Living in Northeast Georgia diminishes one’s choices for specialty cheeses. Ingles has a terrific selection but my favorite choice is the Costco in Greenville, South Carolina. While the selection is smaller, the quality is amazing; offering “top-shelf” choices in each cheese style. For example, the Kirkland Comte is hand-selected by the team of Herve Mons. It doesn’t get any better than that… I’ll be reviewing their Comte in a few days.
Recently, I purchased a wedge of French Delice de Bourgogne. Delice is a bloomy rind, triple creme from the Burgundy region, created in 1975 by Jean Lincet at Lincet Fromagerie. At room temperature, it looks and spreads like whipped butter. There’s a reason for that, the butterfat content is 75% (of the dry matter) and butter’s fat content is 82% and can be as high as 86% or more.
Near Delice’s fluffy rind, you get that funky mushroom whiff common in bloomies. The mild, buttery paste finishes with a bit of acid. Spread on a baguette is all you need to enjoy this luscious French delight.
However, I decided to kick it up a decadence (with apologies to Emeril) and serve it with Higos al Pedro Ximenez and Orchard Choice Organic Mission Fig Spread.
“Higos” is Spanish for Figs and “Pedro Ximenez” is a Spanish, white grape variety used to make an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry**. The figs were in a gift basket from Creminelli Meats. The whole, dried Pajarero figs are marinated in the PX sherry bringing a crazy, take-the-back-of-your-head-off sugary pairing with the creamy, savory lusciousness of Delice.
The Orchard Choice Organic Mission Fig Spread, while not as sweet, also paired perfectly with the triple creme. This fig spread is just sweet enough to complement the buttery acid.
Both pairings leave you screaming for more.
You may notice that the rind was just beginning to separate from the paste; this cheese was at its prime age; any more ripening would have been waiting too long. I held it for about two weeks after the purchase date and served it on the “Best By” date. Peterson Cheese, the distributor, knew exactly when this wedge would hit its prime.
In memory of our dear Spaulding, I give Delice de Bourgogne 4 Paws.
Wine Pairing: I would suggest something bubbly. It pairs well with the triple creme and lifts the butterfat off the palate, leaving it clean and eager for your next bite.
**Trivia: When the casks used to age the PX Sherry are retired, the casks are often sent to Scotland and Ireland to be used to age fine whisky.
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FTC Disclosure: The manufacturer sent me some of these products, without any obligation on my part, hoping I would review the product. Please see my About Me Page for details.
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