Cambozola!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - I think we have a new favorite cheese (for now at least). Let me introduce you to my new friend, goes by the name Cambozola.

Cambozola is a strange little cheese - a bit confused, he can't seem to decide if he's a camembert or a gorgonzola (hence the name, a combination of the two). He is also a ridiculously delicious, creamy, blue-cheesy, soft-ripened little fella with tons of flavor and buttery goodness to spread over everything.

As it turns out, Cambozola is fairly young as cheeses go: it was created around the turn of the 20th century and only began being mass produced and marketed to the world in the 1970's. As of right now, there is only one major company responsible for sharing this cheesy treasure with the rest of the world: Käserei Champignon, apparently a giant German cheese conglomerate. The entire website below is in German, so I could be incredibly wrong about all of this; my knowledge of the German language is limited to what I learned from Blazing Saddles. Shnitzengruben!! 

Ok, here's the website for you German speakers: Cambozola: The Website (in German).

And now for the best part, the eating!

I tried the Cambozola cold, right out of the fridge, which goes against everything we've learned about cheese thus far. I couldn't help it, it looked so inviting: off white, creamy, with little flecks of blue Penicillium roqueforti mold (the best kind of mold!). The cold, buttery cheese melted in my mouth instantly and tasted of super fresh young mushrooms, with strong undertones of the typical blue cheese bite. 


As it warmed, the flavor intensified and I was smitten. I have to find more of this stuff. Thankfully, they sell it at Albertson's, and Trader Joe's. I wonder if there are any artisan varieties out there...  


Ashleigh took a bite and her eyes went wide. "Oh!" she said, with a very surprised look on her face. I think she was expecting a more pronounced blue-cheese flavor, but the buttery brie style of the cheese threw her off. It's good, ain't it little Ashers? 


Mr. Steve Jenkins of the Cheese Primer doesn't seem to be a fan though, saying this cheese "has little character and goes against everything I believe in." Oh Steve, surely you can stray from your rigid standards of fromage-ness just this once, just this once! Try it again, try it by the spoonful, cold, right out of the fridge. Go against everything you believe in and eat more Cambozola!