three wise cheeses

i know a “serving size” is a tiny couple ounces, basically the size of your thumb. and yes, i know i already had cream cheese biscuits this morning. but smart nutritionist be damned, i love cheese. there is something so comforting, and so satisfying, about a couple hunks of cheese.

my favorite place to buy cheese is at fairway in red hook (i guess my favorite place to buy all things food-related) and not just because it has such great prices. it also teems over with a variety of cheeses: shapes, colors, milks, scents. plus, the cheese guys are kind of cute :)

last week we brought home three: etorki, spanish patacabra, and mimolette. i have a hankering for foreign cheeses based on the belief that the milks over there are more "clean" than milks from the US. i might be mistaken, but it *is* true that the EU, generally speaking, has much stricter rules about the environment and farm/consumer products than we do.

anyhoo, welcome to our three wise cheeses …

etorki: this is 100% sheep’s milk from the french pyrénées. i love sheep’s milk cheese, and especially like this one. it’s not what i would describe as particularly flavorful, but it’s so smooth and creamy, with a mild nuttiness (of the flavor kind, not the unfitney kind.)

spanish patacabra: this is goat’s milk from you guessed it, spain. this is also smooth but with a wonderful pungent flavor. i much prefer a (relatively) harder goat’s milk cheese, like this one, rather than the softy kind most people are familiar with.

mimolette (or boule de lille): this is from northern france, i forget what milk. but if i do remember correctly, it was a favorite of de gaulle. it’s dry and hard, but not crumbly. it’s mild, but with a little spicy saltiness to it. i could see this being a very good munchie with some beer.