I’ll admit I don’t know nearly enough about the history of cheese to call this a trend (aside – I should know more about the history of cheese!), but has anyone else been noticing way more things getting all up in your cheese lately?
I’m a huge fan of that havarti-dill stuff that makes every bite of cheese taste just a little bit like a pickle, and of course jalapeno cheddar is no big news, but now it seems you can get just about any kind of herb or spice pre-placed into your cheese: basil, pepper, celery salt — hell, apparently even bacon cheese in some places. It’s totally eliminating the need to independently spice your sandwich (aside #2 — am I the only one who spices my sandwich?)
And now it seems they’re bypassing herbs and just putting whole seeds inside the cheese, as in Beemster’s mustard seed cheese. Instead of infusing a little mustard flavor, they just pack the thing with mustard seeds. It’s super tasty, and yet somehow surprises me every bite — I just can’t get myself used to this pop-up, crunchy consistency hidden in my cheese.
So as I pick stray mustard seeds off my keyboard, I have to say I’m still undecided. Do we endorse all cheese-y creativity, or if we support this are we dooming ourselves to live in a world where cheese comes pre-made with pepperoni, sausage and anchovies inside? What do you think?