The Crave Brothers Les Freres Cheese

Well, this is my first dalliance into food review. I feel I must preface this by saying I am in no way, shape, or form a seasoned food critic. I am, however, a very seasoned eater. Hey, do you see what I just did there? With the "seasoning" thing, talking about food? Ahaha, I slay me. Anyway... this is about cheese. I like cheese a lot. I feel there are but a few things (namely desserts) that cannot be made better with the addition of it.

The Crave Brothers Les Freres is a pasteurized cow's milk cheese from Wisconsin. It is a little stinky, but nowhere near some of the other cheeses I have had. Your hands will smell a little like feet after handling the washed rind,  but your taste buds will thank you. I like this cheese much better after it has come to room temperature. As my windows are open and it's kind of humid, that didn't take long today. The smell mellows and the taste and texture improve with the temperature equilibrium. Straight out of the fridge, the soft cheese has a little bit of spring to it, being borderline rubbery but not in an off-putting way. This cheese has a good saltiness to it and it is not overly creamy or rich. For some reason today I am getting a huge cracked-pepper taste from it which I have not noted in the past. It has the acidity of many other soft cheeses I have tried but it doesn't smack you in the face with it or linger on your tongue. This is somewhere between the mild D'Affinois and a salty brie. It doesn't have the mushroomy quality of nice brie, nor does it have the buttery subtlety of D'Affinois. If you like those two cheeses, give this one a shot. My quarter round was $4.92 at the Newport Kroger Marketplace Murray's case, and is labeled as $11.99 a pound. I recommend tasting this on a crispy unleavened wafer (as pictured) or a slice of crusty french or batard bread. 

Happy Eating!

Shay.