A “well-connected” cheese friend just returned from Paris and surprised The Lady and moi with two very different, small disks of the same cheese, Saint Marcellin. Our friend’s last stop before flying home from France was Lyons, the home of Saint Marcellin which is available everywhere: in restaurants as part of the cheese course or alone as dessert and in every food store piled high in various stages of ripeness.
Saint Marcellin is made in disks that are personal-sized, less than three ounces, with a brainy, thin rind that is almost not there. As it ages, the “rind” mottles and turns yellow as it ages. Of the two we “scored”, one was a snowy white and the second more yellow. The difference was amazing…
The snowy white disk was young and didn’t offer a lot. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but it just didn’t pop. Kind of mild and bit chalky. We schmeared it on a slice of French bread and once we topped it with an additional schmear of Sully’s Date Jam, this cheese took on a life… or maybe it was Sully’s delightful jam…
However, the second, more mature disk… well this was like “Cheese Night and Day”. Everything lacking in the first disk, was screaming its way out of the second… This disk was much creamier, close to running when The Lady pierced the rind, and even before tasting, the room filled with a “Come Eat Me” mushroomy, earthy leafs close to rotting but not there… still that pleasant smell of clean dirt when The Lady is planting her herb garden. The taste was divine, buttery and nutty, robust and salty.
And… this cheese is yest another reason to visit France…
I give Saint Marcellin 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
Serving Suggestions: A younger disk can start any respectable cheese plate, but a more mature disk should be served in a cup (in fact when you buy it in the US, it usually comes in a Terra Cotta cup) with warm French Bread.
Wine Pairing: The Lady loves red and she chose a Pinot Noir from Oregon; however, something sparkling would also pair well with Saint Marcellin.
Beer Pairing: How about a hard pear cider?
Source: Cow’s milk
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