Fromage?
 

What's everyone's thoughts on cheese? Most/Least Favorites?

For me, the smellier, the tastier. I was giddy the first time my uncle in France took me to a fromagerie, and they let me sample every cheese I wanted!

My all-around favorite is Gruyere, and it must be the real stuff from Suisse. Comte doesn't cut it.

I hate bleu cheese, and people wonder why, when I like other cheese that smells like feet or worse. It just tastes like soap to me.

There was also this cheese I had in Switzerland that was basically like brie, except they buried it for months to ferment it... it became liquidy inside. THAT was TOO strong :o

Smoked cheddar cheese-food product.

I am not a fan of cheese, and -- obviously -- no gourmand.

I too am a smelly cheese freak! I love them. However, unlike you, I delight in blue cheese of all kinds!

Mountain cheese like the gruyere and comte mentioned above are among my favorites too. ^ Well matured gouda is always a pleasure and of course provolone in sandwiches. And why not the classic stilton and port combination? Btw, does tofu count as cheese?

A great memory is dining with a friend in Lisbon. He ordered some esoteric cheese from the mountains and it was served with green wine :)

Being from New England, I'm a huge cheddar fan. Thanks for all the memories, Grafton Cheese and Cabot!

I just bought a block of Mimolette, a delicious aged edam. Soooo good. I have been eating it for days along side a glass of beer and a Molinari salami I bought at the same time.

No.

(Does Cottage count as cheese?)

Oh, I thought this was a thread about a lousy guidebook series. Sorry. ;)

Cheese fans should check out some of the Whole Foods Markets in their specialty section, they let you sample them as well.

Here in Los Angeles cheese fans can also check out:

Bristol Farms Markets Bristol Farms
Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (Expensive, but a nice adventure) Cheese Store Beverly Hills
Frog's Breath Cheese Shop Orange CA Frog's Breath
Nicole's French Gourmet Foods Features many French/Basque Foods and Imports Nicole's
Surfas Supply - a plethora of Foods, Cooking/Baking Equipment, Etc. Surfas Supply
La Espanola Meats - Full Deli and Pantry of Foods from Spain (Hard to find this place but worth a trip if you're a foodie) La Espanola Meats

Living in Wisconsin this is probably sacrilegious for me to say this, but my least favorite cheese is the foam cheddar head. :td: :D

Favorite would have to be fresh cheddar cheese curds, ^

I'm a former Wisconsinite and I love curds, too! My last stop before flying out of MKE is always the gift shop at the airport to pick up some cheese curds, some Usinger's sausage and a bottle of Sprecher.

I also love Havarti and Gouda. A nice sharp cheddar (Wisconsin or New York) is always nice, too. And when I'm in Latvia I eat a lot of "Krievijas siers." Translated, it's "Russian cheese", but that, for whatever reason, is just the name -- the cheese is made in one Latvia's many dairies. It's been a while since I've been in Germany, but I've got recollections of a "Butterkaese" that was very nice.

Lately my tastes have been running towards hard cheeses--right now I've got some English Cheddar, Holzhofer (stinky!), Pave du Nord Mons, and a couple other unlabeled pieces in my cheese drawer.

Cheese shops I like in NYC:
Murray's Cheese in the West Village
Bedford Cheese in Williamsburg (worth going in just to read the descriptions on their cheeses, very very funny)
Saxelby Cheesemongers in the Essex Market on the Lower East Side--specializes in American stuff, mostly from the East Coast. Anne is super nice, too.

There's another cheese stand in the Essex Market that sells only one kind of cheese--Comte. Interesting business model...

It truly is an acquired taste, but spending time in Europe let's you acquire it. I remember buttercheese and hard bread rolls and bites of some kind of lunchmeat and fresh German beer--it was a true feast.

Brie de Meaux (the best brie)
Gorgonzola dolce (creamy, stinky and blue, but not too much so)
Gruyere (fantastic)
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13F

First and foremost, cheddar is my favorite. I like smoked cheddars and extra sharp New England cheddars. I also like Feta, Havarti, Gouda, Edam, fresh Mozarella, Romano, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Stilton, and when baked in a pastry flake, Brie.