Nov
23
It’s odd how a topic of conversation suddenly pops into your life – at work, home, something you’ve overheard on the street. whatever. It’s suddenly there. That’s how munster came into my life. A few customers at Ottavio had been asking for it recently. Reading a magazine, a recipe called for it. Researching food/wine matches I came across it when I delved into Alsatian wines. It’s on my radar and I’ve never even tried it. Until last night that is.
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I’m supposed to be on a bit of a cheese lock-down, but for the sake of research I bought some. Steve swears I’ve tasted it before, but surely I’d remember. Anyways, we tried a pasteurized petit munster. It was a small round with a tacky, soft orange-coloured skin (washed rind). Flavour-wise, a sharp taste without being overwhelming – and definitely some ammonia there. But not really a distinctive taste. And according to my fave cheese resource, that being Murray’s Cheese Handbook, that’s probably because it wasn’t a farmhouse munster – but a factory, pasteurized (oh, the horror) one. He accurately describes it as “…their (the pasteurized ones) gummy, acrid, unpleasant tang bears little resemblance to the great raw milk versions.”
Didn’t stop us from eating the little thing, but I did think carefully as I ate it. A great cheese has depth of flavour and nuances that make your brain work through all the different flavours that pass over your tongue, textures that amaze you and of course, smells. This one fell short of the mark. But it’s heightened my curiosity. Must find real munster!
