cheese

Murray's Cheese: Serving New York Since 1940

Filed under: Dining

Murray's Cheese in Manhattan is nominated for a Luxist Award in the Best Cheese Shop category.

Murray's Cheese started as a humble little egg and butter shop back in 1940, opened by a Spanish civil war veteran named Murray Greenberg who would buy cheese on the cheap and resell it. The shop has changed hands only a couple of times over all of the last 60-some years, and has had a few different addresses too, but one thing has stayed the same: it's always sold great cheese and dairy.

Great cheese hasn't always been gourmet cheese, however. As recently as 10 years ago, under the management of current owner Rob Kaufelt, Murray's started to 'get serious about the good stuff' and focus on selling high-end cheeses for people who know the difference. It was a slow start for the pricier inventory but today the shop is packed with customers (even in this tough economy) willing to pay upwards of $20 or $30 for a block of exquisitely flavorful and sometimes very rare cheese.

Murray's Cheese has rolled with the punches and maintained its neighborhood feel throughout many years of change, and now thanks to technology even if you don't live in the Manhattan or New York area you can still enjoy shopping via the website, mail order service, or even the gift catalog complete with a "cheese of the month" club option.

Vote now for what you believe is the best of breed in Gourmet Foods. Readers' Choice Awards for Food will be announced on November 30th.

Gallery: More from Murray's Cheese

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Tags: awards-main, cheese, food-awards, luxist-awards, murrays cheese, MurraysCheese

Pastoral: Artisan Cheese in the Windy City

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Chicago is known more for its deep-dish pizza than for its cheese, but then again, Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine has only been around for five years. Founded in 2004 by Greg O'Neill and Ken Miller, the purveyor of artisan cheese, bread and wine has carved a European-style niche in the Windy City. Pastoral is also a nominee for a Luxist Award for Best Cheese Shop.

Through its two brick-and-mortar locations in Chicago and across the country via mail order, Pastoral aims to make haute cuisine accessible to both discerning connoisseurs and eager masses. The outfit offers over 150 kinds of cheese -- made in small batches and cut to order -- in addition to ten types of freshly baked artisan bread, gourmet olives and cured meats.

O'Neill and Miller are well equipped to run Pastoral. The former boasts a two-decade career in marketing, working around the world for firms including Motorola, Verizon and Colgate-Palmolive; the latter trained as a chef at Peter Kump's New York Cooking School and studied under chef David Waltuck at Chanterelle, a renowned Big Apple eatery, and later went on to do programming work for the Navy's nuclear submarines before finding his true calling in cheese.

Pastoral's wares can be seen, browsed and ordered -- but, unfortunately, not sniffed -- at www.pastoralartisan.com. The company ships nationwide.

Vote now for what you believe is the best of breed in Gourmet Foods. Readers' Choice Awards for Food will be announced on November 30th.

More from Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine

Tags: awards-main, cheese, chicago, greg oneill, GregOneill, ken miller, KenMiller, luxist-awards, pastoral

Understanding the Basics of Cheese

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

There are literally hundreds of different kinds of cheese in the world, all with different characteristics, flavors, and origins. Many different factors determine how a cheese turns out but some of the most influential are what kind of milk is used (cow, sheep, or goat), how it's prepared, and how long the cheese is aged. As a general rule, the longer a cheese is aged the more aromatic and flavor-intense it is. Here's a guide to just a few of the world's most popular cheeses and what makes them unique.

Cheddar One of most widely used cheeses here in the States, cheddar cheese is made from cow's milk and was first 'born' in England in a little village called Cheddar. It comes in mild, medium, and sharp varieties and can be off-white to dark orange in color.

Blue Cheese is a white cheese with unique blue/black spots and veins in it that are the result of mold. Made from a combination of sheep, goat, and cow's milk, blue cheese has a both a strong smell and a very strong flavor -- for many it's an acquired taste.

Swiss Originating in Switzerland, Swiss cheese is unique for its 'eyes' which are the holes left by bubbles that form during the aging process. The larger the 'eyes' the more intense the flavor.

Feta originated in Greece and is made with a combination of sheep and goat's milk. It's a white, soft or semi-firm cheese that is aged for several months and has a mild to strong tangy flavor.

Asiago cheese hails from the Asiago High Plateau in Italy (at least originally) and has a full, nutty-flavor. It comes in two main varieties, Fresh Asiago made from whole milk and Asiago d' Allevo made from part-skim milk and aged much longer.

Brie is a soft, light white to yellow cheese with a thick, somewhat tasteless, edible rind. It originated in France and is traditionally made with raw milk, meaning true Brie is not available in the United States due to pasturization laws. Many pasteurized varieties are available, however, and are usually enjoyed sliced with fruit or bread.

Limburger Perhaps most famous for its "stinkiness," Limburger cheese originated in Belgium (before becoming popular in Germany) and gets its trademark odor from bacteria living in the rind. The cheese itself, made from cow's milk, has a mild tangy flavor and is often enjoyed with beer.

