Meet 8 Cheeses from MADAME FROMAGE’S ADVENTURES IN CHEESE
by TENAYA DARLINGTON

1.     Fresh Cheeses: Fresh Cow’s Milk Cheese (mascarpone, labneh, or fromage blanc) If you crave creaminess, try decadent Mascarpone from Italy, velvety Lebanese Labneh, or moussey Fromage Blanc – France’s version of cream cheese. Cow’s milk doesn’t have the tang of goat’s milk or the herby notes often found in sheep’s milk. It’s like the foam on a latte. For a transportive bite, slather this cheese on crusty bread and top it with a ribbon of salty prosciutto, a slice of tart peach, and a basil leaf.

2.     Soft Ripened Cheeses: Triple Crème (Délice de Bourgogne, Crémeux des Citeaux, Kunik) Consider Délice the ultimate party cheese. It looks like a cheesecake, and it has a whipped consistency that makes grown men swoon. Trust me, you will purr.

3.     Stinky Cheeses: Mildly Whiffy (Port Salut, Taleggio, Nababbo) The real classic here is Taleggio from Italy’s Lombardy region, a thick square that is springy like focaccia and with the same bread doughy appeal. Look at the rind of a traditional Taleggio DOP and you’ll see it bears a stamp of four circles; with its terra-cotta coloring, it looks like the tile of a church floor. Locals love to eat this cheese with mostarda, a mustard-oil-laced fruit condiment that’s worth seeking out.

4.     Cheddars: New American Clothbound (Cabot Clothbound, Flory’s Truckle, Bleu Mont Dairy Bandaged Cheddar) Bleu Mont Dairy from Wisconsin is a mythical creature – hard to find but so worth it (try ordering it online). Willi Lehner hand-makes this clothbound Cheddar in small batches and ages it behind his house in a beautiful hobbit cave he built himself.

5.     Alpine Cheeses: Tete De Moine or Alp Blossom (‘flower cheeses”) Flower-coated Alp Blossom from Austria’s first cheese school, Sennerei Huban, is designed to draw attention to the variety of herbs and wildflowers growing in the Bregenzerwald meadows where the local cows graze to produce the milk for this cheese. Rose petals, marigold, lavender, and chervil make this kaleidoscopic cheese one of the most memorable you’ll ever see, and the coating contributes a wonderful floral and herbaceous taste.

6.     Aged Cheeses: Aged Sheep’s Milk Cheese (Pecorino Sardo, Pecorino Toscano, Manchego) If you’ve never tried Pecorino Sardo (aka Fiore Sardo), then do yourself a favor and try this smoky, salty sheep cheese from Sardinia that predates the Romans. Shepherds smoke it over balsam wood in mountain huts called pinnette – it’s deeply traditional and should be experienced, especially with honey.

7.     Flavored Cheeses: Smoked (Up in Smoke, Campo, Idiazábal) A cheese monger favorite is Rivers Edge Up in Smoke, a tender chèvre wrapped in a bourbon-misted maple leaf, then smoked over alder and hickory chips. This beauty from Oregon’s central coast is produced by Pat Morford and her daughters at their farmstead creamery, Rivers Edge Chèvre.

8.     Blue Cheeses: Booze-Infused (Rogue River, Negroni Blue, BirbaBlu) Negroni Blue, from Italy, is just like it sounds: a creamy blue soaked in a Negroni cocktail and topped with candied orange slices. It’s a showstopper.