What is your favorite Blue Cheese?

[Jenise]

Huh. Nary a Roquefort among you. I like all the gorgonzolas, too. I've become a big fan of Rogue Creamery's Rogue River Blue. Maytag will do if I can't get that.

Maytag quality is very inconsistent, and the last Maytag I bought was criminally underripe. I'm so over Maytag, and it's been so long since I've had good Maytag (before you could buy it in grocery stores here, my father would direct-order a small wheel every Christmas, so it's been in my radar for a long time) that I no longer think they ever did anything that was on the level of what I've had from Rogue River Creamery. Btw, the fresh pieces I've bought off the round in Oregon are superior to any cryovacced RRC cheeses I've purchased in stores. Excellent cheese.

That due given, Cabrales is my favorite all-around blue.

I don't recall the name, but bought some Spanish blue cheese today that's wrapped in maple leaves. Maybe our Canadian contingent have tasted it?
regards
Ian

White Stilton All the blue cheeses that I've tried tasted like mildew to me. Bleehh!

Mark "No corked cheese" Lipton

Try Big Woods Blue - it's from Minnesota. I get it at the Cowgirl Creamery in Wash DC. A search ought to tell you where you can get it locally. It is smooth and creamy with a very nice blue cheese bite. See: http://www.shepherdswayfarms.com/about.cfm

Try Big Woods Blue - it's from Minnesota. I get it at the Cowgirl Creamery in Wash DC. A search ought to tell you where you can get it locally. It is smooth and creamy with a very nice blue cheese bite. See: http://www.shepherdswayfarms.com/about.cfm

Since you get Cowgirl Creamery there, Jon, have you sampled the Pierce Point as yet?

Try Big Woods Blue - it's from Minnesota. I get it at the Cowgirl Creamery in Wash DC. A search ought to tell you where you can get it locally. It is smooth and creamy with a very nice blue cheese bite. See: http://www.shepherdswayfarms.com/about.cfm

Since you get Cowgirl Creamery there, Jon, have you sampled the Pierce Point as yet?

Cowgirl Creamery makes some nifty cheeses, too. Oddly, I was first exposed to them in New Orleans - from Anne Kearney at Peristyle. One of the recipes she gave me for Creole Nouvelle featured their cheese - by name.

Alas, as of August, Peristyle is no more. Tom Wolfe has abandoned the name and the concept. So, that's the second chef-owned (one of my parameters in my book) restaurant of the five chefs in the book with me to become defunct. Katrina ate Marisol.

On the other hand Donald Link and Susan Spicer seem to be doing just fine.

Still trying to locate a good cheese source here. I miss Cowgirl and Cypress Grove!

Still trying to locate a good cheese source here. I miss Cowgirl and Cypress Grove!

What Stuart...no Humboldt Fog?!! I am addicted to that now, thanks to you! What are you eating instead?

At the moment, processed cheese food product. It's killin' me. On my next trip, I'm loading up my suitcase with Red Hawk, Humboldt Fog, and anything else I can find that looks good. Odd, too, because our local gourmet market is pretty well stocked on just about everything else; cheese is a blind spot.

But at least we have cannellini beans.

Maytag, Gorgonzola and very recently Point Reyes (yum)

I was in Madison WI today, and found a great little cheese shop on Capitol Square. I brought home Rogue River Blue and Humboldt Fog.

Oh.My.God. I think the Rogue River Blue is absolutely delicious, but the Humboldt Fog just took me right to the next level of happy cheeseworld.

Whilst on the subject - a local cheese supplier came up with a great name for their business "The Mousetrap"

Whilst on the subject - a local cheese supplier came up with a great name for their business "The Mousetrap"

Clever! The store in Madison is named Fromagination.

Great store. I even found preserved lemons.

At the moment, processed cheese food product. It's killin' me. On my next trip, I'm loading up my suitcase with Red Hawk, Humboldt Fog, and anything else I can find that looks good. Odd, too, because our local gourmet market is pretty well stocked on just about everything else; cheese is a blind spot.

But at least we have cannellini beans.

So it has come to this: Stuart Yaniger is eating Cheez Whiz?

Have you brought your cowboy boots yet? Justins or Tony Llamas?

Doc Martens. To kick your whiny cheese-eating Chardonnay-sipping liberal California ass.

Wow, I really AM adapting!

Doc Martens. To kick your whiny cheese-eating Chardonnay-sipping liberal California ass.

Wow, I really AM adapting!

Good for you!

But I don't drink that much Chardonnay.

Rogue and Maytag if I am having them on a cheeseboard (Jenise, I have had good luck with Maytags, even recently).

Others, if I am using them in cooking.

[Robin Garr]

It's hard to beat the basics, Gorgonzola and Roquefort, but the U.S. does a pretty darn good job with Maytag or, in my opinion, even better with Point Reyes Blue.

It's hard to beat the basics, Gorgonzola and Roquefort, but the U.S. does a pretty darn good job with Maytag or, in my opinion, even better with Point Reyes Blue.

I agree, Robin.

Especially since the original cheesemaker for Maytag was wooed away from there to join...Pt. Reyes Blue!

Had the great fortune to have a personal tour of PRB, with the owner and cheesemaker, from herd to final packaging. And was even more impressed. Cheesemaker actually led me through some core sampling (both a check on progress and quality control at the same time).

PRB has now come out with a PRB Cheese spread/dip. If it comes around your neck of the urban forest, you should give it a try.

All this positive talk about Rogue River Creamery is enough to make me look forward to my next visit to the in-laws place up above Medford, right on the Rogue.

Road trip!

Neal's Yard Colston-Basset Stilton.

rwj

I buy a lot of Colston Basset when in London, it's sort of my go-to cheese for weekly cooking and is very delicious. And there it is also one of the cheaper cheeses (compared to high end imported stuff from Europe), which doesn't hurt either..

Otherwise, I usually go with Blue d'Auvergne for cooking needs. Roquefort may be more divine, but it is so expensive and I mostly buy cheese for cooking (i.e. not for straight eating) so I would miss the fine nuances anyway.

That said, I love the creamy gooey gorgonzola that I often see at markets in France and the UK (and I'm assuming Italy as well? I have less experience there) which is perfect for eating straight or in a relatively simple 'cooking' preparation like an egg sandwich or something similar.

All told, I buy a lot of blue cheese because it is well-priced, flavorful, and good for cooking.

I love St. Agur as well as Fourme d'Ambert. I am fond of Blue d'Auvergne, Blue de Bresses and Bleu de Gex

Not so much a fan of the 'new' cheeses like Cambazola, but I make an exception for Shropshire, which is an orange cheese, basically an orange Stilton, more or less.

Hi Bill,

Did you realize that St. Agur is a "new" cheese? And of course Fourme d'Ambert is one of the oldest blues.

I like most of the cheeses you mention here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Agur_Blue

Frank

Hoke - I have tried Pierce Point and about everything else Cowgirl has for sale . I'm in there at least once a week and am so pleased that they've moved into town. I have to have some Red Hawk every week or I start to get all fidgety and start seeing things. I still buy Stilton and Manchengo at Costco simply because it's a great value. When I first had Red Hawk, it reminded me of a complex wine with layers of flavors and different nuances.

Gorgonzola.