Have another cheese you'd like to know more about? This website has an easy-to-navigate alphabetical guide.

Tags: asiago, awards-main, brie, cheddar, cheese, cheeses, dining, feta, food-pedia, limburger, swiss cheese, SwissCheese

Beekman 1802 Blaak Cheese

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

It's easy to see why the first artisanal cheese produced from the goats from the Beekman Farm has been given the name Blaak. It wears an edible black rind of ash. The ash helps mellow the acidity and promote ripening. The result is an Italian-style semi-hard cheese made from a 60:40 mix of goat and cow milk. The blend combines the best of both worlds, the slight tang of goat cheese with the delectable creamy mouthfeel of cow's milk cheese. The cheese is aged four months in the Beekman 1802 caves and is coated with ash at each turning to promote the ripening of the wheel. It's available at various purveyors in New York including Murrays Cheese, Garden of Eden, Stinky Brooklyn and Marlow & Daughters or you can order it online for $45 for a 2-3 pound wheel.

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Tags: beekman 1802, beekman farm, beekman-1802, beekman1802, BeekmanFarm, cheese, food, food-awards, goat cheese, GoatCheese

Is Moldy Cheese Safe to Eat?

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

According to the Mayo Clinic, some moldy cheeses are safe to eat after the mold has been sliced off, while others are toxic.

The answer depends on the type of cheese, says Mayo Clinic nutritionist, Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. "Molds are microscopic organisms that have thread-like roots that burrow into the foods they grow on," she says.

There are good molds and there are bad molds. Most molds are harmless and safe to eat (unless you are allergic to mold, of course). These molds are even used to make some kinds of cheese, including brie, roquefort, gorgonzola, and camembert. Some bad molds produce mycotoxins, which can make you sick.

With hard and semisoft cheese, such as parmesan, Swiss, romano and cheddar, you can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest of the cheese, says Zeratsky. "Keep the knife out of the mold itself so that it doesn't cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese," she warns. "Cut off at least one inch around and below the moldy spot."

With soft cheeses, such as brie, chevre, blue cheese and ricotta, however, the mold that grows cannot be safely removed so these cheeses should be discarded. The same goes for any cheese that has been shredded, crumbled or sliced.

Tags: cheese, food-pedia, luxist-awards, main-pedia, mayo clinic, MayoClinic, mold, nutrition

Winchester Cheese Company Makes Gouda With A Bit Of Spice

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

You've probably had regular gouda and smoked gouda before but the Winchester Cheese Company goes far beyond that, making a variety of fine artisan flavored goudas. The Winchester Cheese Company is owned by Jules Wesselink who was born in Holland and has owned California dairies since the 1950s. His dairy has 500 Holstein cows. The cheese is made by Valerie Thomas, Jules Wesselink's daughter, and David Thomas, her husband. The cheese is made the traditional way with fresh raw milk. Flavors to try include their jalapeno gouda which is aged a minimum of 60 days and contains jalapeno and red peppers to give it a moderately spicy taste. It won First Place at The American Cheese Society contest. They also make cumin gouda and garden herb gouda in addition to smoked gouda and a super aged gouda which is aged over a year and has a surprising sharpness. Prices start at $11.95 a pound.

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Tags: california cheese, CaliforniaCheese, cheese, gouda

Tasting Rum, Cheese And Chocolate With The Cheese Impressario

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Spirits

Who could resist an invitation from a woman who says cheese changed her life. Barrie Lynn, the Cheese Impressario is a dynamo in a gold sequined and leopard print apron who hosted a special rum, cheese and chocolate last night. I've been to pairings of wine and cheese and chocolate before but never rum. But specialty rums (especially the rum selections poured by Henry Preiss) worked very well with Barrie Lynn's cheese selections.

One of Barrie Lynn's finds is Holland's Family Farm in Wisconsin.Rolf and Marieke Penterman are first generation Wisconsin dairy farmers who moved from the Netherlands to Wisconsin in 2002. They make incredible aged Gouda with rich and complex flavors. Of particular note is the Foenegreek Gouda which is creamy and distinctive. It's impossible to have one piece without immediately wanting another just to take your mouth on the same journey of surprising flavor again. It would be a rock star on a cheese plate, paired perhaps with dried apricots or grapes. The Burning Nettle Melange Gouda is also far more pleasant than the name might lead you to believe. It has a grassy herbal bite that would make it a great start to a meal.

Tags: cheddar, cheese, chocolate, gouda, rum, truffles

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Artisan Cheese Knife Set

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Dining

This cheese set represents the vision of one cheese guru, Alberto Marcomini, an Italian known as one of the world's top cheese experts. The set of cheese knives includes a hard cheese knife, fork tipped service knife, large semi-hard cheese knife and a soft cheese knife in one side of a large box. The other side holds a small semi-hard cheese knife, marbled and soft cheese knife, cheese spreading spatula, Parmesan knife, two-handled Coltella knife and a serving fork. The entire comes in a pine presentation box with leather straps and the box lid serves as a cutting board and presentation tray. The ultimate set for making a professional display of fine cheeses. It sells for $2,000.

