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Where To Buy The Best Cheese In The World In NYC
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 28, 2011
Modified Nov 28, 2011
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Artisanal
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 28, 2011
Modified Nov 28, 2011
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In case you haven't been keeping up with the international cheese awards scene, allow us to share some big news: there's a new World Champion cheese, you guys! Her name is Ossau-Iraty, she hails from southwestern France, she's made of raw sheep milk, and she can be yours (for a pretty penny) right here in New York.
The handmade 10-month old Ossau-Iraty just took the top award at the World Cheese Awards in England, for the second time in its creamy little life (the first win came in 2006). Here's how a handful of cheese shops in New York that carry the champ are describing it:
Murray's Cheese (obviously), who describes the Ossau-Iraty as having a "distinct flakiness and deep, lingering, caramelized flavor," and claims that "We haven't found another that comes close to this cheese's sweet, fatty, complex nuttiness." ($33.99/lb)
Bedford Cheese Shop goes the narrative route, telling the story of the "shepherds [who] travel high into the mountains to live in huts or cabins and to tend to the ewes whose milk becomes Ossau Iraty," which "melts in your mouth and leaves you with lingering hints of hazelnuts and lanolin." A staffer told us it's "really, really, good, a classic cheese," and is a big seller in the store. ($34/lb)
Artisanal gives just the facts, breaking down the cheese's history and provenance, until finally getting flowery evocative with "its fragrance is reminiscent of toasted hazelnuts, and its taste encapsulates the sweet, buttery flavors that a great sheep's milk cheese can deliver." ($37/lb)
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artisanal
bedford cheese shop
cheese
murray's
ossau-iraty
world cheese awards
Jamie Feldmar
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