life was, I vowed to “seize the day” and never deny myself the pleasure of dairy indulgence. As it turns out, doctors are not always right, and full fat, quality dairy is not the culprit, when part of a balanced diet.
The cryptic Shakespeare reference on the back of Sea Change cheese got me at “rich and strange.”(The Tempest: Act 1, Scene 2) True to the slogan “Dedicated to the Science and Art of Milk Metamorphosis,” 
I don’t just love cheese; I adore it. So much so that every day, for me, is “cheese lover’s day.” Cheese is one of the most fascinating foods around, from its myriad incarnations and international versatility to its funky history. I have compiled a list of questions and answers on my true love and appreciation for cheese. Consider this a Valentine to Cheese—How do I love cheese? Let me count the ways.
Why cheese?
t, I was eating chunks of Longhorn Colby like a lollipop. I truly came into cheese when my high school French teacher introduced the class to Brie and chèvre at a class party. Once I traveled to Europe in high school, I discovered even more cheese in France and Italy, where I was studying language. My passion for cheese only grew as my knowledge deepened.
I have been overweight and I even had high cholesterol in my early 20’s, but it was not the cheese’s fault; I was eating too much high carb/low fiber food, namely pastries. When I switched back to cheese as my #1 filler-up source, and replaced the sweets with fruits, I lost the weight and the cholesterol issues. I also work out a lot as cheese provides me with sustaining, long-lasting energy vs. the crash and burn of sugar.
Yes, there are three cheeses I don’t like, but they are not the usual suspects. (Write me privately and I will name them. They are not inherently bad cheeses—just not my cup of “cheese.”) One, I will name, however. It is a horrible process cheese from the 99 Cent Store in L.A. This was the worst cheese in the world. It wasn’t even cheese. It was just plastic and rubber. It made American slices look like an aged clothbound cheddar! The 99 cent cheese was so bad, I threw it away and its name has become a repressed memory. What was I thinking?
Dvaro Cheese from Lithuania looks a lot like the Russian Havarti-type one. It, too, is yellow—even more yellow than the Russian cheese—and it is riddled with small curd holes. It comes in a slice pack with each slice separated by deli sheets, which thankfully do not stick to the cheese like they did with the freshly sliced Russian cheese. It is tangy with a slight pungency, and a slightly floral aftertaste. It is not overly salted. The label is in standard type Cyrillic and also cursive Cyrillic. I can’t figure out what Dvaro means besides just being a brand name. Perhaps the label gives a clue? “Литовский-сыр-“Дваро”-сливочный” Dvaro melts well and keeps its flavor under heat.
I bought this because part of the label is a sort of Viking (with no horns) or a blond mountain man holding what looks like a wheel of Parmesan. “Time to taste, Time to appreciate” the label says. Džiugas Delicate is aged at least 24 months. Although it looks like a Parmesan, it is lighter and earthier. In flavor. When shredded fresh over pasta, it melts and even gets a little stringy. It seems to have won 7 awards, but I would need a jeweler’s loupe to tell what they are.
An illustrated slide show tells the story of a giant who married the king’s daughter in the village. After the wedding, the bride and groom brought a huge hard cheese that the wedding guests feasted on for a week. The giant, Džiugas, made this cheese and used it to renew his strength. Then his wife died, leaving him so distressed that he dug a hole next to her grave and died. The townspeople kept his memory alive by continuing to make his hard cheese from the original recipe.
For an excellent Colby and a great selection of traditional domestic cheeses using raw milk, look for the yellow Millport Dairy awning and the friendly man in the straw hat!
cheesemistress 