Cheese: Morbier, Goat Milk Brie and Asiago with Rosemary and Olive Oil

Morbier cheese is named after a village by that name in France. 

One of its distinguishing characteristics is a black layer of ash that goes through the middle. 

Traditionally, the makers of Gruyere cheese would have leftover curd at the end of the day, but not enough for an entire cheese. So they would put the remaining curd in a mold and spread ash over it to prevent it from forming a rind overnight. The next day the remainder of the mold would be filled with curd. Today the cheese is usually made in a single day and the "ash" is a vegetable product added purely for looks, in keeping with tradition. The ash is tasteless. Morbier has a strong, stinky, somewhat off-putting aroma and a slightly bitter aftertaste. Because of the vein of ash, which reminded me of a Gorgonzola or similar cheese, and the strong smell, I was expecting it to have a much stronger taste. 

But it is actually very mild. It is semi-soft, with a yellow rind and has a plasticy texture to it. It is made from cow's milk and is aged over 60 days. It is okay cheese, but not something I would go out of my way to buy again. 

When I saw goat milk Brie I had to try it. 

I love Brie and I love goat milk cheese and the combination seemed divinely inspired. 

Cow and sheep milk has a yellowish color to it from carotene which the animals get from the grass and hay they eat. Goats, on the other hand, convert the carotene into a colorless Vitamin A so that it does not color their milk, the reason for the whiteness of goat cheese. So this goat Brie is whiter than the traditional Brie you find. 

I was expecting it to be quite a bit stronger than traditional Brie, but again was surprised by how mild it was. It does have a slightly sweet and more full taste than regular Brie. Given the choice between this and a regular Brie, I would pick the goat Brie nine times out of ten. 

Asiago is produced in the area near Asiago, Italy. 

To have the Asiago designation, the cheese must be produced in one or more of the four provinces in northeastern Italy. The cows that produce it start in the meadows of the Po Valley and finish up in the alpine pastures between the Asiago Plateau and the Trentino highlands and it is produced at dairies more than 600 meters above sea level. I found on the internet that Sartori Asiago with rosemary and olive oil won a gold medal at the 2008 World Championship Cheese Contest. 

I also found that Sartori Reserve of Wisconsin produced the cheese for Trader Joe's (I don't know how that works with the requirement that it be made in northern Italy?). The Sartori website says that the Asiago is hand rubbed with olive oil and encrusted with rosemary. It is made in the tradition of Asiago d'Allevo with skimmed cow's milk and aged for at least 12 months and is a good grating cheese. 

My guess is that the Trader Joe's version has not been aged that long. Asiago Mezzano (middle Asiago) is aged 3 to 8 months and has a sweetish taste. Asiago Vecchio (old Asiago) is aged 9 to 18 months and has a bitter taste. Asiago Stravecchio (very old Asiago) is aged more than 18 months, is very hard and grainy and has a bitter and spicy taste. The Asiago I had was not better and so it must have been aged a lesser amount of time. It had a very pleasant nutty flavor and I would definitely buy it again.