Cambozola: Triple Cream Soft-Ripened Cheese
Blended with a French triple cream, this is the blue cheese for people who are afraid of blue cheese. Put a Play-Doh textured-wedge on your trusty wooden cutting board and I promise a friend will say, “I normally don’t like blue cheese, but…” as they smush it across a cracker. It has a hint of smoke (the ash, I guess) that feels rustic and sophisticated.
Mini Basque Cheese
Fun and rich, with a thick, almost sticky texture. This half wheel of semi-firm sheep’s milk cheese begins with a hint of something grassy, then has a deep, buttery note, like movie theater popcorn. I believe that a good goat or sheep’s milk cheese gives you a flash of psychic teleportation—suddenly you are the sheep, bowing her head towards a clump of dewy grass, chomping in the sunlight. Anyway. You want this with a big red wine or prosciutto, or as dessert with sherry. My only complaint? I wish you could buy the full wheel.
Fromage Pavé: A Square of Soft-Ripened Cheese
Fromage Pave is a square present you have to open and unwrap. Joy. It’s an extremely creamy, spreadable Brie upgrade with the mild glory of straight-up butter. Emphasis on mild. A cream bomb. Like all the cheeses on this list, it’s completely different when it’s not fridge-cold. Let it warm up, people! That might take an hour! When this isn’t “in season” at TJ’s, I pick up the Saint-André as a rebound. Because sometimes in life you have to deviate from the course and know everything will be okay, eventually, if you give it some time.
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