Among Steve's favorite cheeses are the assertively flavored and highly odorous washed rind varieties. During the ripening process these cheeses are washed with or immersed in a brine solution, wine, brandy, beer, eau-de-vie, or cider. The liquid feeds bacteria and it's this bacterial growth that produces the strong aroma and distinctive flavor of washed rind cheeses. Serve them with big red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese or Tempranillo or with beer, cider or brandy.
Reblochon: Unpasteurized, cow's milk cheese from France. Reblochon is aged 50 to 55 days which makes it illegal for import into the United States (FDA requirements prohibit raw cow's milk cheeses aged less than 60 days). Some French suppliers have begun aging their cheese a few days longer to meet FDA requirements and this cheese is now occasionally available in the U.S.
Gorgonzola: This cow's-milk blue from Italy's Lombardy region is the only washed rind blue. In the U.S. and Italy look for brands such as Galbani, Klin, Lodigiani and Mauri.
Appenzeller: An unpasteurized cow's-milk cheese from Switzerland not marketed by brand.
Maroilles: This pasteurized and unpasteurized cow's-milk cheese from France, rarely available in the United States is, according to Steve, "about as subtle as a bolt of lightning – get out a clothespin."
Herve: Smelly, strong, cow's-milk cheeses named for a farming region in the Liege province of Belgium.
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