Tag: Camembert

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Featuring Our French Faves for Cheese Week!

We wouldn’t be much of a cheese shop if we didn’t have an undying love for French cheeses. This week is Cheese Week, so of course we turned to our favorite cheeses to highlight during the festivities. The French have given us so much when it comes to cheese – and it’s not just the humble Brie. France has given us cheeses that run the gamut – creamy Camemberts, herbal chevres, nutty sheep’s milks, and minerally blues. We”d love to tell you about our favorite Frenchies, just in time to inspire your own Cheese Week celebrations!

Murray’s Camembert

We know your first thought when we talk about French cheese is Brie – but instead, why not try a little wheel of Camembert? Historically inspired by the Brie recipe (it was said to be passed down by a priest who had come from the province of Brie, but the recipe was corrupted in the telling), Camembert is creamier, more mushroomy, and has an earthiness that really tastes as though you’re enjoying it in the fields of France.

Murray’s Delice

If you’re looking for creamy, buttery sweet cheese, look no further than the land of Burgundy. Not only do they have delectable wine, but their cheese cannot be beat – Delice de Bourgogne is full of fresh milk flavors, with hints of sweet cream and clean hay. You can start your day with Delice paired with apricots and drizzled with honey as a tasty breakfast – or dessert if you add a glass of champagne on the side.

Valencay

The Loire Valley has created oh so many chevre cheeses, but Valencay stands out. Stories say that it was originally shaped like a pyramid, but when Napoleon returned from his military failings in Egypt, he demanded the pointed tops be removed, even going so far as to slice them off himself with his sword. While we’re not sure how true that is, the stunted pyramid shape remains, and the minerally, piquant goat’s milk is still one of our faves.

Ossau Iraty

If you’re looking for ancient traditions, you’ve found it. It’s said that Ossau Iraty is one of the first cheeses ever produced, and it’s only gotten better with age. Warm, buttery sheep’s milk curds are heated and pressed – think rich, toasty wheat aromas, and nutty, grassy-sweet flavors that make it that sort of cheese that stands up against anything – bold reds, toasty brown ales, whatever you’d like to pair it with.

Fourme d’Ambert

A blue developed so early on that the Druids and Gauls were said to have worked together to create it (read: a veryyyyy long time ago). It’s even said to go back to the Roman occupation of France nearly 1,000 years ago! They obviously perfected the recipe over the years, because we love nothing more than the earthy, mushroomy cheese with hints of sweetness and an amazing velvety texture. Even the staunchest blue hater will fall in love with this Frenchie.

To celebrate Cheese Week, we’ve got some great discounts on some of our French Faves! Check it out! 

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Winter is Here to Stay – Stock Up on Winter Cheese

Punxsatawney Phil has spoken and it’s official: Winter is here to stay, at least for another six weeks. While we might not be stoked for the cold weather, there is a plus side to six more weeks of winter – more winter cheese! From our favorite fondue classics, to tangy, warming cheeses, there’s only a few weeks left before these delicious little guys are overshadowed (Groundhog Day joke!) by their fresh, Spring rivals. 

Comte Saint-Antoine

Alpine styles are a go-to for winter months. It’s not just because they are the best for melting into ooey-gooey fondue (even though they’re just the right texture and flavor for a nutty, savory pot). We get our Comte from France’s Jura Mountains, and while it may capture the raw, mountain-pasture fed cow’s milk, it features winter flavors. There’s the sweetness of cooked milk, a bit of stone fruit (like dried apricots that pair oh so nicely), and the quiet nuttiness of brown butter. If you’re not feeling fondue, just slice this Comte thin and melt over winter root vegetables. Comfort food to the max!

Bayley Hazen

One of the things we love about winter foods is the inclusion of chocolate. Dark chocolates, nutty caramels, they’re all delicious and simply perfect for the winter months. But what about a cheese to go along with these succulent sweets? Blue cheese is the way to go, and nothing is better than Bayley Hazen Blue. The paste is a bit drier and denser than your typical English Stilton, but it’s the bold flavors of cocoa, roasted hazelnuts, and licorice that shine in this blue cheese. Add a bar of dark chocolate, and you’ll have a wintery dessert you’ll be craving mid-summer.

Murray’s Camembert 

It’s not just that the downy, tender rind reminds us of a field of freshly fallen snow – it does, of course. But we’re more interested in the straw-colored paste within. Hints of buttered toast are the first thing to hit your palate, totally reminding us of the cold, crisp breakfasts of winter days. After the buttered toast melts away, it’s the bold and beautiful flavors of sauteed mushrooms that stand out on the palate. Maybe cozy up with this little wheel by the fire, with a big glass of bold Bordeaux.

Tumbleweed

There’s something kind of amazing about cheese that you can pair a toasty lager or rich stout with, especially during the winter. Tumbleweed is that cheese – a cross between cheddar and French Cantal, it is filled with brown butter flavors, with a hint of tartness and fruitiness. In the winter months, the toastiness combines with an earthy flavor, creating something warm and rustic, especially when paired with a beer. The perfect combo to ride out these short remaining chilly months, if we do say so ourselves.

Greensward

There honestly isn’t a comfier snack than a wheel of Murray’s own Greensward. Slice off the top rind, and the paste inside is creamy and beautiful – a fondue minus the heat. A scoop – either with a cracker, or a spoon if you’re feeling no-frills about it – tastes of a snowy winter forest populated by pines, and freshly fried bacon. The taste is oh so much bigger than this small wheel will imply, and will keep those memories of winter alive even as the weather starts to warm.

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Make Whey For… Murray’s Camembert!

When you think of French cheeses, we wouldn’t be surprised if your mind immediately went to Brie. It is, after all, one of the oldest cheeses to survive over the years and make it onto your cheese plate. But if we’re being honest, we’re enamored with Brie’s younger brother – a farmhouse Frenchie with the earthiness and toastiness that we love in a spreadable French cheese: Camembert! 

The original Camembert cheese came from the northern region of Normandy, France. Made by Marie Harel in 1791, who was visited by a priest from the Brie region of France named Abbot Charles-Jean Bonvoust. He passed along the recipe for preparing a cheese with a bloomy, edible rind which was produced in his homeland, that we now know as Brie. The recipe was apparently altered in the process (think of a game of cheesy telephone), creating a similar, but distinctly delicious new cheese.

Often times, Camembert is mistaken for or confused with it’s cousin, Brie. Though they are both made of cow’s milk, Brie originated from central Ile de France, while Camembert comes from the northern region of Normandy. Brie is usually made in larger wheels, and is milder than the more pungent wheel of Camembert. Camembert is a bit softer and creamier than brie, which has a more pudgy and gooey texture.

There have, since the cheese’s creation, been many different versions of Camembert. Unfortunately, because of FDA regulations on raw milk cheeses, we cannot import the traditional AOC Camembert du Normandie. But we’re always on the hunt for the best Camembert we can manage – and we think we’ve found it. The tender, downy mold rind gives a contrasting bite to a melting straw-colored paste within. Aged to rich, creamy perfection, this wheel of Camembert is toasty, buttery, and ever so lactic. This is the kind of cheese that can stand up to a bold, big red wine like Bordeaux, or is balanced by a bright Hefewiesen.

If you’re looking for the perfect pair for Camembert, the answer is simple: apples. Apples are Camembert’s best friend and neighbor, as the land around the farms Camembert is made on are often apple orchards. You can go simple by slicing a few apples, drizzling with honey, and pairing up with our gooey wheel. Or, just break out a bottle of cider or a glass of apple brandy – either way, you’ll be savoring this sweet and savory combo.

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Drafting Our Favorite Drafts

Folks have only been brewing beer and noshing on cheese for oh, several thousand years or so, and we’re not about to argue with millennia of delicious history. Sometimes flavors just work together, and bready, refreshing beer has always been delicious with cheese – after all, there are as many different beers in the world as there are cheeses. We’ve asked some of favorite beer-loving cheesemongers just what cheeses and beers are a match made in heaven.

But what makes a perfect pairing? Actually, there’s some simple rules when it comes to figuring out what pairs with what. We at Murray’s follow three simple rules:

  1. Same pairs with same! Meaning that if it shares similar flavors, it pairs well together. You have a nutty cheese? It’s going to pair well with a nutty, toasty beer!
  2. Opposites attract! If you have something savory and creamy, why not put it with something bold and sweet? Sometimes flavors that are on the opposite side of the spectrum make the best combos.
  3. If it grows together, it goes together! This is the classic understanding of ‘terroir’, or taste of place. If two items are grown in similar areas, they’ll often share complementary flavors.

With these pairing types in mind, let’s check out some of our favorite beers with Murray’s best cheeses!

St. Stephen – Reissdorf Kolsch

There’s something just right about a bright, creamy cheese and a light, dry beer. Take, for instance, the local buttery batch of St. Stephen. Delicate, buttery, with a hint of sun-dried wheat and sweet cream under a pillowy rind, it is a versatile cheese that works best with something bubbly. Normally, you’d be reaching to pop a bottle of Prosecco to go along with it, but we suggest instead Reissdorf Kolsch. This Kolsch is light (lighter even than a pilsner), with a minty, hoppy aroma that gives way to flavors of vanilla and gentle cedar notes. It’s a unique mix, but just as delicious as any wine and cheese pairing.

Murray’s Camembert – Logsdon Seizoen Bretta

What if we could recreate the best tastes of a sweet breakfast, but with cheese and beer? Well, with the creamy, toasty, and buttery Murray’s Camembert, we’re part of the way there. This Frenchie’s earthy notes are balanced with a frosty glass of Logsdon’s Seizoen Bretta. Unfiltered and sealed with beeswax, the beer is refermented, producing a fruity and spicy beer with a soft malt character. It is dry and crisp, like champagne, which makes it the ideal partner to a creamy, gooey Camembert.

Annelies – Schneider Weiss Aventinus

If you’re looking for traditional beers, Aventinus is the way to go. The world’s oldest wheat dopplebock, it was created in 1907. It is full-bodied, like any dopplebock should be, with malty notes that linger between raisins, plums, and marzipan. Often paired with roast beef or chocolate desserts, it made sense to break out a chunk of Annelies. This Swiss sweetie is full of flavors of roasted hazelnuts and vibrant alpine grasses. Beneath those, undertones of butterscotch and cocoa are brought out with each swig of the Aventinus.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve – Orval

An award-winning cheese from the homeland of American cheese, Wisconsin, Pleasant Ridge Reserve takes on the flavors of the Alpine classics that it is inspired by. Its younger wheels are reminiscent of beef broth and caramelized onions, while the more aged version tends to embody more floral, crushed pineapple notes. While this is a new cheese born of ancient traditions, we paired it with a beer that dates all the way back to 1628. A Belgian monastery was brewing this style of trappist beer since the 17th century, though it was revived for public consumption in 1931. Light and foamy, it has the distinct aroma of aged leather and spice, and tastes a bit fruity with a bitterness that accents the oniony, beefy flavors of the cheese.

Valdeon – Sagra Bohio

Blue cheeses are often considered overpowering – this Spanish blue is admittedly quite bold and spicy. Valdeon is made with a seasonal blend of goat and cow’s milk, then wrapped in a protective layer of sycamore or oak leaves. Hearty, it requires a strong, distinct beer to pair alongside it. This is where Sagra Bohio comes in – birthed by brew master partnered with an acclaimed Spanish chef. We’ve always encouraged pairing dark chocolate with our piquant blue cheeses, so pairing Valdeon with Sagra Bohio is a natural choice. The lightly smoked ale is full of bitter chocolate notes and espresso aromas.

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Tequila and Cheese: The Perfect Pair?


This is not your ordinary cheese pairing, we realize. You’re probably wondering, “What are they thinking?!” Tequila isn’t wine. There’s no grand history of pairing cheese and tequila together. But we would never steer you wrong – the notes of tequila, from floral to caramelly sweet, make a perfect pairing to some of Murray’s most beloved cheeses. We’ve had our expert cheesemongers choose artisanal cheeses to go along with the beautifully crafted tequilas from Casa Noble to create a pairing experience unlike any other.

Crystal – Murray’s Camembert

When it comes to those clean, crisp agave flavors, Crystal is the ideal Blanco tequila. Lingering beneath, there are notes of honey, buttery-sweetness, and hints of limey citrus. This well-balanced tequila is perfect with Murray’s Camembert – toasty, buttery, and lactic, it will balance out the sweet honey notes and pair with the citrusy nip of the tequila.

Reposado – Bianco Sardo

After aging in a French White Oak barrel for an entire year, Reposado emerges smooth and full-bodied. The oak imparts notes of smokiness, while hints of vanilla, lemongrass, and wildflowers lingers with each taste. This sweeter, tangier version of Parmigiano Reggiano is the ideal along with that – toasty sweetness and lanolin loves the vanilla and oakiness of the tequila.

Anejo – Annelies

Aged for two full years in French White Oak barrels, Anejo develops into a complex balance of dried fruits and piquant spices. Toasted oak, butterscotch, and vanilla are the key flavors that linger on the tongue, making it a perfect pairing for our Murray’s Cavemaster Annelies. The cheese also shares flavors of butterscotch and toastiness, with the addition of a unique cocoa flavor that stands out against the aged tequila.

Single Barrel Extra Anejo – Greensward & Stichelton

Aged in a slightly charred French white oak barrel that has been used for 7 generations to create tequila, the most prominent notes are vanilla, hazelnut, and chocolate. Impossibly smooth, with strong cocoa notes, we love it with the fruity bite of Stichelton. When the stronger notes of woodiness come through, that’s when we break out the Greensward – those bacony, funky notes are strong enough to match it.

Joven – Cornelia

A mix of young silver tequila balanced with extra aged tequila, Joven combines the sweet floral and tropical fruit notes of the young with the smooth vanilla finish of the old. Murray’s own Cavemaster Reserve Cornelia makes an interesting pair – buttery and rich with a hint of roasted peanut, it adds a savory, bold element to act with the sweetness of the Joven.

Want to learn more about tequila pairings or cheese pairings in general? Check out our upcoming classes! 

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