Blue Cheese

Attended one of Cheesetique's cheese tastings (or "classes" as Jill, the proprietress, likes to call them). This one was on blue cheeses. It was fantastic as always, though I must admit that this much blue cheese with very little accompaniment was borderline too much even for someone who loves cheese as much as I do. The membrillo that Jill served this time did help to break things up a little. Of the ten cheeses that we tasted, there were only one or two that I probably would not go out of my way to have again. Some of the highlights were Cashel Blue from Ireland, an aged Stilton (4 months, which doesn't sound like much, but it's next to impossible to age blue cheeses for any length of time, and a regular stilton is usually only about 2 months old), a sheep's milk blue called Ba-Ba Blue, and, of course, Valdeon, one of Spain's great cheeses, and the one that the membrillo was intended to accompany. The Valdeon was far more intense than I remembered, and looked quite different -- a brownish-gray, with far more mold than I am used to. The Most Unusual Cheese award probably goes to an artisanal concoction called Whiskey Blue, which is what you think it is -- soaked in bourbon. Certainly distinctive, I am not sure I would call it good -- the shaprness hits you in the nose rather than on the palate. Jill was her usual enthusiastic and funny self, and explained the fascinating story of making roquefort, though we did not taste it. Props yet again to her and Cheesetique for putting on a great event.