Cheese blog no. 2

So, this is the second in our series of blog posts about cheese. Today, we discuss two cheeses. First, a nice aged Gruyere. Gruyere is a cow's milk cheese named after a town in Switzerland. The kind I had proclaimed itself to be aged 5 months, and was a hard cheese. It was good, but not great.

Gruyere is supposed to be a great cheese for baking, but I really don't do much baking, so perhaps I just didn't know how to use it. I tried grating it on various things, but wasn't crazy about it. Pretty good on salads, especially with dried cranberries. Overall, I give it three and a half stars.

The second cheese to discuss, mascarpone, was much more interesting. (Note: the plastic tub I bought was labelled both as "mozzarella fresca" and "mascarpone." I'm not expert enough to tell you why, or even to tell you the difference. After doing some reading, though, I am pretty sure that this cheese would best be described as mascarpone. I have no idea why they also called it mozzarella.)

The mascarpone was not solid at all-- something like a nice, thick sour cream. It also had a creamy taste, instead of a cheesy taste. My problem was in finding ways to use it. It didn't really belong on a sandwich, or on crackers. I tried adding it as a garnish to pasta dishes with red sauce, which was pretty good. I have read that it can be used in lasagnas, but I didn't get a chance to try that this time.

In the end, the mascarpone was more interesting than useful. I used a little more than half of what I purchased before it got bad and I threw it out. This made me sad, but the truth is I had a hard time figuring out what to do with it. Next time, I'll make sure to look up some recipes and get better use out of it.

I give it only three stars. If you're looking for something interesting and unusual, I really think you might enjoy it. Look around for recipes and invite your friends over for a nosh. Get some mileage out of its uniqueness. But, like me, you may find the novelty wears off and the cheese goes bad before it all gets used.

Okay, that's all for now. Zey gezunt!

--MOISHE