You’ll remember that yesterday we wrote about enjoying the wonderful place we live – along with, of course, a selection of our fabulous wines and cheeses.   Well, last night we had an email from a customer who took our words to heart.

He wrote that he lives in New York but is spending a week in Fort Lauderdale, staying with a friend. Yesterday he saw our ‘Las Olas lifestyle’ article and decided that yes, he should make the most of his visit. He visits Fort Lauderdale several times a year but this was his first introduction to Cheese Culture and he loved our store.

He called to see us and bought a selection of fine cheeses and a few bottles of wine and craft beer. Oh, and a few French sticks. He is staying in a small complex of a handful of apartments and he invited his neighbors to join him to celebrate Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas – just as the sun was beginning to go down – on their shared deck.

He told us that one neighbor contributed some fresh fruit to this impromptu party. Another brought salad. Another, who also shops with us regularly, supplied a selection of our chutneys, preserves and honey.

He concluded by saying ‘We had the most fantastic evening enjoying your cheeses and wines. We had a great time, we all got to know each other much better and this is going to become a regular event every time I’m down here – definitely!’

Why not do the same this weekend or on Friday evening to celebrate the end of the working week? Long live the Las Olas lifestyle!

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

Those of us who are lucky enough to work on Las Olas experience our wonderful boulevard every day! And there’s no better place to experience that lifestyle than with us at Cheese Culture. You’ve seen how our Tuesday Tasters enjoy their wine and cheese by the water – you can do the same.

Here are three great ways to enjoy the Las Olas lifestyle.

1. Lunch to go – you already know about our wonderful sandwiches, salads ans specialty grilled cheese but don’t just take them back to eat at your desk. Enjoy the boulevard. There are some wonderful places to sit and eat your lunch watching the river traffic go by. A favorite of ours is the Strahanan House grounds or the Laura Ward Plaza right next door.  Or stroll along the Riverwalk and you’ll find plenty of place to sit and enjoy. Don’t rush back to your office.  Take time to smell the … um … cheese. Relax during your lunch break and enjoy.

2. Celebrate the end of the working day – you’ve left the office and it’s time to go home, but why not enjoy the boulevard a little first? Call in and try one of our delicious cheese boards. Build your own – select your own cheeses. We’ll tell you which cheeses are extra special today, plus which wine to enjoy with them. Sit inside making the most of our air-conditioning or at one of our bright yellow tables on the sidewalk. Watch the boulevard go by. This is a great way to end the day or as a weekly treat.

3. For an special occasion - rent our hamper for an extra-special picnic. Our hamper comes with everything you need to enjoy a luxury al fresco meal. We’ll supply all the food and wines you’ll need. Take this onto your boat for a romantic dinner a deux, choose a waterfront location for a lovers’ tryst … date night will never be the same again!

Lunchtime, the cocktail hour or for a special occasion, Cheese Culture has got you covered.

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

This week, we selected some French cheeses for our Tuesday Tasters. We believe that there is at least one French cheese for every day of the year and we have a fine selection so we had plenty to choose from! We were looking forward to hearing what they had to say so here goes!

“French cheese … mmm. I thought I knew French cheeses. I was SO wrong. The first cheese we tried was the comté. From the Cheese Culture’s blog, I realized that this was a very special cheese. It’s very stringently regulated and only the top fifteen percent of these cheeses get the coveted ‘green label’. Of course, the cheese that they have in stock is one of that top fifteen percent. This was delicious on its own but also incredible with a little Provençal honey on a gourmet cracker.

Next, we tried the Morbier. I’d seen this cheese in the store and it looks very distinctive. It has a horizontal grey/blue streak running through it. I had seen this cheese and wrongly assumed that it was a streak of blue cheese. It’s actually far more interesting. At the end of the cheese-making day, farmers have leftover curds. They put these into a mold and cover it with ash. Then, the next day they add curds from the morning’s milking. The streak is the ash. Fascinating! This cheese is completely delicious with fresh bread. We also enjoyed it with sliced pear.

However, I have saved the best until last. Epoisses. It’s described as ‘the king of cheeses’.  Cheese Culture’s blog says that it was Napoleon’s favorite cheese and I’m not surprised. Epoisses comes in a traditional circular wooden box. Once this cheese is at room temperature, it becomes – there’s no other word – gooey. It’s totally delightful.

Take a portion of cracker and scoop a little Epoisses straight from the box. Heaven.  Although we like to try our cheeses with goodies such as chutneys, preserves, fruit and another accompaniments, I just  didn’t want to try this cheese with anything else at all. It is perfect just as it is.