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Tags: cheese, decor, entertaining, knives

What Is The World's Best Cheese?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Taste may be subjective but that doesn't stop us from trying to determine the best foods and hand out awards for them. Last week brought the 2007 World Cheese Awards in England. Over 2,000 cheeses from around the world were evaluated by around 120 judges who painstakingly tasted and evaluated the cheeses based on texture, aroma, looks, and of course, taste. The judges narrow the cheeses, choosing gold, silver and bronze award winners, 13 trophy winners and the world champion. So what's the best cheese in the world this year? The honor went to the Brie de Meaux from Renard Gillard. The World Cheese Awards site has a list of the rest of the winners if you are interested in conducting a little taste test of your own.

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Tags: brie, brie de meaux, cheese, world cheese awards, WorldCheeseAwards

Cowgirl Creamery Cheeses

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Cowgirl Creamery is one of the premier artisan cheese makers in the US and operates out of the San Francisco Bay Area, where they hand-make all of their cheese with organic, locally sourced milk. They have shops in San Francisco and Washington DC, but if you stop by their factory in Point Reyes Station, California, you can get a tour of the facilities and see cheesemaking in action. If you can't get to one of these locations, you can order their cheeses online. The Cheese all the time club is a year-long program where Cowgirl Creamery ships out 1 pound of one of their best cheeses every month, along with "a little something that brings out the full flavors in the cheese." The 12-month subscription is $540.

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Tags: cheese, cowgirl

Chefs Compete For Honor, Fancy Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Timepieces / Watches, Events

Cooking competitions are very popular these days but the Bocuse d'Or is in a class by itself. It is part of the International Hotel Catering and Food Trade Exhibition in Lyons France taking place now through January 24 which also includes the World Pastry Cup. The contest, which is on January 23, is judged by 24 chefs and 24 chefs have the opportunity to compete on three different themes in a timed contest. In addition to the accolades of the crowd, the winner receives a Blancpain hand-engraved Léman GMT Alarm watch worth 14,000 euros. Other events include the International Cheese Competition, which has already crowned a winner, France and the cheeses of Rodolphe le Meunier.

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Tags: blancpain, cheese, chef, cooking, food, france, lyons, sirha

Alabaster Cheese Board

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

There are two main advantages to using a stone cheese board instead of a wooden one. First, the naturally cooler temperature keeps very soft cheeses together longer, which makes them easier to serve. Second, they are significantly easier to clean than wooden boards, some of which may crack or warp after washings. In addition to those two features, this Mexican Alabaster Cheese Board is cut to resemble a giant wedge of Swiss, and the color of the stone really flatters the design. It measures 10" x 10" and comes with a stainless steel cheese knife. In addition to being a great serving piece, the set would also make a wonderful gift for any cheese-loving friends. Price: $100.

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Tags: alabaster, cheese, cheese board, fromage, swiss

Pondini Imports

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

I wouldn't generally think of taking food recommendations from a car company but Italian car company Maserati has partnered up with Pondini Imports which is bringing organic Modenese food, including Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese from the Panini family, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to American markets.

The Paninis have a long history with Maserati and Umberto Panini is a former Maserati Motorcycles test driver. Seymour Pond, the head of the Maserati Club in America formed Pondini Imports along with Matteo Panini. Pondini has provided the cheeses and other imports to the Master Maserati driving school, Maserati's party at Casa Palmero and the hospitality suite at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The products are available online (the cheeses are around $20 per pound) and will also be sold at Whole Foods markets soon.

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Tags: cheese, gourmet, imports, italy, parmigiano

Ultimate Cheese Plate

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The cheese board that is used for slicing and serving cheeses, the selection of which is also known as a cheese board, can be made out of a variety of materials. The majority, it seems, are made from small slabs of marble, which are attractive and simple. This ceramic cheese plate is attractive, but certainly not simple. It was handmade in Italy and carefully imprinted with the shapes and logos of different cheeses, accented with the print of a cheese knife. And while it may be the ultimate gift for a cheese lover, it can also be used by novices to create a basic cheese selection and plate it elegantly, using the imprints as guidelines. It measures 12"x12" and is $150.

[via BLTD]

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Tags: cheese, cheese board, cheese plate, CheeseBoard

A Rare Rarebit

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Auctions

A British chef has concocted what is, essentially, an incredibly expensive cheese on toast. Tom Bridge's version of the usually frugal dish known as rarebit, or cheese on toast, is dressed up with L'Aquila White Umbrian truffles and matsutake mushrooms on top of Warburtons Toastie white bread and Lancashire cheese. The toast and cheese are the ordinary ones that Bridges uses in his home. The asking price is £345, or about $600, and the chance to have Chef Bridge make it for you in your own home will be auctioned off on eBay.