June 28, 2005
Morbier and the office desk picnic
I work in the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, and today I made my way down to the Ferry Building to supply yet another impromptu picnic at my desk. I came back with two cave-aged French cheeses bought at Cowgirl Creamery, Comte and Morbier.
(Morbier)
Anne and I many months ago attended a $50/person cheese class put on by the Cowgirls. Helping lead the tasting was French affineur Jean d'Alos, "affineur" meaning, in French, "one who ages cheese in caves, and yes we have a word just for that, clumsy American pigdog." Our love for Comte, in particular well-aged Comte, was the legacy of that tasting, as well as a respect for d'Alos. The two cheeses I picked up today are both selections from d'Alos' caves (which means he aged them, not that he made them).
The Morbier is one slap in the face of a cheese, pungent to the point of nearly tasting ammoniated. Even the salesgirl at Cowgirl told me she wrinkles her nose at this cheese because she can't stand it because its so overpowering. For some reason I don't find it nearly so offensive.
I do not make a point of loving stinky cheese, but perhaps my experience tasting too much of a scandalously spoiled unpasteurized Epoisse smuggled carelessly into the country by a French alcoholic (the French call this a "Con d'iwong Epoisse") has made me immune to certain enzymes. Anyway.
This Morbier is a sharp, carmelized cheese and I am enjoying it quite a bit. It is cut through with what appears to be ash. The core of the cheese is a dark, pale yellow which becomes khaki at the rind. The smell , which I only pick up by pressing the cheese to my nose, and which not one of my workers has yet complained about, is actually significantly more pungent than the cheese itself. Salty. It is semisoft, cut easily with a fork or plastic knife ("cuh-neef" as the French call it) here at my desk. The texture is pleasantly gummy, I'm trying to imagine a softer "hard" cheese but can't. Basically well harder than a Camembert but softer than an Ossau Iraty or aged Cheddar. My gut tells me it has been aged but the salesgirls at Cowgirl did not know.
Aggressive, sharp, pungent, carmelly -- this Morbier goes well on its own, cuh-neef to mouth. I paid $6 for a third of a pound.
The Comte is an old favorite. Again, I'm pretty sure we've written something on this cheese before. I can tell the one I bought today is not aged quite as long as the best ones we sampled at the tasting. Still, it is a delicious hard cow's milk cheeese. Mild and tasting to me almost like a sheep's milk cheese (Osau again). Just very subtle and elegant. Dry, a bit salty without being gauche, soft and creamy to your tongue while dry and crumbly to your teeth. It's like picking off chunks of Pamersan Reggiano, but without a sharp flavor that makes you wrinkle your nose. A top top cheese. $8 for a third of a pound.
(Comte)
If you're interested in Jean d'Alos, you should check out notes from a tasting tour of d'Alos' cave in France at Fork and Bottle. Chez Pim has an extensive writeup of a d'Alos talk/class (maybe the same one Anne and I attended?)
A word on bread: At the Ferry Building I picked up green onion bread from Acme. Not only does the surprisingly suble onion flavor go well with cheese, but this is my new favorite bread. Anne tried some early batches at Acme when she worked there a few years ago, and when we went to the Ferry Building a few weeks back she ran into an old coworker who sent us home with the green onion bread. They only sell it at that Acme location. Pick up a loaf next time you're there if you haven't tried it.
(Acme Onion Bread)