Traditionally, this is a Swiss cow's milk cheese popular in fondue recipes. The texture resembles white American cheese: it's smooth, no cracks or holes, and the cheese is soft but not oozy.
According to Steve Jenkins and "The Cheese Primer," "Gruyere is one of the truly great cheeses of the world." We'll be honest, we picked this cheese at random, at our local grocery store because it sounded fancy. Furthermore, there apparently is a whole lotta crappy Gruyere cheese circulating about. It's a cheap version of the real deal, similar to processed American cheese. We lucked out in that we happened to pick one of the better brands of American-made Gruyere. Enough talking, let's eat some cheese!
The Cheese: Roth Kase brand Grand Cru Gruyere
We both agreed that this cheese is pretty mild. It's not salty or sharp. It has a strong initial smell of raw unprocessed peanut butter for some reason, and it tastes "nutty" too. Ashleigh insists she tastes bitter walnuts. *Note: she dislikes nuts too. After a few seconds the cheese begins to soften on the tongue and the nuttiness gives way to something else, but we can't figure out what the hell it is exactly. According to Ashleigh, this aftertaste is reminiscent of nail polish remover. Yum!!
Let's consult Mr. Jenkins. He says the Gruyere should "have assertive flavor with hints of fruits and nuts." Maybe the nail polish remover taste is a clue to our primitive palettes....sheesh.
The Verdict
Ashleigh: "It was good! We'll have to try it in fondue."
Alan: "Why does it smell like peanut butter in here??"
Here's a link to the website for this cheese:
- Alan.
I really like the description of the cheese making process on the Roth Kase website. The copper vats sound awesome. I guess copper vats make a good cheese? I had no idea the process was so intricate: copper vats, wooden boards, and humidity controlled cellars - wow.
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