Not long after I began this wondrous cheese journey more than a decade ago, I was promoted from slinger At Fred Meyer’s Salmon Creek in Vancouver to “head slinger” at their Flagship Store on Hawthorne in Portland, Oregon.
Portland is the heart of West Coast Hipster-ism where many hipsters have migrated after being priced out of Brooklyn, San Francisco and Seattle. Hipsters remind of a day The Man and I spent at Magic Mountain north of LA. It was just after Thriller had topped the charts. That day every young black man at the park was dressed like Michael Jackson from the iconic video airing on MTV, right down to the curl hanging on the forehead. But I digress… won’t be the only time in this posting…
My first “holiday” at Hawthorne was Valentine’s Day and being new to cheese, I thought I was oh so clever when I came up with the slogan “Brie Your Valentine”. I cut paper valentines in various red and pink hues with my clever slogan, cut small wheels of Brie into heart shapes and decorated the bloomy section of the cheese case… I was so proud…
In walked the DPI sales rep, an old, bitter hag (not the word I’m thinking) named Debbie who immediately began mocking me for my slogan because, of course, she had thought it up a hundred years before… Every time she visited my cheese kiosk she made it clear that in her world I wasn’t smart enough to spell cheese… much less sell it. I thought she was a pushy know-it-all… which she was, although she hardly knew-it-all. I later learned she referred to me as “The Crazy Cat Lady” behind my back because of Spaulding Gray and this blog. I guess that I was fair since I referred to her as “The DPI Bitch” behind her back… which she was. Actually there were a lot of bitchy, know-it-all, back-stabbing women working for DPI at that time… in my opinion. I mentioned this to my boss, the Deli/Bakery Category Manager, and said “It must be me; it’s statistically impossible for DPI to employ so many back-stabbers in one location.” Her reply, “It’s not you.” And then she added, “And the more threatening you are to them; the more backstabbing…” Which caused me reconsider whether OJ really did it… maybe he should have been looking around south of Portland for the “real killer”… just idle wondering on my part…
As Spaulding liked to say… I digress… but one more before I go back to Brie and Valentine’s Day… from DPI came two of my dearest friends, Doug Ownby and Kala Nyx. We remain friends to this day and I love both of them dearly… and greatly admire that they were able to deal with the DPI Coven… now I’ll un-digress…
Valentine’s Day is a day when you express your love or affection to another with sentimental cards, Fantasy Box Subscriptions and chocolate… somewhere along the way (long before I got “clever” back in Portland), cheese slingers decided that Valentine’s Day needed to have cheese added to the mix. (In all honesty, we try to add cheese to anything and everything edible.)
This year was my third year working with Blue Haven Bee to stage a Valentine’s Day event. This year we showcased Southern Origin Meadery‘s new line of Mead Cheeses produced in collaboration with Utah’s Beehive Cheese Company. Each of the four flavors of Mead Cheese was paired with a chocolate from Seattle Chocolate’s Jcoco line of chocolates and one of Southern Origin’s meads. For a selection of Jcoco Chocolates to purchase, click here.
On each of the simple, but elegant, clear glass plates, we plated 2 ounce wedges of each of the four cheeses (each plate was for two persons); a healthy portion of chocolate and an ample pour of mead. Here’s how we paired these tasty offerings:
Jcoco’s Bali Sea Salt Toffee Chocolate’s silky milk chocolate with its buttery notes captures the tart sweetness of the Southern Origin’s Black Currant Mead and cheese to create a decadent pairing. Just close your eyes and enjoy as this pairing “melts in your mouth”.
Southern Origin’s Wildflower Mead or Dry Cotton Mead and Wildflower Cheese combine the smooth floral and oaky notes to accent the citrusy, dreamsickle sensations of the Seattle’s Hot Buttered Rum Chocolate White Chocolate. The light dusting of chili powder note of the chocolate adds to the fun and enjoyment. Just enough of a kick to catch your attention without overpowering this pairing.
Southern Origin’s Pollinator Pyment with its tart notes from the blend of Mead and Georgia-grown Petit Manseng is a toothsome celebration with the figgy and nuttiness of Jcoco’s Black Fig Pistachio dark chocolate.
Southern Origin’s Legacy Red Mead and Mead Cheese paired with Seattle’s Dark Chocolate Hiker Bar. This blended chocolate contain sunflower seeds, peanuts and raisins that pairs perfectly with the floral notes of Southern Origin Legacy Red Mead and Cheese.
We offered an add-on pairing of Prosecco and Triple Creme Brie:
There’s no better finish to a Valentine evening than pairing a bubbly Prosecco with a creamy, buttery French Triple Crème Brie and Seattle Chocolate’s popping Moonrocks Truffle Bar. The bubbles of the sparkling wine and the poppings in the chocolate enhance the flavors of the cheese while cleaning the palate.
I was not available to attend the event but prepped the cheeses and plated a sample for Blue Haven to execute… after all… that’s what a Cheesemonger does… I was sorry to not be there but from several of my cheese friends who did attend, the evening was a great success. How could it not: Cheese, Chocolate and booze… the perfect pairings…
Another fun event I co-hosted while at Hawthorne included pairing sea salts with Portland’s Moonstruck Chocolates, which had a display next door to the cheese kiosk. Click here for other cheese, chocolate and salt pairings.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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