Cheese of the week: Sap Sago

Name: Sap Sago aka Swiss Schabziger

Place of Purchase: Ulrich's Meat Market in Pella, Iowa

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Price in Iowa: $6.99 for 3.17 ounces

Milk: pasteurized skimmed cows milk

Processing: Skim cow's milk is boiled, then mixed with blue fenugreek (a special kind of clover) and pressed into cones. The cheese is then dried for several months.

Texture: Hard

Color: Pale green

Rind: Natural

Aroma: Strong dairy, like a very-aged Parmesan

Taste: Sharp, dairy, slight herbal afternotes.

Mouth feel: Very dry. Because it was grated fine, and because of the low fat content.

Notes: At over $35 a pound, this has got to be the most expensive cheese I have tried yet. Granted, a little Schabziger goes a long way. I would bet that even if I used this stuff every day, it would still last me a few months. Because of the low fat content, most of the applications require the addition of some fat (usually butter). I tried some of the finely powdered cheese without any accoutrement, and it was so dry it was almost astringent. The dried cheese is mostly protein, and is probably very hygroscopic. The flavor wasn't as strong when I ate the raw cheese, either. With the addition of the butterfat, the flavor of the cheese bloomed. This included the herbal notes from the blue fenugreek. Chances are, I'll probably use the remainder of my Sap Sago to make a pesto. For seven-bucks, this was a interesting cheese.