Cheddar Limburger Sapsago
Cottage Neufchatel Swiss
Cream Parmesan Trappist
Edam Provolone Whey cheeses (Mysost and Ricotta)
May we nominate another dozen to form our own Cheese Hall of Fame? We
begin our list with a partial roll call of the big Blues family and
end it with members of the monastic order of Port-Salut Trappist that
includes Canadian Oka and our own Kentucky thoroughbred.
The Blues that Are Green
Stilton, Roquefort and Gorgonzola form the triumvirate that rules a
world of lesser Blues. They are actually green, as green as the
mythical cheese the moon is made of.
In almost every, land where cheese is made you can sample a handful of
lesser Blues and imitations of the invincible three and try to
classify them, until you're blue in the face. The best we can do in
this slight summary is to mention a few of the most notable, aside
from our own Blues of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon and other states
that major in cheese.
Danish Blues are popular and splendidly made, such as "Flower of
Denmark." The Argentine competes with a pampas-grass Blue all its own.
But France and England are the leaders in this line, France first with
a sort of triple triumvirate within a triumvirate--Septmoncel, Gex,
and Sassenage, all three made with three milks mixed together: cow,
goat and sheep. Septmoncel is the leader of these, made in the Jura
mountains and considered by many French caseophiles to outrank
Roquefort.
This class of Blue or marbled cheese is called fromage persille, as
well as fromage bleu and pate bleue. Similar mountain cheeses are made
in Auvergne and Aubrac and have distinct qualities that have brought
them fame, such as Cantal, bleu d'Auvergne Guiole or Laguiole, bleu de
Salers, and St. Flour. Olivet and Queville come within the color
scheme, and sundry others such as Champoleon, Journiac, Queyras and
Sarraz.
Of English Blues there are several celebrities beside Stilton and
Cheshire Stilton. Wensleydale was one in the early days, and still
is, together with Blue Dorset, the deepest green of them all, and
esoteric Blue Vinny, a choosey cheese not liked by everybody, the
favorite of Thomas Hardy.
Brie
Sheila Hibben once wrote in _The New Yorker:_
I can't imagine any difference of opinion about Brie's being the queen
of all cheeses, and if there is any such difference, I shall certainly
ignore it. The very shape of Bri
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