Grocery Highlight - Trader Joe's
Welcome back! This week we will be delving into some wonderful cheeses found at Trader Joe's. We will be exploring cost, texture, and of course taste! In addition, I will be offering some great pairings for each of these delicious cheeses.
Wild Blueberry Vanilla Chevere Goat Cheese
Cost: $5.29 (not weighed, available in 1 size)
Texture: Soft but crumbly
Taste: Tarte and bright
Pairings: With it's bright blueberry flavor with the hint of vanilla I paired this cheese with Capocolla. Found at Trader Joe's as well, this makes it an easy 1 stop shop for your charcuterie needs. Capocolla is a pork cold cut made from dry cured muscle running from the neck to the rib of the pork shoulder. Having a soft and tender texture, it is slightly chewy with a nice salty/spicy flavor that elevates the flavor of this goat cheese. Another great option to compliment the texture is a sausage. I found this delectable bison sausage at Harris Teeter that would pair perfectly with this cheese. It has a smoky undertone that compliments the sweet but tarte flavor of this goat cheese.
Cambozola
Cost: $5.29
Texture: Soft, velvety, creamy
Taste: Nutty, buttery with a sharp after taste
Pairings: Cambozola was so fun to find parirings with. It has a rich, nutty, buttery taste but with it's sharp after taste made it so easy to pair with honey and fruit. I found the texture and taste of a red pear complimented the texture and flavor of this cheese so well. Pears have mild, sweet flavor which off set the sharpness of the Cambozola. The texture of this cheese allows you to spread this cheese add a slice of pear then top it off with a complex honey like Mexican Vanilla creamed honey. Bringing these flavors together will leave your taste buds intrigued and oh so satisfied.
Italian Truffle Cheese
Cost: $12.99/lb
Texture: Creamy, semi-hard
Taste: Garlicky, nutty, similar to cheddar
Pairings: Oh my goodness, this cheese is next level! By far my favorite; this cheese can be enjoyed alone or paired with so much to take your taste buds on fantasic journey. I chose to pair this with strawberries and blackberries. With the sweet but acidic nature of berries it hits all the flavor profiles on the taste buds. The texture is similar to cheddar but just a bit softer making it an all around savory experience when pairing it with a berry that has a firm texutre. Add it to a crunchy multigrain cracker and you have perfect charcuterie experience or even just a quick satisfying snack. If you don't have fruit on hand you can pair it with a fanatstic honey from hiveandhoneybee.com. They carry a Raspberry Blossom honey that is my favorite to add to this cheese. It has a smooth, mellow flavor with a raspberry undertone. Never infused, this honey is straight from the nector of the raspberry blossom. It's amazing the raspberry profile that comes through just from the nectar! Trust me, you don't want to pass up this pairing.
Creamy Toscano Soaked in Syrah
Cost: 9.99/lb
Texure: Semi - hard
Taste: Sharp, tangy
Pairings: Cheddar is one of my favorite cheeses and this one is line with a sharp cheddar mixed with parmesan. It has a bit of a zing that makes it easy to pair with sweet things, especially honey. This cheese has an interesting taste profile with it being soaked in Syrah. Just a little background on Syrah; it is a dark-skinned grape used to produce red wine. It consistently has a softer tannin with notes of blackberry and mint. So the profile of this cheese is already complex with the sharpness of the cheese in addition to the blackberry undertones of the Syrah. I chose a simple wildflower honey to pair with this delicious cheese. The complexity of the cheese didn't need to be over shadowed and the softness of the flavor of a wild flower honey made this a perfect pairing.
