Bloomy rind cheeses are one of my favorite categories. The bloomy rind is part of the ripening process. The mold "blooms" to a white coating on the cheese, protecting the soft paste on the inside and giving it a distinctive flavor.
The two most famous bloomy rind cheeses are brie and camembert.
A bloomy rind cheese is never vac sealed as it is continuing to ripen in it's wrapper. The wrappers selected are specifically designed to retain the moisture of the cheese and allow it to mature in the package.
I personally prefer my bloomy rind cheeses extra mature. That means beyond the best by date. There seems to be a lot of confusion about dates on food. Generally, the date has nothing to do with whether or not the food is safe past that date. The date is the suggested date for best quality. In the case of a cheese like a bloomy rind, it's characteristics will continue to change as it ages, becoming stronger and more fragrant as it ages.
Here, we have three unique variations on a similar style. All three are considered "fresh" cheeses, which means they are made with pasteurized milk and aged usually only a few weeks. All three are soft.
Marchant Manor Elmsted Ash. (photo above) This is triple creme bloomy rind made exclusively with A2 Guernsey milk. This means that the cheese is made with whole milk, and enriched with whipping cream to triple the butterfat content.
This decadent cheese is dusted with a food grade ash to imitate how cheeses were made centuries ago. In the old days, the ash protected the cheese from insects and accelerated a pH drop in the milk. Today, it is for pH and presentation.
This cheese is best served at room temperature, and as it gets older the interior will turn from a firm, yellowish-white paste to a loose, creamy paste.
I like to buy this one in pairs. Enjoy one now and one later for a different experience.
Kuhweid Creamery Kerrie. This is a traditional whole milk brie-style made with 100% grass grassfed Jersey cow milk. This cheese showcases the traditional buttery notes of the style, and the sweetness and richness of the grass diet and genetics of the cows shows through with some sweet and nutty notes. Best served at room temperature.
Mayfield Road Bloomfield. This cheese is technically made in the tradition of camembert, which is just a smidge different than brie. It includes the addition of a lactic starter culture (think lacto fermentation) that adds a slightly stronger note to the cheese. This cheese looks very similar to the Kuhweid Kerrie. However, it is made only with milk from Holstein cows and has a more pure white color and firmer texture.
And one cheese that doesn't quite fit in...But I love it. Canal Junction Charloe. This is a raw milk cheese, aged 60 days, and made from 100% grassfed milk from the mixed breed herd of Canal Junction creamery in Defiance, OH. Ralph and Sheila developed this "washed rind" cheese back in 2012. Since then, they have been taking awards nationwide at the competitions, including 3 "Good Food Awards."
This cheese has a semi-soft interior and a robust rind. The rind is developed with a natural salt water wash - meaning the cheese is washed regularly in a brine to develop specific flavor notes and bacteria on the surface. This provides a strong, pronounced flavor to the rind.
The interior is soft and nutty with lots of notes of what I like to group together as "funk." Mushrooms, earthiness, and floral notes all can be found here, and this cheese shows off equally on a cheeseboard as it does melted on a burger with caramelized onions and mushrooms.
