CHEESE!
 

Hi all. New here, but been in the US over a year.

I live in NJ and I have reached a breaking point on one foodstuff: cheese.

I get asked if I want provolone, swiss, or american all the time. I might as well shrug given the difference it makes to the taste - cheese appears to be a texture rather than a taste.

Does anyone know anywhere I can get real cheese? Strong cheddars, powerful stiltons etc.
I don't want pasteurised nonsense, just good old fashioned rotted milk.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Artisan cheese (Google it) straight from the farm, or from a cheese specialist retailer.

For example, here's one in Red Bank, NJ

Re: CHEESE!
 

Be prepared to pay.

Either at a specialist artesian (intentional mispelling) fancy food shop or somewhere like Whole Foods which depending on the buyer/store manager will often have a good cheese selection at the deli counter.

Re: CHEESE!
 

We got "Coastal English Cheddar" out of Costco. It said it's a mature cheddar, but it's more on the mild side, IMO. Trader Joe's does real Stilton and Gorgonzola and some other nice, non American cheeses.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Good stuff guys. Thanks. I'll be planning a shopping route for this weekend.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Bizarrely enough, the best off-the-shelf cheese I've found to date is from ... wait for it... Walmart!?!?! :blink:

2lb (so a decent sized lump), Cabot Extra Sharp - nearly tastes like 'real' Cheddar without the deli price tag

Re: CHEESE!
 

Cabot cheddars (there are several different recipes) are fairly widely available, round here at least, though they are probably cheaper at Walmart than other retailers. That said even the Cabot cheddars are (i) not close in flavour to a good mature farmhouse cheddar, and (ii) rubbery compared the drier texture of mature cheddar.

Re: CHEESE!
 

You can sometimes pick up some half-decent stuff from a local Farmers Market - not sure if you have them where you are?

Re: CHEESE!
 

Haha, don't get me wrong, I didn't say it was like real cheddar, just the closest thing to it without taking a second mortgage out at a deli.
It's handy if you like to cook with cheese.

Re: CHEESE!
 

+1 for the costco cheddar,it's not absolutely amazing but it's fine.
+1 for Trader Joe's cheeses, I can get a "petit basque" there which is great and is shipped out by a friend of a friend in Toulouse. The real mccoy and nowhere near as pricey as wholefoods....which is where I go when I am feeling homesick for french food!

Re: CHEESE!
 

Trader Joe's, they have some decent and affordable UK cheeses, but also some very good stuff from VT/NH/MA.

Wegmans, is another decent source for cheese as it Wholefoods.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Shop rite has the Cabot brand, I buy their extra sharp cheddar which is more like a medium British cheddar. It's the best one I've found so far.

Re: CHEESE!
 

All my local markets have an aisle with the plastic cheese, and the real stuff in a totally different area -- be sure that you aren't missing a case with the good stuff -- we can get Wensleydale, Stilton, a nice double Gloucester, all manner of chevres, Gorgonzola that's ready to walk, some tangy Cheddars from small US companies, and that guilty pleasure, smoked Gouda, all in the supermarket, but not shelved near the plastic ready-cut slices.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Yes, our local Kroger franchise chain has "cheese" in a chiller cabinet on the wall near the milk at the back of the store, but has an island display of pre-packaged gourmet cheeses, including a number of different British and European cheeses, near the deli counter usually towards the front of the store.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Good post!

It is worth saying (as it is with beer) not all American made cheese is rubbish. There are a lot of very good small cheese makers doing some great cheeses. Some are American varieties (I love a nice Maytag blue) others are versions of European classics.

Step away from the Dairy aisle and look for the proper cheese (then hand over your wallet).

Re: CHEESE!
 

I like Cabot's cheddar with horseradish. Pretty much all of our local supermarkets carry Irish cheddar if you look hard enough for it. I really like Coach Farm's products but sadly they stopped coming to our farmers' market, but it'll be under new management this year so hopefully they might come back.

Re: CHEESE!
 

In Houston, TX - Houston Dairymaids - you'll spend a whole paycheck but hey the heart wants what the heart wants!

Re: CHEESE!
 

We use Costco. They always have strong Irish cheddar in next to the butter.

Re: CHEESE!
 

True :lol: and True :lol:

Re: CHEESE!
 

Another vote for TJs. They have or have had Cheddar from England, Wales, NZ. They have a disproportionately large choice of Gouda, maybe half a dozen variants, French and Italian cheeses.

Re: CHEESE!
 

It's the goat cheese here that errrr gets my goat...

it's all pasteurised gloop. TJ's even sells "crottin de chevre" which bears no resemblance to the french stuff. No outer bit with gooey centre.

