I picked up a wodge of the gorgonzola I mentioned in my last post. I'm a sucker for blue cheese. I've had some so blue that the flavour singed my nostrils. So I was prepared for this one to be STRONG. But you know what? It was really surprisingly mild. The first note that hit me was actually spinach-y, and then the full blue bouquet emerged. The texture was firmer than I was expecting, too - for some reason I was expecting it to be like a camembert, but it's more like butter.
This is a really pleasant eating cheese. It's probably still too strong for blue noobs, but it's definitely down the milder end of the scale. (I was introduced to blue with Castello Blue, which isn't exactly gourmet I know.) I'd put this one on a cheese plate for a party without question. I think it would actually contrast nicely with the two in my previous post, actually - a good balance between textures, flavours and sharpness. I had this with a few crackers and apple slices.
By the way, a nice way to give an apple strudel a complex flavour is to add a little blue cheese amongst the apples. Not so much that you can identify it as blue, just enough to add character. It's like adding a pinch of katsuobushi to tomato sauce for pasta to give it an umami kick. Mmm, I'm hungry now. Carbonara with pancetta for dinner, I think.
