Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve Cheese Miracle - Brillat-Savarin

"Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are."  If you are a fanatic Iron Chef fan (Japanese version), you will know that this quote is by the famous French gastronome and politician Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.  He is also quoted as saying "A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye."  No disrespect to all the beautiful one-eyed ladies out there, but I have to agree with M. Brillat-Savarin.  

M. Brillat-Savarin was also one of the first fans of what we now know as the Atkins diet.  It makes sense, therefore, that the cheese created in his honor would be a triple creme (75% fat) bloomy rind with a sinfully delicious core that is sweet and delicious with a hint of mushroom in the nicest way - kind of like a super creamy cream of mushroom soup that has been thinned out with A LOT of heavy cream.  But it still has an incredible lightness to it.  Soooooo good!  Keep in mind that Andrew the cheesemonger doesn't really consider triple creme cheese to be cheese in the strictest sense due to the additional cream added prior to fermentation to make it a "triple" creme.  That said, I'll repeat it's sooooooooooooo good!  I can't believe I've never eaten this one before.  It is now on my "crowd pleaser" list.  

This was the cheese I took tonight to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family at my Mother-in-Law's assisted living facility.  It was a huge success with all, though the MIL did mention that she had been hoping for blue cheese.  Sigh.  She still had four crackers worth!  (our image today is courtesy of Wikipedia - the entire cheese plate was practically licked clean!) We also experienced a small Christmas miracle when she voiced supreme pleasure in the mince pies we brought.  Hooray!  

Merry Christmas to all celebrating, and may visions of cheese balls (and sugar plums) dance in your heads!


2 comments:

  1. Your last line gave me a nice mental image of "The Dance of the Cheese Ball Fairy!"

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  2. You know, I always scoffed at the Atkins diet, but as a diabetic vegetarian I have nothing but love for a lifestyle that allows me to lose weight and eat cheese.

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