Re: CHEESE!
 

FDA says unpasteurized milk cheese has to be aged 60 days or is illegal. Most are not so you won't find them.

Re: CHEESE!
 

+1 for Costco's Coastal cheddar (imported from UK). I've also found Trader Joe's Surprising Cheddar very good. Stick to these two and you'll be fine.

Re: CHEESE!
 

I have no idea which part of NJ you are living in, but if you are in the NY Metro area then I highly recommend that you visit the excellent 'Wine Library' which is a 10 minute walk from my house :cool: right on the border of Millburn/Short Hills & Springfield and half a mile from Summit, it's just off I-78 and Routes 24/124:

Wine Library - Springfield, NJ | Yelp (do read the reviews!)

There is a wide variety of cheeses and many other 'gourmet' food items; on Fridays to Sundays they put out loads of artisan cheese samples from small dairies in North America and Europe.

I was delighted to find some Berkswell Sheeps Cheese from my home county (Warwickshire) from Neal's Yard Dairies at the Wine Library and they have a variety of other British cheeses too. They will cut the cheese to your preferred size and the staff are really nice and helpful. They are always happy for customers to try a sample not out in the aisles and decide whether to buy or not. :thumbup:

OTOH - I also like the Amish Blue and Gorgonzola cheese (organic) which is at Shoprite (near the fish counter) across the street on Rt 24, next door to Bed Bath & Beyond. They also have a few English cheeses eg. Stilton with apricots.

Btw.....we're currently on an expat posting in Switzerland, the land of cheese and chocolate (there a dairy farms everywhere here). I don't like the cheese here and an enterprising British expat in Zurich has his own market store where he imports cheeses from the UK! :lol:

Re: CHEESE!
 

The sandwich paces that just offer Swiss or cheddar aren't up to much, but, I find supermarkets to have a pretty good selection of cheeses. Whole Foods being the best.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Coal? Newcastle?

Re: CHEESE!
 

I've found Kerrygold Dubliner all over NY, and in Trader Joe's in Los Angeles. It's fab. Usually find Kerrygold butter in the same places...

Re: CHEESE!
 

Round here Whole Foods has a great selection. I agree that finding a really good, take the roof off your mouth, cheddar is a challenge. But if you like a wide range of good cheese, then Whole Foods is a good destination.
And if you're in NJ, do you have a Wegmans near you, last time I went to one (we don't live too close), their selection looked similar to Whole Foods.
Neither one will be cheap.

Re: CHEESE!
 

My favorite from Whole Foods is Borough Market Cheddar (they don't always have it.)

Re: CHEESE!
 

I'm going to be visiting my son and family in New Jersey next month and have found a place that MIGHT sell Primula cheese. It's called Nordic Delicacies in Brooklyn. Has anyone been there? They are advertising tubes of Primula/Kavli cheese with shrimp and bacon and would love to know if this is the real thing before we go traipsing out there.

Thanks.

Re: CHEESE!
 

I think I've seen that on line, and if you dig into what they sell, they sell many of the products from the dairy that makes Kavli, but does not import any of the tube cheese into the US. :(

Re: CHEESE!
 

Well, MrCream - it's one thing to open a Cheese thread - but given your user name - my suggestion is:

Check your cholesterol occasionally!

Re: CHEESE!
 

Okay, false alarm. Just did some more research and discovered that Nordic Delicacies has closed.:(

Re: CHEESE!
 

I have to admit finding to Primula as plastic fantastic as any American dairy case cheese -- any cheese that comes in a tube doesn't really cut it!

Re: CHEESE!
 

and my suggestion MMcD is.......check your science!
New U.S. Guidelines Will Lift Limits On Dietary Cholesterol - Forbes

Re: CHEESE!
 

dietary cholesterol intake has been shown to have little to do with it.

Re: CHEESE!
 

Yes, thanks for that reminder....funny, I've been so conditioned in my thinking re: cholesterol - that I entirely forgot about this new study.....off to Trader Joes ASAP!

Re: CHEESE!
 

It's good to know that my physiology lecturer, a qualified medical doctor, knew what he was talking about back in the 1980's! :rolleyes:

I have been wondering ever since then why the British and American governments have been peddling dietary advice not based on any relevant science. :confused:

Re: CHEESE!
 

For anyone in Michigan, The Cheese Lady is well worth a visit. Not cheap, but a cheese Mecca!

http://thecheeselady.net/locations

Re: CHEESE!
 

We have a good cheese place in a town up the road.

Home | Cheese Importers - Retail Specialty Store and Wholesale Distributor to Restaurants, Grocers, Hotels & Resorts


However I can get almost any kind at our local supermarket. It costs yer, mind.