Thank you , Little Miss Muffet for teaching us early on the joy of cheese! After all, those curds were nothing more than Ricotta! Cheese is, after all, one of lifes simple pleasures but finding just the perfect cheese can be a daunting process!
Last night at Two Paperdolls in Wayne, I was fortunate enough to be leading the cheese portion of the Wine & Cheese presentation. The selected cheeses were perfectly matched with wines from Frank's Union Wine Mart in Wilmington and artfully explained by Karl Hornberger, one of their incredible wine masters.
We selected the always incredible Maytag Bleu, a Trickling Springs Creamery Cherve, a Bucks County favorite the Birchwood Farms Cheddar, and a personal favorite, the stinky, washed rhine Tallegio.
Cheese is one of life's oldest and grandest pleasures. Made by seperating milk in any form into curds and whey, then pressing the whey into a mold or desired form then salted, aged, matured & ripened to the many forms you see in the local cheese shop. The type of milk (goat, cow or sheep), the grasses they feed upon, the process, the enviroment, the aging area and nature all play subtle but important roles in the process of developing the perfect cheese. Maytag Bleu is from a very small and protected herd of cows in Iowa, while Taleggio is a sheeps milk product that aged after the rhine is brushed with wine or beer and a fermentation and mold development process is allowed to form on the outside and work in. The Cherve is a locally produced goat's milk product and the Cheddar, which was the big hit last night, is a artisanal Bucks County product made from Jersey cows milk. There is no simpler way to entertain with great taste than to host a wonderful pairing of cheese and wine. Let Provence Catering create a first or last course of cheese and wines for your next event!
Maytag Blue: Paired with Thamas Zinfandel ~ Livermore Valley, California
Taleggio: Paired with Don Pasquale Nero d' Avola ~ Sicily Italy (Produced from only grapes that grow in the Mt. Versuvious Valley & basin) (My Favorite!)
Cherve: Paired with Eugene Carrel & Fils Jongieux ~ Savoie, France (A Great and Light Wine)
Birchwood Farms Cheddar: Paired with Langa Rose Garnacha ~ Catatayud Spain
