BLUE & BRIE
If you haven’t bought cheese at Trader Joe’s you need to treat yourself and have a look.
During the pandemic our Meijer store at Ann Arbor - Saline Road quit carrying any imported cheeses. So we either had to drive all the way to Zeeb Rd. Meijer, Carpenter Rd. Meijer, Aldi or pay a much higher price at Busch’s, Whole Foods or ZIngerman’s. Fortunately, we discovered that our nearby Trader Joe’s not only had great wine buys but some of the best cheeses in Ann Arbor. What prompted this post was Alice’s recent discovery of Shropshire Blue from the UK. I’ve always felt that English Stilton was kind of the poor man’s Roquefort so didn’t really take British blue seriously. Was I wrong?!! Shropshire has only been made since 1970 but has carved out a niche which neither Stilton nor Roquefort overlap. It is a melt-in-your-mouth type of yellow cheese not unlike the best aged cheddar cultured throughout with a unique blue mold unlike Roquefort, Dana Blue or Gorgonzola. This is an unexpected awesome treat on a cracker or just nibbling by itself with a hearty red wine or port.
Shown in the picture above is Roquefort which you can buy just about anywhere but mostly sold as a premium cheese at a premium price. One of the things we love about Trader Joe is that they strive to offer what other stores sell as “specialty” spelled expensive and offer it as everyday fare at everyday prices. At Trader Joe’s both the Roquefort and their answer to triple cream Brie, Delice de Bourgogne, are priced like ordinary cheese. The Delice de Bourgogne is our favorite French Brie-like cheese which is so creamy it makes you swoon and when the last remnant melts off your tongue the complex dairy flavor hangs on for several seconds.
The two cheeses we still buy at either Sam’s Club or Costco are Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. Both are very high quality and cheap at both of these club stores.
Let’s hope the tariffs don’t change all this.
Enjoy in Good Health,
A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner
