Welcome to the Rooster Brother Cheese blog

Here at Rooster Brother we put a lot of effort into sourcing a selection of some of the world's finest and most interesting cheeses.

Right now in our new cheese case we are offering all of the following:

Fresh Cheeses

• Herbed Seal Cove Chevre a goat milk cheese from Lamoine, Maine A farmstead cheese handcrafted in the French tradition, using only milk from the goats on this local farm.
  
• Mt Vikos Feta a sheep/goat milk cheese from Greece This outstanding cheese is made in a traditional manner by a small family dairy in central Greece, from fresh milk of free-ranging sheep and goats. It is made during months when grasses are green for a sweet flavor. No antibiotics are given the animals. Mt. Vikos contains no preservatives, additives, or calcium chloride. The shepherds, who tend the herds, do the actual milking, and bring the fresh milk to the dairy every day.
  
• Valbreso Feta a sheep milk cheese from France This white, moist, crumbly Feta, made from milk left over from the production of Roquefort, the famous French blue cheese, has a creamy, salty flavor often associated with Greece and Greek food, but is milder than its Greek counterparts.
  
• Mascarpone a cow's milk cheese from Italy An intensely rich Italian triple cream dessert cheese, it often appears in Tiramisu, but is also eaten plain or used to dress up sweet fruits. In Italy, Mascarpone is very popular in savory dishes, such as cheese tortes. It may be blended with spices and spread on bread, or blended with Gorgonzola or another strong savory cheese and spread on baguettes.
  
• Val Frais a cow's milk cheese from France

Soft Ripened Cheeses

• Brie a cow's milk cheese from France - very soft and savory with an edible rind.
  
• Chatelain Camembert a cow's milk cheese from Normandy, France - rich, creamy, and buttery with a soft, white, bloomy rind.
  
• La Tur a cow/sheep/goat milk cheese from Italy Mild and delightful, one of cheese's best approximations of ice cream. A thin, edible skin surrounds a light, airy textured center. Mild, tangy and delightful. Enjoy it with a glass of Prosecco.
  
• Bosina Robiola a cow/sheep milk cheese from Italy Bosina is a small town in the center of the Alta Langa in the southern Piedmont, Italy. This cheese is elegant, graceful, creamy and rich, but light and ephemeral. Made the same way for hundreds of years.
  
• Saint André a triple crème cow's milk cheese from France - very rich and creamy, with a soft, buttery texture and velvety white rind. It tastes like an intense version of Brie.
  

Washed Rind Cheeses

• Époisses a cow's milk cheese from France This powerhouse from Burgundy is not for the faint of heart. Rich, bold and tangy, with a good loaf of bread and a big red wine, it's a meal.
  
• Fontina Val d'Aosta a cow's milk cheese from Italy One of the great cheeses of Italy, it bears no resemblance to the factory-made cheeses of the same name. It is rich and nutty, with flavors reminiscent of truffles and roasted apple and a supple texture that is extraordinarily meltable.
• Grayson a cow's milk cheese from Virginia, USA From Meadow Creek Farms in the hills of southwestern Virginia comes Grayson, a soft, finely textured, complex cheese, very rich and meaty with a pungent aroma and a nutty, sweet overtone. It is reminiscent of Italian Taleggio or French Livarot, but made with rich Jersey milk and a longer aging time. It is surface ripened with a thin reddish-orange washed rind.
• Raclette a cow's milk cheese from Switzerland Ideally suited for melting; mild and slightly nutty and fruity with a dark beige rind and a creamy interior. Most famously used to make a dish which also goes by the name “raclette.”
  
• Taleggio a cow's milk cheese from Italy Popular since Roman times and referenced by Cicero, Cato and Piny, this is one of the great cheeses of Italy. At the same time buttery, beefy, salty and supple, with a wonderful tangy finish. Pinot grigio is a great fellow traveler.
  

Semi Soft Cheeses

• Red Dragon Cheddar a cow's milk cheese from Wales This firm, smooth Cheddar is made with Welsh brown ale and whole mustard seeds and is coated in red wax. It is a creamy, buttery and spicy cheese with a tang from the ale (which also makes the cheese moist and tangy) and a little piquancy from the mustard seeds. A good melting cheese.
  
• Fontal a cow's milk cheese from Italy A soft, mild, pasteurized Fontina best used for cooking.
  
• Garrotxa a goat milk cheese from Spain -This semi-soft goat cheese from the Catalonia region in northern Spain is cakey, with the woodsy flavor of pine nuts. Very special.
• Leyden a cow's milk cheese from Holland A spiced cheese similar to Goud but scattered with cumin seeds, with a deep red rind.
  
• Port Salut a cow's milk cheese from France A smooth, delectable cheese made in the province of Brittany on the west coast of France (a region very similar to Maine; the countryside of Brittany is bordered by the ocean, boats and fish, and is steeped in coastal weather extremes), with a distinctive orange crust and pale-yellow interior.
  
