Cheesepalooza – Chèvre Tasting

Sailor Rick ♦ September 29, 2012 ♦ 2 Comments

Well tonight was my first foray into the world of food bloggers as my crazy idea to join a group called Cheesepalooza came to fruition.

It was a fairly small gathering of YEG Cheeseophiles:

The Host – Valerie and her Mom
The Cheese Tech – Ian
The Cheese Groupie – Addie
The New Cheese – Caroline
And of course the grand formage…yours truly….Sailor Rick ….with my little Cheese Puff also known as The Admiral in tow.

It was a great evening, the small group gave us an opportunity to not only learn about each others cheeses but also to learn about each others interests as well.

I won’t even try to list all of the cheeses we sampled this evening because I didn’t take notes (big mistake) and I don’t want to inadvertently miss one.

Valerie was an awesome hostess providing numerous samples of her various cheeses and oven roasted heirloom tomatoes and her new creation … Chèvre Truffles…were they delicious! I limited myself to two, but could easily have gone primal and turned into a truffle pig rooting them out just like the real deal in the oak forests of France and Italy. It is obvious from her blogs and home and yard that Valerie is a true powerhouse when it comes to food.

It was clear from the start that Ian has both a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience making cheese and is passionate about cheese and is very willing to share. Ian also brought several delicious cheeses and ice cream made with chèvre which was a show stopper; watch his blog for the recipe.

Addie is also passionate about cheese and has some very interesting ideas such as his hopped beer soaked goat cheese which was very interesting and delicious. The Admiral who normally doesn’t like hopped beer really enjoyed it as well. I look forward to his future creations.

Caroline brought her fresh chèvre made using buttermilk. She seasoned it with Herbes de Provence and lemon; it was a lovely combination I had never thought of using with chèvre; although that is my favourite seasoning for chicken roti.

The evening flew by and soon drew to a close.

This Cheesepalooza thing is going to be a fantastic exploration for Sailor Rick!