Cheese of the Week: Colosse Cheese Store

Central New York has many secrets.  One of those secrets is the greatest Ponderosa Steakhouse in the country is located in Pulaski.  Also found in Pulaski is a family-owned artisinal cheese company.  Colosse Cheese has been made by the Raiti family in what is now Mexico, NY since the early 1900s.  The retail store is centrally located in nearby Pulaski. 

Specializing in New York Cheddar and cheese curds, Colosse Cheese has some of the longest aged cheddars that I have ever sampled.  The oldest being a 12-year aged cheddar that barely resembles the mother cheese.  The sharp dairy flavor is accentuated by the protein crystals that form in this ancient cheese.  Most people stop by to pick up a Razor-Sharp 5-year Cheddar, some fresh curds, and perhaps a Horseradish River Cheese.  There are also other fine New York-made products and an ice-cream shop.  The town of Pulaski is famous for the salmon run and attracts thousands of fisherman every year.  It is also on the way to the Thousand Islands Region, a beautiful collection of wild and occupied islands in the St. Lawrence River.  So, if you're on your way to a salmon fishing expedition, or up to a time-share in the 1000 Islands, stop in Pulaski and try some authentic and unique Colosse Cheese.

Cheese of the Week: Heluva Good Cheese Factory

No cheese this week.  Well, actually, I tried a lot of cheeses this week, but I didn't want to focus on any one cheese.  Since I live in Central New York now, there are several cheese factories all within an hour drive.  So, for the next few weeks, I will be talking about what this region has to offer besides some of the best cheddar in the world.

This week, I visited the Heluva Good Cheese Store in Sodus, NY.  The store and factory are of NYS RT 104, in between Oswego and Rochester.  The company was founded in the basement of Perry Messigner, a hobbyist making curd for the locals.  The legend goes that in 1925, a traveling salesman sampled a wedge of Messigner's cheese and proclaimed "That's a hell of a good cheese."  And thus the brand was born.

Today, Heluva Good is part of Hood and make a variety of excellent colby, jack, cheddar and swiss cheeses.  These cheeses are made with a high standard of quality and can be found all across the Northern US.  However, if you come to the store, there are a few specialty cheeses that might delight and intrigue the fromagophile.  While the Special Reserve Cheddar sold in the store is aged for at least 15 months, the store has special longer aged cheddars that are "heluva good."  Tours are not standard, since the plant is a packaging plant, but the store does have a full selection of Heluva Good products; as well as other regional treats to tempt passing travelers.

So, if you're traveling to Oswego for Harborfest, or visiting the Finger Lakes, this would make an excellent pit stop off Route 104.

Cheese of the week: Casatica di Bufalo

Name: Casatica di Bufalo

Brand: Quattro Portoni

Place of Purchase: Wegman's in Liverpool, NY

Country of Origin: Italy

Price in New York: $19.99/lb.

Milk: Italian Water Buffalo

Processing: Technically, a double-cream cheese, soft-ripened and aged three to five weeks.

Texture: soft

Color: cream white

Rind: Bloom

Aroma: mild dairy, butter

Taste: Cream.  Butter.  Heaven.

Mouth-feel: Creamy and buttery.

Notes:  This is the best cheese I have ever eaten.  Imagine if it were proper to eat fresh butter.  Then if that butter had a smooth, spreadable, but cohesive paste.  That only begins to describe this cheese.  I don't know how the Gritti brothers have created such a delectable cheese, but you should probably go get some, NOW.  I may have already bought the whole wheel from my Wegman's.  Just saying...

Cheese of the week: Roth's Private Reserve

Name: Roth Kase Private Reserve

Brand: Roth Kase

Place of Purchase: Wegman's in Liverpool, NY

Country of Origin: Monroe, WI, USA

Price in New York: $9.99/lb.

