Cheese of the week: Tasty Lancashire

Name: Tasty Lancashire

Brand: none listed

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Lancashire County, UK

Price in Iowa: $11.99/pound

Milk: pasteurized cow

Processing: multi-day processing using the Gornall method, followed by at least 12 weeks of aging.

Texture: semi-soft

Color: straw yellow

Rind: natural

Aroma: mild sharp dairy

Taste: Sharp, nutty, robust dairy bite

Mouth feel: Moist and yielding, creamy but not crumbly
 
Notes: This was a flavorful cheese with a nice, moist paste on its own.  BUT, then I melted it and spread it over fresh bread (which is what you are supposed to do with Lancashire cheese).   It spread smoothly across the bread, forming a nice glaze.  The nutty flavors were more pronounced after heating, providing a richer, smoother flavor overall.

Cheese of the week: Seahive Cheese

Name: Seahive Cheese

Brand: Beehive Cheese Company

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Utah

Price in Iowa: $18.78/pound

Milk: pasteurized cow

Processing: sharp cheddar processing with sea and mineral salt, plus wildflower honey, rubbed onto the rind

Texture: semi-firm

Color: straw yellow

Rind: Rubbed with salt and honey (see photo)

Aroma: mild dairy, sweet

Taste: extra sharp, sweet, complex salt flavors

Mouth feel: a nice firm paste, moist without being crumbly
 
Notes: The Beehive Cheese Company was founded by a pair of lawyers, who gave up their litigious lifestyle to save the local creamery.  Now, they make artisan cheeses by hand and play with untested flavor combinations.  This SeaHive Cheese is one such experiment.  The added sweetness of the Utah wildflower honey would have been enough, adding a delicate sweetness to the cheese.  But the use of the mineral "seabed salt" increases the complexity of this cheese a thousandfold.  Since sea salt is actually a dozen or more different kinds of salt (as opposed to table salt which is just sodium chloride salt), using mineral salt adds other ionic components to the flavor profile.  Since tastebuds are essentially ion and molecular detectors, novel signals are sent to the brain from the potassium, calcium and magnesium ions.  This creates a very complex and unique flavor profile that will make any taster pause and savor this cheese.  Beehive also makes several other cheddars with unique rubs that are worth trying (like their barely buzzed espresso-rubbed cheese).

SeaHive White Cheddar Cheese - 6 oz

Cheese of the week: Cranberry Wensleydale

Name: Cranberry Wensleydale

Brand: none listed

Place of Purchase: Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: England

Price in Iowa: $13.89/pound

Milk: pasteurized cow

Processing: Milk from Yorkshire, grass-fed cows, aged for 3 weeks

Texture: Semi-Firm

Color: Bone white with cranberries

Rind: Natural

Aroma: Fruity and clean dairy

Taste: Creamy and tart fruitiness

Mouth feel: Soft and yielding paste
 
Notes: This cheese is light and sweet, almost like a fruity fudge or a flavored butter.  This cheese would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving or Christmas cheese plate.  It's mild flavor and fruity demeanor would make it pleasing for any palate.

Cheese of the week: German Champignon with mushrooms

Name: German Champignon with mushrooms

Brand: Kaserei

Place of Purchase: HyVee Foods in Ames, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Germany/Bavaria

Price in Iowa: $16.99/pound

Milk: cow

Processing: Double-cream Brie with added french mushrooms

Texture: Soft-ripened

Color: Cream with mushroom pieces

Rind: White-mold

Aroma: mild dairy

Taste: very mild brie, cream, bitter mushroom notes

Mouth feel: Luxuriously creamy, like softened butter
 
Notes: The mushroom flavors in this double cream brie are overpowering, but there isn't much flavor to the cheese itself.  Let this cheese warm to room temperature before serving, or serve roasted with apples and crostini.