Re: CHEESE!
 

Re. cheese spread all my local supermarkets sell 'Laughing Cow' cheese spread triangles, they're really good.

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But are they really cheese? :unsure:

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I found some very affordable British and Irish cheddars in Trader Joes.

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Yep!
A french institution "la vache qui rit" and the french know about cheese :p

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How can anyone govern a nation that has so many different kinds of cheese? :unsure:

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Check out the local farmer's markets.
Here in almost rural Pa. there are really great cheeses available, the equal of anything I've eaten in the UK.

Steve

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As much as Dairylea I am sure!

There is some 'spreadable brie' they sell at Specs which I like too...and that 'pub cheddar' spread with horseradish in Kroger...actually there aren't many kinds of cheese product I don't like. Except Velveeta. Never buy that :lol:

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I regularly buy cheese from Costco, imported from Ireland or England. I like the Dubliner it runs around $6 per pound but i have never found a piece smaller than $9 but that is OK it doesn't last long in our house!

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I love cheese, just about all cheese - soft, hard, and the in between sorts that the Dutch and Swiss, among others, make. I am just not a fan of processed and proprietary cheeses such as Dairylea, Laughing Cow, and those squares of rubbery Kraft "processed cheese" which for some strange reason known in the US as "American cheese". ..... I do, though, have a special place in my heart for Primula. :wub:

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Costco also does CABOT Cheddar which is very nice too. Large block and very tasty!

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up/down the road from me is Cheese Importers - Retail Specialty Store and Wholesale Distributor to Restaurants, Grocers, Hotels & Resorts which has an incredible selection of cheeses, given they are importers for various outlets, they may be able to help with hard to get cheeses etc.

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The US doesn't allow imported cheese to be unpasturised (or raw as it's called here). However, I have been very impressed with the variety of good cheese around here. Costco can surprise you with decent cheese - I bought a block of Comte for $10 last weekend and they do an own label cave aged Vermont cheddar which is mature and crumbly! At Christmas they had Cropwell Bishop Stilton and even a Lancashire Bomb from the UK.

My favourites which you can find in Whole Foods, Fairway or a decent cheese shop are;

Grayson (VA) - Grayson | Meadow Creek Dairy
Tumbleweed (NY) - 5 Spoke Creamery - 5 Spoke Creamery
Bayley Hazen Blue (VT) - Cheese — Jasper Hill Farm

You can drool and order at http://www.murrayscheese.com/ but they're seriously overpriced IMO.

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That's not true, though based on this article it appears to be difficult to reliably produce cheese from raw milk with a low enough count of non-toxigenic bacteria to meet the US inspection standards. Therefore the supplies of cheese made from unpasteurized milk have likely declined as dairies and importers have withdrawn from the market.

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I save up and buy cheese from WholeFoods. They have a good selection of US and European cheeses and even have stuff from "Neal's Yard" which is very trendy UK stuff, their shop in Borough Market is really good and really stinky.

Also I'm lucky enough to live close to this place so I'm all set for cheese.

https://www.formaggiokitchen.com/about

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I happened to be in Costco for dog food yesterday and grabbed a block of Cabot Vermont extra sharp. Not bad.

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Not great either. Cabot might be better than run-of-the-mill mass produced cheddar, but it's still not a patch on a farmhouse cheddar. :(

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Cabot is the largest cheddar maker in the US and they offer various qualitites from presliced sandwich paste to fairly high end stuff. Private Stock (black wax) is easy to find and pretty good. The Clothbound stuff is truly awesome if you can find it: crumbly, sweet, almondy and super tangy. In general, quality wine shops, gourmet food shops and speciality cheese shops are where to find the best cheese. Small places in Vermont, California and Oregon seem to make the best stuff.

Cheese is definitely something where you get what you pay for. I spent $20 on a small block of some sort of ridiculously yuppie domestic blue cheese at whole foods the other day. Worth every penny, I'm not ashamed.

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Interesting, my response was specific to people enthusing about Cabot Vermont Extra Sharp (which I have tried but which was not that special IMO) but I might look out for up-market Cabot cheeses, though personally I'd prefer to buy cheese made by an independent cheesemaker for the same reasons that I prefer to buy "craft beer" brewed by an independent brewery rather than a brand developed, or bought out, by InBev, SAB Miller, or Molson Coors.

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The one I was referring to in my post had black wax, so not sure if you were perhaps confusing it with another one.

I hear what you are saying about independents but the reality of the pocket book is a factor.

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Ah, I see. I've had "Cabot Extra Sharp Vermont Cheddar", but not in black wax. In fact I have never seen any cheese in black wax.

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It's all over the place.

That said checking the Cabot website it may have been blue wax because I'm sure it was 24 month not 16, plus it says extra sharp. Should have kept the wrapper then I'd know for sure.

https://www.cabotcheese.coop/vintage...dar-cheese-2lb

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I don't do much grocery shopping. :o

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It's usually in a couple pound block in the bulk stores.

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Not round here in black or blue wax. The "regular" Cabot Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar in a translucent plastic wrap is all that BJ's has. It will probable mean an excursion to the swanky delis of the Big City to find anything that fancy. :unsure:

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That's unfortunate.

Our local bulk store sells the same kind you describe, but also the black wax block.

Can get it in a couple of regular grocery stores too, in smaller blocks, but much more expensive per pound.

There's a Canadian cheddar that's 5 years, Black Diamond, I think it's called?

Colliers, Welsh cheddar, seems to be popping up in a few grocery stores too. It was really cheap when it first appeared in Wegmans, now it's just slightly cheaper than some of the other posh cheeses, but it's lovely, but it's still around $10 a pound :o