Cheese of the week: Creama Kasa

Name: Creama Kasa Cheese

Brand: Carr Valley

Place of Purchase: Wegman's in Liverpool, NY

Country of Origin: USA

Price in New York: $12.79/lb.

Milk: Cow

Processing: Triple-cream cheese sent from Heaven to Wisconsin to Wegmans

Texture: semi-soft

Color: creamy white

Rind: Pretty blue wax

Aroma: mild dairy, brie

Taste: Cream, dairy, wood, brie

Mouth-feel: Creamy and buttery

Notes: Some cheeses shouldn't be legal.  This cheese combines the flavor of a mild ripened cheese, with the buttery velvet of  triple cream.  It must be a holiday special, because when I went back to the store for more, it was all gone.

I miss being close to Wisconsin.

Cheese of the Week: Howe Cavern's Cave-Aged Cheese

Name: Howe Cavern Cave-Aged Cheese

Brand: Howe Caverns &

 

Place of Purchase:  Howe Caverns, NY & Fly Creek, NY

Country of Origin: USA

Price in New York: $15/lb

Milk: Cow

Processing: White cheddar process with cave aging

Texture: Semi-firm, and crumbly

Color: pale-yellow

Rind: Natural waxed (with a nice red wax)

Aroma:wood, musky, like mushrooms

Taste: There is are sharp, cheddar notes in in the front, with airy, fungal/woody notes in the back.

Mouth feel: A nice crumbly cheddar.

Notes: At the end of the day, Howe Caverns Cheese is a gimmick; no different than fresh fudge and screen-printed t-shirts.  However, Howe Caverns Cheese is made from fine, hormone-free, organic, local milk.  It begins as a fine, local, young cheddar and spends some time in the natural caves.  This draws some of the moisture out of the cheese, creating a more crumbly paste than I would expect from a cheddar.  It also adds a number of unique, cave flavors that do not come from an added culture.  A simply and gimmicky as it may be, this cave-aged cheddar is something unique to try after a boat trip through the caves.

Libation of the Week: Calamansi Juice

Name: Calamansi Juice Drink

 

Brand: GINA

Place of Purchase: Asia Market, Rochester, NY

Country/Region of Origin: The Philippines

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in the can

Price in New York: $1.29 for 8.5oz.

Description: A light, tart citrus beverage

Flavor: Somewhere between lime and clementine.  In the actual fruit, the flesh is sour and the rind is sweet, so both are used to make the beverage.

Mouth-feel: Crisp, almost astringent

Aroma: Lots of citrus -- orange blossum, grapefruit, tangerine, even a few champagne notes.

 

Notes: I found this treasure at the Korean market in Rochester, NY.  I was expecting your typical, grapefruit sour juice in a can.  What I got was a unique citrus flavor.  The calamand fruit is a cross between the citrus and some wild bush.  It produces an orange lime with a sweet skin and sour-sour flesh.  The fruit itself is used for juice and beverage preparations, but it is also used to prepare/flavor meats and fish.  The calamind fruit also has anti-microbial properties that can be used for topical skin treatments.  Me, I just thought that the lime-clementine flavor was a refreshing change of pace.