If you only buy one cheese this week, make it Epoisses.  Tremendous.”

Do you agree? Have you tried these three French cheeses? Like all our cheeses, Epoisses has a limited availability. Don’t miss this special gourmet delight.

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

Here’s an interesting snippet about the French compté cheese. Every single wheel of cheese has to go through a grading process before it is sold. If a wheel doesn’t make the grade then it will be used in other products – this is a cheese that is strictly controlled.

On the other hand, if the cheese is acceptable, then it will be receive a brown label and band.

The very best of the compté cheeses will receive a green label. (Helpful hint – take a look at the photograph of our compté on the left).

It’s a lovely cheese to eat on its own but it does go especially well with fruits and preserves. Like the cheese we wrote about yesterday, it’s also a very good cheese for those who like lovely melted cheese. (Perfect for topping French Onion Soup).

It is sometimes referred to as ‘French gruyere’; which most people believe is a Swiss cheese. Our interesting cheese trivia today is that when gruyere was first made, in the reign of Charlemagne, it was made in France, Switzerland and Germany where the forests were called ‘gruyeres’.

This is a delighful cows milk cheese and if you’d like to purchase an entire wheel (they weigh about eighty pounds) it would cost you something approaching a couple of thousand dollars!

Luckily, we have ‘normal’ sizes of compté available. We hope you’ll call in to try this cheese soon  - without breaking the bank
Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

You’ll immediately recognise Morbier because of the dark streak running through the middle of the cheese. Your guests will wonder what this is, so here’s how the cheese is traditionally made.

It’s made in the village of the same name in France. It’s a semi-soft cows milk cheese. The traditional cheesemakers have their own herds and in the early days of this cheese’s production, it was made with the morning milking and the evening milking with the streak separating the two. Today it is often made in one step but traditionally cheesemakers would end the day by putting left over curds into a mold.

So what is the distinctive streak and why is it there?

To protect this overnight, ash would be layered on top of the curds. The ash was taken from the sides of the cauldron which was heated by the fire of a mixture of spruce and fir logs gathered in the local high-lying forests..

When the cows were milked the following morning, additional curds would be added on the top of the ash layer. This ash stops the curd from drying out and protects it against insects.

This is a delightfully creamy cheese and is perfect to eat on its own with some crusty bread. If you’re a fan of melted cheese, this is a great choice for you. Call in and try Morbier soon. We look forward to seeing you!

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

If you’re looking for a good value wine this weekend, try the Castronovo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This wine originates in one of the most prolific wine growing regions in Italy.

The Montepulciano grapes are widely grown in the central an southern areas of Italy and are known for their soft flavor and strong color.

And as always, we like to serve your wine with a backstory! If the name Castronovo sounds familiar to you, then the chances are that you’re thinking about Paul Castronovo who has been a radio personality in South Florida for thirty years. And being of Italian extraction, he has a natural love of Italian foods and wines. And yes, he is the proprietor of Castronovo Vineyards.

Paul himself says that the best way to enjoy this wine is with a charcuterie platters and a selection of cheeses. And you know the best place to get that

We also have another of Paul’s wines, the Pecorino (not to be confused with the cheese of the same name). This is made from the white grape grown in the same region of Italy. So whether you prefer red or white wines, we’ve got you covered. We’d love you to come in and give them a try.

Yesterday, we explained about the fascinating history of one of our favorite cheeses and said ‘don’t just serve cheese, serve history’. So when you’re serving this wine to your friends tell them who is behind the wine.

Today’s motto is don’t just serve wine, serve celebrity

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

Like many cheeses, Epoisses is named after the village in France where it’s made. And also like many of our cheeses,  has a long and fascinating history but before we get to that, let me tell you how delicious it is!

It’s a beautifully creamy cheese – very smooth and flavorful – created from cows milk and its manufacture is strictly regulated. Serve it straight from its container – a traditional circular wooden box – with fresh French bread and a great wine.

It’s said that it was originally made by Cisterian monks as long ago as the beginning of the fifteenth century. When this community left the area, about two hundred years later, the local farmers continued to make the cheese. The story goes that they gave the local villagers their original secret recipe.  Napoleon was a huge fan of this cheese and gastronome Brillat-Savarin referred to it as ‘the king of cheeses’.

Production continued right until the Second World War. The war in Europe devastated the area and destroyed almost the entire male population. As the women had to now work the fields, cheese production dwindled away.

However, there were still people who knew the original recipe for the cheese first created by the Cisterian monks. In the mid nineteen fifties, a couple who had a small farm, started to produce the cheese. The rest, as they say, is history.

