Pont L'Evenque, Roth Kase Gran Queso, Pleasant Ridge Reserve

Pont L'Evenque
Comes from: cows (and real rennet)
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$19.99/lb

Gran Queso
Comes from: cows
Puchased at: Whole Foods
$9.99/lb (on sale)

Pleasant Ridge Reserve
Comes from: cows (and vegetarian rennet)
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$29.99/lb

You know, I expected these cheeses to be better than they were.  The Pleasant Ridge was good, though.

Brie Lepetit, Capriole Mont St. Francis, Abrigo

Whole Foods was out of the Delice de Bourgogne, was the real problem with today.  Still and all I persevered.

Brie Lepetit
Comes from: cows
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$14.99/lb

A standard brie offering.  I wanted brie and I got it, yo.

Also, it is *amazing* how much better this "standard brie" is than, say, the standard brie offered at Wal-Mart or Winn Dixie.  AMAZING.

Capriole Mont St. Francis
Comes from: goats
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$27.99/lb

A medium-hard-soft goat cheese.  Like muenster on the hard and moist scale, but with a solid goaty flavor.  This cheese tasted expensive, if you understand what I mean by that.

Abrigo
Comes from: goats
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$22.99/lb

A slightly firmer goat cheese.  I liked this one better than the Capriole for whatever reason; the bite, probably.  Mmm, bite.

Tomme des Bois Noirs, Taleggio, Big Ed's

Tomme des Bois Noirs
Comes from: goats
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$16.99/lb (on sale)

Nom nom nom.

Taleggio
Comes from: cows
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$12.99/lb

Despite smelling like it would be stinky, this cheese was not as stinky as it might have been.  In fact, it was quite good.

Big Ed's
Comes from: cows
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$14.99/lb

Satisfying.  Mild.  Etc.

Robiola Bosina

Robiola Bosina
Comes from: cows and sheep
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$29.99/lb

I'm not exactly sure what to say about this cheese.  It was not as good as I expected, but still good?  A thicker rind and more solid than initially anticipated.  An odd taste, and then I realized, oh, wait, it's got sheep's milk in it; carry on, then. 

Let's do this crazy cheese thing: Delice de Bourgogne and Fourme de Montbrison

Oh, friends.  Friends, I have disappeared again.  I disappeared, because I was (and remain) On A Diet, and there are so few diets out there these days that recommend eating cheese, because cheese is delicious, and diets have a problem with that.  The only diet I have ever found that is in any way okay with cheese is, of course, the Atkins diet, and it requires you to give up all kinds of lovely things that go well with cheese and also pooping, like grapes.

So that is where I am right now, only I broke down today and went to Whole Foods for the first time in months, because OH GOD I could not stand it any longer; if I did not get a brie-like substance in me immediately I would die.

DIE.

Dear Cheese, I missed you, baby.  You're no good for me but I missed you anyway.

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Delice de Bourgogne
Comes from: cows
purchased at: Whole Foods
$14.99/lb

You guys!  You guys basically what I want to say to y'all is this: This cheese makes a compelling argument for not giving a fuck what I look like and just eating cheese all the fucking time.  This cheese is what my soul looks like.  This cheese is *that good*.

Incidentally, this cheese is mild and soft unto liquid and probably has a fat content *over* that of Brillat Savarin or Pierre Robert, which are my other cheeses of heaven.

Hi! I'm one of Gabbiana's favorites!  Eat me with a spoon!

In a word: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

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Fourme de Montbrison
comes from: cows (raw)
Purchased at: Whole Foods
$21.99/lb

And that, right there, is an argument for quitting while you're ahead.  Not that this cheese was bad, exactly, but it just didn't speak to my soul the way the Delice de Bourgogne did.  It's a mild blue cheese, this one, and paired great with grapes, which seemed to bring out the blue notes, but it wasn't, like, my *favorite ever* or anything.

(Still, "not the best cheese ever" is always better than no cheese at all.  Dear cheese: Someday, when a pill exists that allows me to eat you all the time and fit in my pants, I will eat you all the time.  For serious.  It'll be like sex on the pill!  ALL THE TIME.)

Coming home means eating cheese: Castelli Mountain Gorgonzola

Castelli Mountain Gorgonzola
Comes from: cows
Purchased at: Rouses
$15.69/lb

I'm on an away rotation right now which keeps me out of my NOLA apartment Thursday mornings to Monday afternoons; of that time, I'm in the hospital Thursday to Friday (call), Saturday until early afternoon (precall), and Sunday to Monday (call again). Luckily I've got Tuesday off, and the hospital unexpectedly gave me Wednesday as a conference day, so it's like a little mid-week weekend. And what better way to start the weekend than cheese?

This cheese, then. This cheese, I purchased at Rouses before I left for Houma, and it's been in my refrigerator all week, and when I get home from call, no matter what I have eaten during call or in the hours since (in my car, cough cough), I am *ravenous*. Such is the power of sleep deprivation. So this cheese is in the fridge, and I ate it. And it was good, because it was made of cheese. It was not great: It was not particularly flavorful, which is odd because I may have eaten it before and criticized it for being too spicy.

(Thoughts on that: (1) It may not actually *be* the same cheese, because that cheese was labeled "picante" and this one wasn't, but we have already discussed Rouses' labeling practices in this column and found them lacking. I swear I purchased a Humboldt Fog the other week that was nothing of the sort. (2) This cheese was just out of the refrigerator -- I know, scandalous! but see: hungry -- and the other cheese wasn't, giving it time to defrost and... flavor up, so to speak.)

Anyway. There is nothing like being home. Home is where the cheese is! And also my bed.

Polder Blanc Goat Gouda

Polder Blanc Goat Gouda
Comes from: goats
Purchased at: Rouses
$? but not very expensive

God, I love goat cheese. Especially goat gouda. I would eat goat gouda *all the time* if I could. Spreadable goat cheese, meh, but goat gouda? Oh hells yes.