Thursday, July 30, 2009

Cheese Review: Greven Broecker

This Belgian blue has limited production so I was happy to get my hands on a wheel recently for our cheese lovers gathering.

Formed by hand and aged on a tin tray, this was unlike any cheese I had seen before.

Its claim to fame is how the blue spores are added during the rennet phase instead of being injected like pretty much every other blue. The result is a gorgeous, marbled blue.

And when allowed to crumble with the grain of the curd, a majestic landscape unfolds.

But how does it taste? I'm not a fan of blues - I'll eat them, but they aren't my first choice. This was bold, embracingly aggressive, yet subtle and creamy. Really a winner. I had read that it enjoys being paired with honey, so I added a drop of German Langanese honey which softened to my tastes. We also tried a bit of the 25-year balsamico and the vinegar disappeared under its boldness, so don't waste your balsamico.

And as a closing note, we served this on our new charcoal crackers which were a nice combo for the blue.

3 comments:

Tri2Cook said...

***droool***

MelissaH said...

Where in Belgium is this cheese from? (Come to think of it, if you're looking for a vacation spot, we always like Belgium, particularly Flanders.)

Gfron1 said...

I don't know Belgium very well, but I think the town is on the label in the first picture. As for vacations, I think we're leaning away from the entire EU because of how expensive it is. I'm hoping to get more serious about picking a location this week so I really do appreciate all of the ideas.