I found a wonderful lady here called Gerri who teaches a cheese tasting class, complete with handouts, a powerpoint, and a tasting experience. So I organized a tasting class for my new exchange student friends. The 9 of us spent a night indulging in cheese heaven.
As with wine, we started out with lighter flavors (Fromage Blanc, goat cheese), then to soft cheeses (Camembert), hard cheeses (Comte), and then more pungent ones like Pont L'Eveque, Fourme d'Ambert (blue cheese), and Roquefort (blue cheese).
My observations:
- There's no good way to pair wine and cheese when you want to serve several types of cheese. What you should do, is to choose who you want the superstar to be. Superstar wine? Pick a cheese or two that compliments it. Superstar cheese? Pick a wine that goes well with it.
- I love Comte cheese. Comte Jeune (aged 12 months) was delicious and smooth. Comte "Fruite" (aged 4 years) was even more delicious with its amino acid crunches. Think of a cheese version of the Crunch candy bar.
- Camembert and Brie are very different in France. I prefer Camembert in France, and Brie in the U.S.
- I still don't like goat cheese. I keep trying it, hoping that one day I'll learn to enjoy it since everyone seems to love it so much. Today was not that day. My mind thought "You can do it!" but my mouth responded with "No, there's something that repulses me." Maybe next time...
- Pont L'Eveque smells like dirty wet socks. I tried not to let the smell interfere with my taste, but I couldn't help it. I even told myself that it was like Taiwanese stinky tofu which tastes better than it smells. Alas, nothing helped, and I decided that I do not like eating dirty wet socks. Even MC (who cleaned her plate) decided that she couldn't eat this cheese.
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