Milk: Raw cow milk

Processing:  Gouda process from American cheesemakers with at least 9-months of aging

Texture: hard

Color: light orange/beige

Rind: Natural

Aroma: mild dairy, nutty

Taste: umami, earthy, nutty

Mouth-feel: Firm paste with protein crystals

Notes: I will admit that older gouda cheeses used to scare me.  The protein crystals were crunchy in something that was supposed to be smooth.  After I started this experiment, I learned that you need to take older gouda as thin slices and allow the cheese to warm in your mouth as you enjoy the release of flavors.  The warmth of your body helps to break up the protein crystals, as well.  The protein crystals are composed of amino acids which may be the source of the umami flavor.  Do not confuse these crystals with lactic acid crystals found on the surface of lower quality cheeses.

That being said, this is a fine example of an American gouda-style cheese.  It's warm and nutty and would be great for plain eating or melting.  It doesn't compare to a 5-year Dutch Gouda, but it would serve well and please many.

Cheese of the Week: Hard Chhurpi Cheese

Name: Chhurpi

Brand: None listed

Place of Purchase:

Country of Origin: Nepal

Price in New York: $1.99 for what you see here

Milk: Yak buttermilk

Processing: Cook, add acidic fruit juice, press out whey, squish under rocks, smoke over stone oven.

Texture: rock-solid

Color: Red, beige, tan, all over the map with my pieces alone.

Rind: Natural, basket-weave

Aroma: mild dairy

Taste: Strong, sour dairy

Mouth-feel: Ever lick a brick?

Notes: OK, since I started this adventure I have tried cheeses that I did not prefer.  Some cheeses I would definitely seek out again, while others I would not.  This is the first cheese that I really did not like.  I may have been expecting something sweet.  Maybe something sour?  What I got was a rock that tasted like sour milk.  Now, if I was starving in the Himalayas, I would happily suck on this protein brick until it became soft enough to swallow.  I might hit it with a hammer first, but I'd eat it to survive.  But I wouldn't like it.

Libation of the Week: Fizzy Lizzy Fruit Sodas

Name: Fizzy Lizzy Grapefruit

 

Brand: Fizzy Lizzy

Place of Purchase: Cafe Kubal in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Jersey City, NJ

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in the bottle

Price in New York: $1.99 for 12 oz.

Description: An all natural soda made with 60% fruit juice.

Flavor:  Lip-smacking grapefruit with a perfect fizz.  Not too sweet.

Mouth-feel: The perfect fizz.

Aroma: All grapefruit

Notes:I wish that I could find these drinks in the grocery store.  These all natural sodas come in a variety of flavors (fuji apple, yakima grape, raspberry lemon, and more).  They are made with fruit juices, carbonated water and natural colors.  The 12 ounce bottle comes in at 100-120 calories, which is about 30 to 50 calories less than the leading brand soft drink.  I wouldn't call them completely healthy, but fizzy fruit juice is something I can get behind.

Cheese of the Week: Saint Agur

Name: Saint Agur

Brand: Saint Agur is crafted by the Beauzac cheese dairy in Velay

Place of Purchase: Wegman's in Liverpool, NY

Country of Origin: USA

Price in New York: $20.49/lb.

Milk: Cow with added cream (up to 60% butterfat)

Processing: Double-cream cheese cooked and aged at least 60 days

Texture: soft

Color: bone-white with green veining

Rind: Natural, typically wrapped in foil (mine was sliced)

Aroma: mild dairy, earthy, bleu-notes

Taste: Spikey/sharp bleu notes, but not overpowering.  Cream.

Mouth-feel: Creamy and buttery

Notes: I have an extreme fondness for bleus.  I believe that my severe penicillin allergy gives these cheeses an extra tingle that other eaters might miss.  I suppose bleu cheeses are my fugu.  So be it.  This double-cream bleu is luxurious, with a consistent and creamy paste.  The 60-day aging process gives the cheese a few dairy notes to match the buttery flavors, but this cheese is mostly about the bleu.  The sharp bleu notes are precise and prickly, but not super pungent.  This isn't one of those cheeses that make you stink for the rest of the day.  As spicy as this cheese is, it has a pleasant and delicate aftertaste.

Summer is here and my teaching duties have passed.  Sorry about the extended hiatus, but I just didn't have the time or inclination to post over the past school year.  To anyone who is still reading, I apologize.  Hopefully, I can make it up to you.