• Sottocenere al Tartufo a cow's milk cheese from the Veneto region of Italy This cheese is aged under an ash and spice coating including nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and fennel. The rind is rubbed with truffle oil and the interior is studded with flakes of black truffle. This is an excellent melting cheese, buttery and mildly pungent.
  

Slicing Cheeses

• Cabot Sharp Cheddar a cow's milk cheese from Vermont, USA
• Emmenthaler a cow's milk cheese from the Emme Valley, Switzerland The original "Swiss" cheese. Made from the raw milk of high alpine pasture cows and aged in caves at those same altitudes. This yellow, medium-hard cheese, with characteristic large holes in it has a piquant, but not really sharp, taste.
  
• Provolone a cow's milk cheese from the USA

Blue Cheeses

• Blue Castello a triple crème cow's milk cheese from Denmark, with a delectably rich and buttery taste accented by mildly spicy blue veins and a Brie-like texture.
  
• Stilton a cow's milk cheese from England A creamy cheese marbled with rich blue veins, with a rich mellow flavor, and a pleasant sharp aftertaste which complements many foods well and is especially ideal for salads, pastas, and pizza.
  
• Fourme d'Ambert a cow's milk cheese from France Murray's cheese book says, "Even the self-professes haters of blue fall for this gentle, voluptuous, curdy beaut." This cheese is miraculous: rich, thick and complex, earthy and surprisingly light.
  
• Dolce Gorgonzola a cow's milk cheese from Italy A young (aged for approximately three months) and sweet blue cheese, creamy yellow in color, richly veined with blue green mold, with a creamy texture, a mild flavor and distinctive aroma.
  
• Huntsman a cow's milk cheese from England A combination of two English cheeses: Stilton and Double Gloucester. The two types of cheese are combined in alternating layers. It is hand layered and is a very labor intensive process. Huntsman is made by Long Clawson Dairy in Melton Mowbray.
  
• Mitibleu a sheep milk cheese from Spain Often called the Spanish Roquefort, it is more mellow and less edgy than its french counterpart. Melts like a dream on burgers.
  
• Point Reyes a cow's milk cheese from USA A stunning blue from California, all salty milkiness and tart with a nice bite. Great crumbled into a salad.
  
• Smokey Blue a cow's milk cheese from Oregon, USA Rogue Creamery cold smokes this award winning blue for 16 hours over hazelnut shells from the Pacific Northwest. The result is a balance of sweet caramel and hazelnut flavors that magically contrast the sharpness of the blue cheese. Excellent crumbled on top of a grilled burger or simply layer slices on a French baguette.
  

Firm Cheeses

• Cave Aged Appenzeller a cow's milk cheese from Switzerland Essential for authentic fondue along with the other classic Swiss mountain cheeses, Gruyere and Emmenthaler, this cheese is spicy, fruity and dense.
  
• Cave Aged Gruyere a cow's milk cheese from Switzerland This will be a revelation if you're used to the supermarket version. Salty, nutty, almost beefy with little bursts of flavor and crunch, this is the classic Alpine melter. Combine with Emmenthaler for fabulous fondue.
  
• Manchego a sheep milk cheese from Spain -Produced in La Mancha region. It is made only from the pasteurized whole milk of Manchega sheep, and is a rich golden color with small holes. It is aged in natural caves for generally 3 - 6 months, which imparts a zest and exuberant flavor.
  

Hard Cheeses

• Cabot Cloth Cheddar a cow's milk cheese from Vermont, USA A real Vermont treasure. Made in limited quantities, this cheese is a perfect farmhouse cheddar. It is made by Cabot only with the milk from the Kempton Farm in Peacham, Vermont, then aged in the caves of Jasper Hill Farm for 10-12 months. The texture is marvelous with layers of toasted nut, toffee and apple flavors. We are fortunate to be able to acquire a steady supply of this remarkable cheese.
  
• Isle of Mull Cheddar a cow's milk cheese from Scotland
• Old Quebec Cheddar a cow's milk cheese from Canada
• Farmhouse Gouda a cow's milk cheese from Holland -Aged 3 years, this Gouda has a rich flavor, subtle sweetness and crumbly texture found only in the very best aged cheeses. Its color is deep amber and burnt orange and the flavor is an amazing combination of sweet butterscotch with a hint of saltiness.
• Green Wax Gouda a goat milk cheese from Holland
• Parmigiano Reggiano a cow's milk cheese from Italy The legendary hard cheese from Parma - nutty, spicy, salty (but not too much so) and floral with a distinct caramel finish.
  
• Pecorino Romano a sheep milk cheese from Italy This cheese has a bold, briny, pungent flavor that beautifully offsets all manner of sweet, acidic tomato sauces.
  
• Pecorino Toscaa a sheep milk cheese from Italy Milder, complex, and less salty than Pecorino Romano, this is one of our favorite pizza cheeses.
  
• Vella Sonoma Dry Jack a cow's milk cheese from California, USA Made since 1931, this lovely aged cheddar is nutty and sweet, with crunch. Makes sublime nachos. Outer coating is cocoa powder.