Then came the Roquefort, a regal cheese we voted
the best buy of the lot, even though it was the most expensive. A
plump piece, pleasantly unctuous but not greasy, sharp in scent,
stimulatingly bittersweet in taste--unbeatable. There is no American
pretender to the Roquefort throne. Ours is invariably chalky and
tasteless. That doesn't mean we have no good Blues. We have. But they
are not Roquefort.
The Sapsago or Kraeuterkaese from Switzerland (it has been made in the
Canton of Glarus for over five hundred years) was the least expensive
of the lot. Well-cured and dry, it lent itself to grating and tasted
fine on an old-fashioned buttered soda cracker. Sapsago has its own
seduction, derived from the clover-leaf powder with which the curd is
mixed and which gives it its haunting flavor and spring-like
sage-green color.
Next came some truly great Swiss Gruyere, delicately rich, and nutty
enough to make us think of the sharp white wines to be drunk with it
at the source.
As for the Provolone, notable for the water-buffalo milk that makes
it, there's an example of really grown-up milk.
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