This Saturday we had our usual bread and cheese lunch; however this time we chose three new and interesting cheeses to taste. These three cheeses were made from combinations of milk from different animals – cow, sheep, and/or goat – and were fascinating to compare.
We started our tasting with Ménage, a semi-soft American cheese made from the combination of all three cheeses - sheep, goat, and cow milk. This artisan cheese is visually striking, packaged in bright green wax. Made by Wisconsin’s Carr Valley, the cheese won first place in the 2005 American Cheese Society for mixed cheeses. This was our mildest cheese with a creamy texture and a very pleasant taste that was just a little bit sweet. It tasted very nice with the fresh baguette.
We followed up with Shahat, a soft cheese from Israel, made from a blend of sheep and goat milk. This was a very interesting cheese – despite its smooth texture, it was very bold and had a sharp taste. The flavor and texture was reminiscent of Chevre, but a lot of intense flavor was added due to its rind coated with vegetable ash.
The final cheese was Parrano Original, a Gouda-style cheese from Holland made from cow milk and a wax packaged rind. This cheese offers a depth of flavor with sweetness and saltiness, plus a nutty flavor not found in the previous cheeses. The firmness of the texture also adds a little bit of crunchiness. Although a cow cheese, unlike the other blended cheeses, it reminds us of a blend between Parmesan and Gouda, making this complex taste very intriguing.
All three cheeses were excellent and made an attractive and distinctive cheese plate with divergent and yet complimentary flavors and textures.