Don’t just serve cheese – serve history, and impress your guests

Our tasters were astonished by their selection of American cheeses this week and they told us that another revelation was the jar of Harvest Song artisan preserves – we selected the fresh walnut for them to match this week’s cheeses.

Like our cheeses, these preserves are award-winners and have a fascinating story – as well as being truly delicious!

Here’s the story – amaze your dinner guests! The walnuts are grown in the volcanic soil on Mount Ararat, yes the place where Noah’s Ark came to rest. They are picked whilst they are still green.

This is very fertile land and has plenty of direct sunlight and local natural sping waters. Produce grown in this area is highly prized by chefs worldwide.

The whole walnuts are cured and cooked in small batches using traditional methods. They are slowly simmered and the preserve is allowed to thicken without the need of any commercial or unnatural thickening agents. This also means that they are naturally sweeter – and therefore lower in calories than other preserves. Our tasters like that too!

Some extremely exclusive restaurants use this walnut preserve as a garnish for patés and game dishes but it’s perfect with cheese. Because they are so flavorful, slice them very thinly and place on the top of a slice of cheese.

Because this walnut preserve is an artisan product, it isn’t available all the time so call in soon.

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

We’re still celebrating American cheeses this week! One of our favorites is  Grayson – a raw milk cheese created by Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia, who raise their own Jersey herd.

The Feete family, who makes the cheese, ensure that no chemicals whatsover are used in the field where the cows graze and the milk is extremely fresh when the cheese is made. They make the cheese within two hours of milking the herd, selecting the highest quality milk only.

It’s a semi-soft cheese – some say that it reminds them of an Italian Taleggio or a French Livarot. However Grayson is aged for longer – normally over sixty days.

Like many of our American cheeses, Grayson is an award-winner.

Incidentally, isn’t it a shame that ‘American cheese’ means processed cheese to so many people? There are so many fine cheeses made in this country. ‘American cheese’, the processed kind, can’t even legally be sold as cheese; it has to be called ‘cheese food’ or similar. As one of our customers recently said ‘I’m so pleased that I can show my family what real American cheese is’. Bravo!

This cheese is only available in the summer months so enjoy it while you can!

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178

This week, we selected some fine American cheeses for our Tuesday Tasting Team. We added a couple of condiments and some fine crackers to accompany the cheeses. Let’s see what they have to say!

When I tasted the first cheese this week, the Barely Buzzed from the Beehive Cheese Company, I was astonished. Here I had a cheese that was hand rubbed with espresso and lavender. That was certainly a new combination to me. But it works so very well. So well that coffee and lavender will be forever connected in my mind! I looked at the Beehive’s website and see that they recommend eating this cheese with chocolate! We don’t currently have any chocolate in the house but I can’t wait to try this!

I moved on – very greedily – to the next cheese and I fell in love all over again. Susan had described this as a stinky cheese – I didn’t find it stinky but I did find it delicious! This cheese, Grayson,  is made in Virginia by the Meadow Creek Dairy. This cheese is made with milk from their own Jersey herd and has a limited availability – usually June until March so we’re already on a countdown. Before we started this wonderful experiment with Cheese Culture, being cheese-innocents we’d never really thought about cheese being seasonal. Now we know better!

Of the three American cheeses this week, it’s impossible to select a favorite. Oh, OK then, if someone held a gun to my head and demanded that I choose a favorite, I would say the Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tan. This is a wonderful creamy cheese and like Grayson  has a limited availability. I’d urge you to buy some before I buy it all! We had all our cheeses with fresh fruit (apricots, pears, cherries and grapes this week) and also with some delicious bread from Gran Forno. Although we were having an American cheese week we tried all our cheeses with l’Abeille Occitane, a pure provençal flower honey. Until we started this foodie experiment, we’d never tried combinations of cheese and honey but it’s a voyage of discovery!

But there were two other highlights in the accompaniments department this week. The first was a box of some fantastic crackers – 34° Natural Crispbread. These were a perfect choice on Susan’s part because, although they are delicious on their own, they are also perfect with the cheeses we tried this week. Then, the real revelation came along – Harvest Song fresh walnut artisan preserve. This was a complete surprise to me. In fact, I’m not even going to try to describe how incredibly excellent these are. I’ll just suggest that you try it yourself. Cheese Culture has totally changed the way we look at – and eat – specialist tasty foods. Now, we’re looking forward to next week!

Join us again next time to see what our intrepid Cheese Culture Tasting team are trying out!

Cheese Culture
813 East Las Olas Boulevard.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-533-9178