The Cheese Shop

Sliced, cubed, shredded, melted, grated, or spread, we entreat you to sit down and sample a bit from our selection of cheese history and information on how to choose, store, serve or even make your own cheese.

Cheese can be made from just about any kind of milk you can think of (cow, goat, sheep, etc) and is fermented and/or aged to concentrate it into a soft, semi-soft or hard food. Cheese can be mild in flavor and aroma or very sharp and strong. Some cheeses are even famous for smelling rather bad. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack.

Bon Appétit! 

I like mozzarella best in a caprése salad, where it's soft and the tomatoes are crisp. Parmesan cheese stands much more on its own in a caesar salad as opposed to on top of a red pasta sauce. Monterey jack goes on my turkey sandwiches. Really sharp cheddar gets grated and sprinkled lightly over steamed veggies. Soft brie is smeared on French bread.

Cream cheese goes on bagels NY-style. Ricotta cheese goes in my blintzes. Cottage cheese is good with a fresh pear for breakfast. Stilton with ginger and mango is good for dessert. Blue cheese can lend an exotic air to good old-fashioned twice-baked potatoes. Camembert is good with tart apples like Fujis or Granny Smiths.

Camping in the California mountains, I was introduced to Tete de moine. This firm wheel of cheese is shaved with a special device that scrapes it, the shavings rolling to form little rosettes which you then pop whole into your mouth. A former housemate introduced me to triple-cream Explorateur. She would serve it for her holiday party, stuffing fresh figs with generous dollops of it.

I used to cook dinner with a co-worker and we'd always get a special cheese for an appetizer. It was aged in limestone caves in Europe, and smelled, as my friend swore, like "perfect stinky boys feet." I don't know about the stinky feet part but it was a pungent and delicious cheese, perfect with a bottle of red wine.

I even have gotten to the point where I make some of my own cheese from time to time, with raw milk no less!

Often the best way to get an idea of just what you are dealing with in cheese is to get a guide, and then start reading and tasting. Learn what you like, and let your tastes lead you to where your cheese knowledge.

On the one occasion where I had the opportunity to visit France, I am proud to admit I ate myself from one end of the country to the other. French food is amazing. And their cheese is stunning. I also learned how to change how I buy, store and eat my cheese.

Americans buy huge chunks of really bland cheese, and then it slowly turns into something scary as it ages in the referigerator.

The French buy really tiny cheeses, all sorts, and they keep a few kinds on hand at all times, and each one winds up getting eaten in just 2-3 days, and then new tiny cheeses get bought.

The friends I was staying with just kept their cheese wrapped in the paper from the market, all grouped in one bag in the refrigerator. That's an actual picture of the inside with the cheeses. It was "The Cheese Bag," as in "Hey, I think I want a bit more for breakfast, can you pass the cheese bag?" Or even "Are we done with dinner? Great, break out the cheese bag." We ate cheese when we wanted just a touch more, as a snack in the afternoon, and as a great finish after dinner. Then we'd sip wine and see which tasted best paired up.

As any cheese-lover quickly learns, your eyes and cheese curiosity can easily run ahead of your appetite. Here are some suggestions for the keeping and storage of cheeses.

Each of these cheese samplers has been selected to provide a variety of tastes so that you can better get an idea of how the various cheeses are both similar and different. Each sampler offers multiple portions of cheese, all suitable for a cheese tasting party or varied cooking and eating uses. Enjoy!

Michael Palin and John Cleese took cheese to new comedic heights as the shopkeeper and his hungry patron in Monty Python's "Cheese Shop" skit. This appeared in the 33rd episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, entitled "Salad Days." This is an edited version of the skit. Before this on the tv show you see the John Cleese character walking down the street via a series of still photographs. He enters the cheese shop and tells the shopkeeper how he's hungry and is looking for some cheese for a snack. They also comment on the Hungarian bazouki player and dancers in the background.

Monty Python's Cheese Shop Skit - "Fetch hither the fromage de la Belle France! Mmmwah!" - the complete script for the skit

We can also offer you a World of Warcraft version of the complete sketch as well.

There are hundreds of types of cheese in the world. They vary by ingredients, they are made by different formulas, they are fermented and aged differently. But they are all some form of animal milk, fermented into a soft to hard textured solid.

Here is a list of some of the more commonly found types of cheese that you may encounter if you start to explore the world of cheese. The cheeses vary in texture, color and flavor intensity depending on the ingredients and how long the aging process was that produced them.

• AMERICAN

  ASIAGO

• BLUE CHEESE - this cheese is named for the mold cultures that form in veins throughout it.

  BOURSIN

  BRICK

  BRIE

• CAMEMBERT

  CHEDDAR - a semi-hard cheese most often orange in color, the most popular cheese in the world.

  COLBY

  COTTAGE CHEESE - a very wet, very white cheese with a strong curd structure.

  CREAM CHEESE - this super soft cheese is used in baking and often eaten spread on bread and specifically bagels.

• DUBLINER
• EDAM

  EMMENTAL

• FARMER CHEESE

  FETA - this is a crumbly, white cheese with a strong salty taste.

• GEITOST - this light brown cheese often looks like a big chunk of caramel.

  GOAT CHEESE - cheeses made with goat's milk, with a very soft, crumbly texture and white color

  GORGONZOLA

  GOUDA

• HAVARTI
• JARLSBERG - a mild, Swiss-style cheese from Norway with irregular holes in a semifirm interior.
• LEICESTER

  LIMBURGER - an extremely pungent cheese, often joked about as the stinkiest cheese

• MANCHEGO

  MARSCAPONE

  MONTEREY JACK

  MOZZARELLA - this is the main cheese used on pizzas, known for it's stretchy texture once melted.

  MUENSTER

• PANEER

  PECORINO

  PARMESAN - this is the hard cheese that is grated and sprinkled over many pasta dishes.

  PROVOLONE

• RED WINDSOR

  RICOTTA - a moist, lightly-flavored, white cheese used in pasta dishes or flavored to be a dessert filling

  ROQUEFORT

• SAGE DERBY

  STILTON

  SWISS - this is the semi-hard cheese with all the well-defined holes in it.

• TILSIT
• WENSLEYDALE

  WHITE STILTON

Give the gift if cheese, or be ready at the drop of a hat for holiday guests!

Come out and celebrate cheese to the fullest!

For those of you motivated in the DIY category, here are some books and kits that can guide you in the making of your own cheese.

For those who have trouble digesting dairy products, vegetarians and vegans, there is a growing number of dairy-free and animal-free cheese substitutes and imitations.

Here are some websites that discuss the science of cheese and cheese-making.