Friday, August 12, 2011

Day 549 : Triple Cream Recommendations

This past week I got asked for recommendations for triple creams -- think decadence, silky smoothness, richness, creaminess -- ice-cream like cheeses, the sort of cheeses that melt in your mouth and coat each and every crevice. So I thought I'd provide you all with my top three recommendations for American artisanal triple cream cheeses.

Just for your edification purposes:

What makes a cheese a double cream cheese?

It has to be at least 60% butterfat (butter is 100% butterfat.)

What makes a cheese a triple cream cheese?

It has to be at least 75% butterfat.

These sorts of cheeses tend to go best with a bubbly to cut the richness of the cheese and open their flavor nuances up.

So what are the three cheeses I recommend?


1. Nettle Meadow Kunik -
Crafted in upstate New York, this is a truly unique triple cream made with 75% goat's milk and 25% Jersey cow's cream. Kunik has the classic bloomy white exterior with mushroomy, straw-y, and earthy notes and an unctuous smooth and silky interior. Rich and round with a citrus-y grassy lightness from the goat's milk. The perfect blend of weighty decadence and fanciful lightness.
Image courtesy of http://nettlemeadow.com/



2. Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam -
 
Cowgirl Creamery's signature cheese, named for a mountain right outside of San Francisco. It is a hockey puck sized roundelle of pasteurized organic cow's milk with a white bloomy rind. Elegant, buttery and creamy with that those classic earthy, rustic, mushroomy notes from the bloomy exterior. This triple cream is not nearly as soft as the others but it is just as delish. Perfect with a Napa Valley sparkling.




3. Champlain Valley, Triple Cream -

Hailing from Vergennes, Vermont, this pasteurized organic cow's milk cheese is an award winner! Cultured whole milk and cream are aged in crottin style molds for ten days and then consequently aged further to develop a fantastically bloomy rind. Dense, creamy, and buttery with mushroomy and farmsteady notes and a fluffy cloud-like exterior, this cheese needs a glass of Prosecco to cut the richness and boy does that bubbly do exactly what its supposed to -- it elevates and exposes the fabulous nuances of these winning Vermont cheese.

Image courtesy of http://www.cvcream.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive