Last night, we hosted about a dozen friends for an informal Christmas get-together. Since we were opening up some wine, I went in search of some interesting cheeses to pair with them. Though I love cheese, I have to admit that I’m no expert. I went with the recommendations of the helpful guy at Alex Farms. He helped me pick out three cheeses for our party, none of which I’ve ever had before, but now I’m hooked. Here’s what we had:
- Langres – this was a soft and rather pungent cheese, and it went well with our sparkling cava and the other white wines. It is actually made in the Champagne region of France.
- Fougerus – another soft cheese from the Brie family, wrapped with a fern leaf, giving it a distinctive flavour. Good with our red wines.
- Mimolette – a very distinctive looking cheese, with a hard outer rind. This is a northern French cheese closely based on Dutch Edam. The wheel of cheese looked like a cross-section of canteloupe, with a bright orange colour. Very dry and tangy, like very old cheddar. My favourite, especially with bold red wines.
I was in charge of both the wine and cheese, while Brooke was in charge of the sweets. Ask me about how the cookie budget actually surpassed the wine budget this year…
The smell has yet to leave my nostrils…