My Favorite Cheeses

Here are my favorite cheeses. Random. I dunno, I’m not a sophisticated cheese connoisseur but I do know what I like and that’s all that matters.

• Goat cheese – my favorite. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Feta is not goat cheese. It can be made from goat’s milk but it’s not what’s called goat cheese. No clue why I like goat cheese so much. It’s kind of an acquired taste, I think, it kind of has this tang that people don’t like sometimes. But yeah, love it. It’s an essential part of a good spinach salad, and tastes good in other things also. I actually remember critical goat cheese experiences in my life. First was on a pizza at Chez Panisse cafe in high school. Yum. Most interesting in a salad was at Maya, where they make a little deep fried croquet with it. We had the cheese course at Gary Danko which was also awesome – like 5 goat cheeses to choose from. Good stuff.
• Cheddar – is that random? I dunno. I love a really good aged cheddar. Preferably undyed. At GD, they had a “vintage” cheddar. Eh. It was good, but not particularly better than just a normal good aged cheddar.
• Swiss – not really as much on its own, but this is my favorite cheese in sandwiches by far. There’s nothing as good as a good ham and swiss cheese sandwich. Yum yum. La Baguette at the Stanford mall makes a ham and cheese on baguette with mayo and butter. It has off days, but when it’s on, good stuff. Nothing like a good swiss in a sandwich.
• Blue cheese – in small doses. No clue how I came to like this. Actually, I know. We went to this random blue cheese “class” at Copia in Napa and I dunno, it gave me a new appreciation for it. I like it strong, but in small amounts.
• Mozzarella – also kinda random, maybe. But a really good, fresh mozzarella, I love. It’s hard to find though. Those mozzarella loaves they sell in the supermarket generally aren’t fresh enough. I dunno. The most interesting mozzarella thing I had was at Roy’s. They made this salad with diced tuna sashimi, avocado, and mozzarella. It was just an interesting combination of flavors and textures.