Wednesday, December 11, 2013
11th Day of Christmas: Cheese & Champagne
When I talk about a "slice of heaven," I am not talking about a slice of cake...I am talking about a slice of cheese. So when I received an email for a class that combined champagne and cheese I rallied the troops and we headed to Santa Barbara.
I know I have talked about this place before, but it is truly the closest place to cheese heaven within driving distance to me...C'est Cheese (love that it looks French but it actually sounds like "say cheese" when you say it out loud) is the cutest cheese shop in Santa Barbara/Ventura counties. They truly have cheese from all over the world! And it is owned by an adorable couple, who is so knowledgeable and passionate about cheese that you just want to hug them the minute you walk in the door. They are in the process of expanding, but last night the class was held in their original space, this cute walk in cheese deli.
We all sat down and were handed a cheese/champagne menu. And I loved that when I looked around the room, it consisted of the most eclectic group of people, however for the night we were all bonded by a love of rich creamy pungent cheese and a little effervescent beverage. Cheers!
The champagne and cheese pairing started with Sommariva an Italian Prosecco and a Mt. Tam triple creme cows milk cheese from Marin, California. This was one of my favorite cheese of the night due to the amazingly creamy texture that just melts in your mouth. It was so rich and decadent that I really just wanted to rub it all over my body...don't worry I didn't do that, I have some restraint...not much when it comes to cheese but a little bit. The Prosecco was very light and it had a hint of citrus.
Now I learned quite a few random facts in the class last night. So did you know?
I know I have talked about this place before, but it is truly the closest place to cheese heaven within driving distance to me...C'est Cheese (love that it looks French but it actually sounds like "say cheese" when you say it out loud) is the cutest cheese shop in Santa Barbara/Ventura counties. They truly have cheese from all over the world! And it is owned by an adorable couple, who is so knowledgeable and passionate about cheese that you just want to hug them the minute you walk in the door. They are in the process of expanding, but last night the class was held in their original space, this cute walk in cheese deli.
We all sat down and were handed a cheese/champagne menu. And I loved that when I looked around the room, it consisted of the most eclectic group of people, however for the night we were all bonded by a love of rich creamy pungent cheese and a little effervescent beverage. Cheers!
 |
| We ate the cheese clock-wise |
Now I learned quite a few random facts in the class last night. So did you know?
- It was the Romans that started corking adult beverages.
- Champagne started as an accident...best friggin accident ever! It was wine that gained a bubbly quality and exploded all over the floor...hmm come to find out it tastes pretty darn good. Yup that is history for ya!
- To call it champagne it has to come from France so Prosecco (Italian champagne) not only has a different name it also has a slightly different process. Champagne has a 2nd fermentation in a bottle, whereas Prosecco is fermented the 2nd time in a vat.
- Prosecco has a longer lasting bubble and is often lighter in flavor than champagne and well more mass produced.
The 2nd cheese we tried was a Jeune Autize goats milk cheese from Loire, France. It was good, but it isn't the cheese that dreams are made from. However, I did learn something interesting, the layer that is the darker color in the cheese is actually vegetable ash. During the original cheese making process, if at the end of the day they ran out of cheese curd they would put ash over the cheese to preserve it so they could add additional curd the next day. Well this ash came to be known as a part of the cheese and so even though it started as a way to protect the cheese, it is now a part of the cheese.
Now the 3rd cheese, when I looked at the menu, I thought to myself,"oh that 3rd cheese is so seriously going to be my favorite!" It was a Camembert Dell'Alta Langhe from Piedmont, Italy which is a combination of cow, goat and sheeps milk. I thought the flavors would be an incredible blend of cheese heaven, but alas the smell and taste was so intense and overpowering I couldn't eat it, it was just too overwhelming for me.
The 2nd "champagne" we tried was actually my favorite, it was the Graham Beck Rose Brut from South Africa. It was a bit on the drier side, but it had great flavor and it wasn't too incredibly overpowering. Now, did you know that they started growing grapes in South Africa during the 16th century? They did this to assist the sailors who came by on their adventures and they gave them grapes as a way to prevent scurvy, how random is that?
One of the other things I learned last night was that when you are making champagne you pick younger grapes, compared to wine. This is due to the fact that you are looking for a higher acidity and lower sugar content in your champagne grapes in juxtaposition to wine grapes.
The 4th cheese of the night was from Wisconsin, seriously what is a cheese class without a Wisconsin cheese, right? This cheese was the Pleasant Rice Reserve raw cows milk cheese. And this cheese was another of my favorites from the night. It is a semi-hard cheese and it has a slight crunch to it, yes I know that sounds weird and no it is not dried up cheese bits. We learned that the slight crunch is actually on purpose and it is an indication of an aged cheese because the protein starts to create a crunchiness to a cheese after it has been aged 12 or months.
The final champagne of the night was well, a true champagne. We tried the J Lasalle Brut Cahcet D'or, from well duh, France. It is from one of the few female champagne makers in France and it was very light, a little dry for me, but very smooth. And it paired amazingly well with the last 2 cheeses.
The 5th cheese I was pretty excited about as it came from the area that I grew up in. It was the Truffle Tremor which is a goats milk cheese that consists of a layer of goat cheese and a layer of cheese that is infused with black truffles. If you love truffles, this cheese will be orgasmic for you. It is from McKinleyville, Ca and it comes from the same makers as Humboldt Fog, which any cheese lover knows and is very familiar with. It is a very strong cheese, but the intense flavor is truly intoxicating, especially with wine or champagne.
Now the 6th cheese of the night came home with me and yes I know that it sounds like a date that has gone extremely well, because that is exactly how I felt about this cheese! The chemistry and the passion I had for this cheese was intense. It has an intense and pungent flavor, but the cheese is smooth and not overwhelming. And it was good with the champagne, but since I brought it home I got to experience it tonight with a nice red blend and I have to be honest...I liked it with a smooth glass of red wine even better. This cheese, the St. Agur is a double creme cows milk cheese from Auvergne, France and it is incredible! Try it! Just do it!
Now during the class, the owner spoke of a cheese that was wrapped in birch bark, so of course I had to try it...and it was pretty externally...and I just didn't care for it all so much...but like my Mom always said at least I tried it.
I do also have to give a brief shout out to the pickles that I bought last night, which are some of the best dill pickles, I have ever tasted. And believe you me, I know my pickles!
All joking aside C'est Cheese is a fun cheese shop, with amazing people, incredible cheeses and this is the place to go whether you are looking for cheese for a party, as a gift or just to enjoy on your own. I highly recommend their cheese classes as well as they are so much fun and I learned so much. Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Visit My Website!
Subscribe To
Posts
Comments
0 comments:
Post a Comment