Monday, January 14, 2008

Double Gloucester tasted on Jan. 13, 2008





Traditional wisdom says:
"Double Gloucester is a traditional English cheddar-style cheese from Gloucestershire with a bold orange color and bright, somewhat sharp flavor. Double Gloucester has the honor and distinction of being used each spring for the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake on Gloucestershire's Cooper's Hill, which consists of competitors chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester down an uneven hillside. The competitors are expected to catch the wheel of cheese; but, with speeds in excess of 70mph, this is virtually impossible."

Now for my say:
This cheese is yellow-orange in color. Dry, not quite crumbly in texture. Somewhere between medium and sharp cheddar. It has a natural rind which is creamy white in color and somewhat 'powdery' to the touch.
The label reads: Pasteurized cows milk, dairy culture, vegetarian rennet, salt, natural coloring Annatto, penicillium Roquefort.
Unit Price: $11.99 per pound. I purchased .40 pounds of this cheese and paid a total price of $4.80 USD. The piece I bought was cut from the wheel when I asked for it. Since I didn't know that I was going to be doing this blog when I made the purchase, I did not take note of the brand. I will be sure to get that information the next time I am at Earth Fare.




My first taste:
With this cheese I had red seedless grapes, toasted rye bread with olive oil spread and a glass of unsweetened, peach flavored, iced tea.
This cheese is inoffensive. It has a pleasant taste and texture. It feels good in the mouth, not mushy or gummy. It has a very mild odor. It was dry enough and firm enough to slice very thinly. No aftertaste. My opinion is that Double Gloucester cheese is good with fresh fruit. It would also be nice for a grilled cheese sandwich, or a cheese tray. Over all I would say this is a nice, average, inoffensive cheese. Anyone and every one should like it. There is nothing objectionable about this cheese but it's price.
My Final Say:
I would gladly eat it if someone offered it on a cheese tray or with fruit at a party or luncheon, but I see no need to pay the extra price for something that isn't really that much better than a good, quality, regular cheddar cheese.

5 comments:

pamwax said...

I am not sur I am going to be able to read your Cheese Log. You see I love cheese. So far I have not met a cheese I didn't like. You are making me hungry.

Really, good idea for a blog. Keep it up and I will read and probably learn something new.

Jeannie said...

My goodness, how could I have missed reading your cheese blog until now??? I should have been able to smell your post. There is not a cheese in the world that I don't know. It's true!

Do you have a Trader Joe's store in your area? They used to put out a Double Gloucester that I found to be a cut above the rest. It had an extra creaminess that made it particular good for a grilled cheese sandwich. But it also had a little extra "umph" which made it great for just eating on its own.

An spectacular alternative to cheddar is Fowlers Little Derby, by Fowlers of Earlswood. It's a medium flavor but very fresh tasting. It is nearly impossible to find here in the U.S. though. If you ever find it, please tell me and I'll buy some right away!!

Jeannie said...

Added "an" in that last paragraph. The cheese must be clogging my brain.

Some Kinda Wonderful said...

Thanks for checking it out, Jeannie. I'm not a cheese expert, but I do love it and when I saw that great, long cheese case in the Earth Fare store, my eyes nearly fell out of my face. The neatest thing about the place is that they have local cheeses. I didn't even know we had such! I have a new cheese I'm going to blog about this weekend, but I want to get a nice picture of it before I cut it. It's French. Pete picked it out this time. I think I'm going to try one of the local varieties next week.

Mr. Mike said...

As my wife noted, she loves cheese. I am not a connoisseur of food though as my wife can attest to I really like food a lot. Although your post gave this cheese a medium rating, the picture has made me really hungry. I'm going to go eat now!