My husband would love the hands-on portion of this assignment. He really likes the pungent cheeses. I can take them in small doses and a mild blue cheese is okay. There aren’t a lot of mild blue cheeses out there, at least in my opinion. This book claims that blue cheeses come in many different flavors, most notable when paired with foods that have the same flavor profile.

The assignment is to buy:

• 2 to 4 ounces Point Reyes Blue cheese (or use Maytag Blue or Buttermilk Blue
• 2 to 4 ounces Montbriac or Cambozola cheese
• 2 to 4 ounces Stilton cheese, preferably Colston Bassett
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges
• 2 ounces créme fraìche
• 2 slices backon, cooked until crisp

Starting with the tangy “blue cheese dressing on a fork” Point Reyes Blue, taste it alone then with the lemon. These are supposed to be complimentary flavors.

Next is the Montbriac which is supposed to be mild with a hint of the blue cheese flavors. Test it with the créme fraìche whose richness is a good match with this cheese.

Finally, match the Stilton and the bacon. Stilton can have a wide variety of flavors including brown butter, nuts and bacon. Bacon is of course much more “bacon-y” than the cheese, but the Stilton should have similar smokey notes.

The lesson here is to appreciate the tremendous variety of both textures and flavors. When eaten alone we may not appreciate the differences in blue cheeses, but with these other flavors and foods, it becomes much more memorable.

I decided to search for more information about the different varieties of blue cheeses out there. According to Wikipedia, there are 49 varieties that meet the definition of blue cheese.

Blue cheese is a general classification of cheeses that have had cultures of the mold Penicillium added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, or blue-grey mold and carries a distinct smell, either from that or various specially cultivated bacteria. Some blue cheeses are injected with spores before the curds form, and others have spores mixed in with the curds after they form. Blue cheeses are typically aged in a temperature-controlled environment such as a cave. Blue cheese can be eaten by itself or can be spread, crumbled or melted into or over foods.

In looking for the mildest options, I have a list of suggestions from the Cheese Professor’s Best Beginner Blue Cheeses. From France there is Fromager d’Affinois a triple creme style blue. From Germany there is Cambozola which is a “portmanteau of two other cheeses—Gorgonzola and Camembert .” Oregon has an award-winning blue cheese, Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue which actually sounds worth tracking down. It is cold-smoked over hazelnut shells. Another one that sounds very interesting is from Italy, a Mughetto. “Mughetto is akin to a layer cake, with alternate layers of mascarpone (a high-fat Italian spreadable cheese) as well as gorgonzola cremificato.” From Nottinghamshire, UK we have a supposedly very mild Stilton variety, the Colston Bassett Stilton. “While stiltons can be quite intense, Colston Bassett is made from a hand-ladled curd which makes the cheese exceptionally buttery.”

I’m going to keep my eyes open for these options and I just might do the cheese essentials assignment.  If nothing else, I get to eat bacon.