严重的奶酪: A Cheesemonger Tells All on Picking Favorites

The cheese case at France 44. [Photograph: Emily Schnobrich]

"What's your favorite cheese?"

这就是问题所在。顾客凝视时问的那个，被面前展示的各种不言而喻的奶酪所淹没。我以明尼苏达州巨大的苔原为生出售奶酪。我们在明尼阿波利斯和圣保罗的双子城有两家订购的奶酪商店，这意味着您想购买我们的奶酪，您必须与奶酪器交谈，并让他们为您剪掉一块。而且您可能想知道这是否是他们的最爱。

好吧，走着瞧。在接下来的三个小时里，您是否要将自己塞入飞机的中间？然后，我肯定会买一个成熟的epoisses，将其粘在我面前的座位下，并让它的魔法作品奇迹，因为我的座位伴侣环顾四周寻找新的坐姿。您是否要前往一个有锻造的日本钢奶酪刀的朋友的家，只有在知道牛奶来自的牛的确切品种时才碰到切片？如果是这样的话，我正在摇摆Cato Corner bloomsday，并放弃了有关泽西牛奶的高黄油含量的知识。

I have a different favorite cheese for every occasion.With so many cheeses spanning so many styles, it's an impossible question to ask someone like me, who sells cheese all day, every day. Creamy, stinky, goat. Sheep, cheddar, alpine, blue. But surely, you're thinking, there has to be one favorite, one cheese to unite them all? Well, if I'm really being backed into a corner...

美丽的comte。[照片：Emily Schnobrich]

Some day, when I'm kicked out of society, sent to a deserted island, and allowed to take only one cheese with me, I will have to choose one type to eat for the rest of my days. This is a serious matter with many considerations—imagine a college basketball-style tournament bracket, with cheeses pitted against one another in a battle to the final championship.

It's worth noting that we're talking about real, artisan cheeses here. Cheese still made by hand, by a person sticking their hand in the vat. That means consistency is a serious issue. My favorite cheese needs to be consistently good. This eliminates three-quarters of the would-be contenders. Some cheeses are spectacular one batch and ho-hum the next, and I can't have that on my desert island.

I want my favorite cheese to be versatile. I need to be able to snack on it, cook with it, or even travel with it unrefrigerated. As much I love a ripe Camembert or an earthy farmhouse cheddar, both are limited in their application. Conventional wisdom says cheddar is great for melting, but in fact, it often separates into unappetizing oily globs. Keep a Camembert out of the fridge for more than a day and you're likely to have a blobby cheese soup.

Flavor profile is the next test. Some cheeses just aren't meant to be eaten every day. They're rich and flavorful, but you can only eat so much. Sweet and savory aged Goudas are a great treat, but not something I can snack on all that often. They overwhelm most accompaniments and often end up being a one-use kind of cheese.So the perfect cheese needs to be flavorful, versatile, and never-tiring.

Comte aging in the longest cheese cave in the world, at Fort des Rousses, Juraflore in Poligny [Photograph: Kenji Lopez-Alt]

This narrows us down on a genre—Alpine cheeses。这些是案例的主力奶酪，有Gruyere，Appenzeller，Emmenthaleer和Challerhocker等名字。它们是很棒的零食奶酪以及无与伦比的烹饪奶酪。它们用烤奶酪，通心粉或您想要的其他任何地方，弹性奶酪融化。但是，即使在这个拥挤的田野中，也有一种奶酪在其余部分之上。

我选择常户。It's nutty, slightly sweet, and deeply savory. I've been on the journey that's well-documentedhere, and the cave at St. Antoine truly is a magical place. This is the cheese to be stuck eating day after day. Young Comte is great grated on your eggs or tossed on top of fries. Aged Comte can go in your backpack while you're hiking through the woods. Any Comte should have a place on your cheese board, alongside caramelized onions and pickles.

Choosing a favorite cheese is like choosing a favorite child. Every parent has a favorite child (right?), but no one wants to own up to it. I love all my cheeses, but for different reasons. Luckily no one is forcing me to settle on one cheese just yet. While Comte is the wheel I keep coming back to, I still reserve the right to bring my favorite tangy goat to the friend who's "not eating cow dairy right now." And since any respectable cheese counter will let you try a cheese before you buy it, your new favorite cheese might be just a taste away.

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