Valdeon - The Scariest Cheese Alive! Literally!!

Howdy everyone, and happy Cheese Friday! In this post we'll finally be sampling some of the funky stuff Ashleigh's been dreading (and I've been dreaming of). Our cheese of the moment: Queso De Valdeon! Here's what it looks like:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - I can almost smell this one.

A buddy of ours picked some up from C'est Cheese in Santa Barbara, one of the finest cheese shops around!

First, a brief history lesson.

This cheese hails from the mysterious and often overlooked cheese-riddled country of Spain, specifically the northwestern region of Leon. People there seem to have a fondness for mighty cheeses, as evidenced by the intensely flavored Valdeon and its relatives Cabrales and Picon (I've never heard of these cheeses either - we'll keep our eyes open for them). 

The cheese is typically made of cow's milk, but I keep reading that it may also be a blend of various milks. A blend of various milks - that's a strange concept. Think about it. Milks. From different animals.  Mixed together. Weird.

Once the typical cheese-making process is underway, the cheese wheel is injected with mold spores. Yup, fungus. Specifically, a member of the Penicillium genus. Yup, Penicillium. As in penicillin. As in antibiotics. 

After a date with some fungus spores, the cheese is wrapped in sycamore leaves for some reason. My sources say this is for flavor. Does anyone know what sycamore tastes like? Trees? Banana bread? I have no idea. 

Inoculated and draped in sycamore, the young Valdeon is left to age in caves. Again with the caves? I gotta find some caves - there'll probably be some cheese waiting for me inside. 

Ok, enough about fungus and caves and milk mixtures - let's eat some cheese!!

The verdict:

I freaking love this cheese. It's everything I hoped it would be, from the pungent smell that fills the house once you cut it to the punch-you-in-the-face flavor. And, oh, the flavor. It's like spicy, mushroomy, peppery dirt. It melts in your mouth into a puddle of ridiculousness. There are few cheeses that could possibly taste like this. I'm sure everyone has had blue cheese before, well maybe not real artisanal blue cheese - anyway, that is the closest thing I can compare Valdeon to. Only turned up to 11.  

Ashleigh wanted nothing to do with my poor Valdeon. She had a hard time entering the room when I was cutting it, and fled squeaking with horror as I offered her a taste. After a few days she finally mustered up the courage to try a piece - and regretted every second of it. I think she cried a little.

Bottom line: this is it folks - the strongest flavored cheese you are most likely to encounter on your cheese journey. Be forewarned, it is not for the squeamish or the faint of taste buds. Don't be afraid of the grayish-blue fuzz visibly growing inside the cheese. That's the magic growing inside. And you won't need any shots from the doctor for a few months!

**Disclaimer: Alan is not a doctor. By eating Valdeon or ANY blue-veined cheese you are in no way, shape, or form exempt from your regularly scheduled vaccinations.