I'd been traveling in Africa for a couple of weeks, during which time cheese plates were few and far between. There were a few cheeses present in in-flight meals, but nothing worth mentioning here.. except perhaps a moment of cheese horror in business class on Kenya Airways, where the cheese cart was so distressing that I passed it right by (A shimmery blue cheese with square hunks of mold? ew).
So tonight I picked up a Saint Nectaire (semi-soft French cows milk cheese) and a Queso de Marcia (semi-hard Spanish goat cheese), which I intended as an appetizer, rather than as a dessert. Somehow, I feel that at least three cheeses are absolutely necessary if one is trying to be luxurious after a fine meal. In advance of a fine meal however, (particularly one cooked by my charming husband, Peter) just two cheeses will do the trick.
I quite liked the flavor of the Saint Nectaire, although my cheese bible tells me that I bought one of the lesser brands (Livradois). It was creamy in texture and had a mild touch of that that straw-ey barn-yard flavor that I quite like. Peter preferred the Queso de Marcia, which was crumbly in a chalky way, but not too dry. The goaty flavor was also pretty mild. I think that I would have wanted a stronger flavor in both if this had been dessert plate, but for an appetizer they were just fine.
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