Edel de Cleron
Another day, another cheese!
It seems that the need for photographing the cheese in Taste of Cheese’s cheese boxes has become my best reason for giving new or forgotten cheeses a try! Another one of the November Cheeses is the Edel de Cleron, a widely accepted pasteurized version of the Vacherin du Haute-Daubs… While I’m almost certain that I’ve tasted it before, I couldn’t remember what it tasted like – probably not a good sign!
So, after I broke it out of it’s little box, I took some pictures – and then some liberties with it. I could already detect it’s strong, barnyardy aroma before I even broke into the rind! Given my tendency to dislike these smelly cheeses, I could have just walked away, but instead I bravely cut into it’s light, sticky rind and dug out a little hunk. I stuck it up under my nose to force myself to really get the aroma and then I opened wide and popped it in.
And I must say, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting!! SO, I didn’t LOVE it. I wouldn’t DIE for it. But if someone said “Hey, Stacey! I have some Edel de Cleron here and I just can’t finish it” I would probably make myself available to assist them.
It was smooth and creamy, but much lighter than, say a rich triple cream. It did have that barny flavour but it wasn’t overpowering. I tend to go for sweeter cheeses, but if you’re not the same then this will be a great cheese for you. It had nutty, woody undertones that likely were brought forth by the strip of bark surrounding the little cake. Instead of seeming sour, it was more tangy. It would probably be better for me on a plain, crusty bread. All in all, it was much better than I expected… but still not my favourite. But you can’t really expect to love ‘em all, can you? well, maybe you can. I’m just not there yet.
If you can’t LIVE without this cheese, check out my November Cheese box at tasteofcheese.ca!
I’m heading up to a camp in Haliburton, ON this weekend (to get better at singing.. not cheese) so, have a wonderful fall weekend… take advantage of the supposed-to-be-warm weather!
