By:Tess McNamara
Ahh the Murray’s cheese caves! The best place in New York City for cheese to take some time to age and really up the funk. We consider the caves a sort of day spa for cheese. They get the care they need to be all that they can be! “Raves from the caves” is a new, weekly post that will feature what is ripe and ready on the cheese counter, and what good stuff is in the pipeline.
C-Local: We’re working our way through a fresh batch with a bright, tacky rind and young, but daring cream line. The aroma is dank and the flavor full. Expect more grilled lamb and savory notes to trump those bushels mixed berries. At least for now.
Greensward: The batch released last week is still exquisite and a new tower of nearly 300 has been through its first wash. The rind on the oldest batch is darker orange with pockets of woodsy brown near the spruce bark; the paste luscious and creamy, tasting like herb butter, roasted veggies, and the wind swirling through a forest canyon.
Hudson Flower: Hudson Flower for everyone! As the fall breezes creep in, everyone should be psyched to bring home a delicious round of fall foliage in the form of orange and yellow mold adorning most rinds of Hudson Flower. Cold storage with sliding metal doors continues to hold the cream line in check. Count on gamey, earthy notes teamed with buttery, tangy pockets.
Torus: Our little doughman is firmer and more dapper this week, having benefitted from a slightly altered aging cycle. We plated torus and let the batch experience the tender awakening of the drying room, followed by an indulgent slumber in the bloomy rind cave, and finally some tough, better-shape-up love from the mini-cold storage unit. The creamline is thin, yet decadent and even, and the paste yeasty, zippy, and bright. At room temperature the geotrichum rind – now sturdy and taunt – will relax into a velvety coat.
Chevrot: This pocket sized brainy drum is with us in abundant quantities, ready to surprise goat cheese lovers all over with its lemony, cakey, zippy profile. Consider mini Chevrot a filler for the office donut run. Why grab one when you can take a dozen to the office and smother them in honey and jam?
Roquefort: Oh Roquefort, oh Roquefort, oh how I love your deep blue pockets and your gritty butter laden paste. Come home with me and make my nostrils flare and the back of my throat tingle. You are classically radiant.