A blast, of course!! This is just the most wonderful event for foodies that ever there was. This year did not disappoint, and now that I know what to generally expect, I wasn’t quite as wide-eyed and overwhelmed as I was my first time. Ok, maybe I still was.
One thing that is always overwhelming and entirely irresistible at the Fancy Food Show is the amount and variety of cheese. Cheese, glorious cheese. So I thought that was an easy place to start! You know I love cheese.
CHEESE, CHEESE, CHEESE!!! It’s simple, it’s complex, I have no idea how many different kinds of cheese there are, but I’d have to guess we’ll into the thousands. It definitely has a positive physical effect on people who appreciate it, perhaps that’s why you can’t help but smile when you “say cheese!!” I love to have just a nice cheese board for dinner from time to time. I love to have a good cheese alone or to pair it with a good wine. I love a silky, smooth Brie or a crystalline, aged Gouda. I love goat cheese crumbled on a salad or a fresh burrata oozing over an olive oil drizzled crostini. I could literally go on about cheese forever. I have so many fond cheese memories, coupled with good times in Napa Valley, in France, or just in my home!
Cypress Grove is one my favorite cheese crafters and has been so since I first had the Humboldt Fog years ago.
I don’t know exactly what makes the Fog so perfect. It’s got the crumbly but smooth goat cheese center, and a creamy ring around it like a Brie. It has the perfect tang and and a rich mouth-feel. I think I told the story on here once about how I made my sick “saving” a big hunk of the Fog from spoliation during a power out several years ago.
Recently, they put some twists on the Fog, adding dill to the Dill Remix…
Another twist has a nice peppery addition, the Pepper Remix…
And the third twist has a lovely fennel lavender addition, the Haze Remix…
Though the remixes are all good, I think I still just love the good old classic Humboldt Fog the best! And don’t get me started on their Truffle Tremor – it’s one of the best truffle things out there. I also enjoyed plenty of other creamery’s offering.
Firefly Farms, a local cheese maker to my neck of the woods, had a delicious soft ripened goat cheese round, the Merry Goat Round, bound in a wood strap. It was so soft in the center that it was basically a fondue. It had a great tang and rich texture, and I’m hoping I can find this in stores near me.
Another fun cheese sighting was a huge basket full of a creamy Gorgonzola by Tulip Tree. Look at all that good stuff!!
And a North Carolina creamery, the Goat Lady Dairy, has a very nice ashen Brie. Soft, earthy, and mild but quite luscious. 
Some other cheese sightings, including cheese carvings and, of course, the Great Wall of Cheese, honored this great craft at the Fancy Food Show!!
Eat, Drink, and Go! 