The Best of Formaggio Kitchen Class on Wednesday
Dan and I had the opportunity to attend a very special class at Formaggio Kitchen hosted by Ihsan and Valerie Gurdal, the owners of Formaggio. Ihsan and Valerie are celebrating Formaggio’s 40th Anniversary this year and planned a special evening showcasing their favorite foods sold at the store and sharing fun stories about their travels around the world.
The class began with Snacks that featured Bonilla a la Vista Patatas Fritas from Arteixo, Spain (potato chips); Salted Pistachios from Antep, Turkey; and Plantation Peanuts from Virginia. We’ve had the potato chips before at another Formaggio class and we love them. They have the perfect amount of salt on them that quenches your desire for a salty snack, are firm and crunchy, and are never greasy. The peanuts were also great and was another snack that had the perfect amount of saltiness with a nice buttery flavor. I’m not much of a pistachio fan, but I did try one.
Next up was Cheese Course #1 that had us eating four different cheeses: (a) Tarentaise Maxi, a raw goat’s milk cheese from Savoie, France; (b) Ekiola Ardi Gasna, a raw sheep’s milk cheese from the Pyrenees, France; (c) Brebis du Haut Bearn, a sheep’s milk cheese from the Pyrenees, France; and (d) Christian Pardu cheese from the Pyrenees, France. The cheeses were accompanied with Rachael Coing Jam from Brittany, France, made with a quince fruit; and Mousquetaire Cerise Noir jam from the Pyrenees, France made with black cherries. The Tarentaise Maxi cheese, a hard to find cheese, was too funky on its own for my palate. However, when paired with the quince jam, the sweetness of the jam cut the funkiness of the cheese and made a perfect pairing. I really liked all three of the Pyrenees cheeses, but especially the Christian Pardu, which is rare cheese and difficult to find in the United States. We also a Rosé wine from Gobelsburg, one of the oldest wineries in Austria, that was very good. Ihsan and Valerie visited the winery and discovered that its building is actually a beautiful old castle.
When searching for cheeses in France, Ihsan and Valerie met with the shepherds in addition to the cheese makers, as in their opinion, both are important to the cheese making process. Many people only focus on the cheese maker who cures the milk produced by the shepherds and is the person who actually makes the cheese, but the shepherds are just as important as the shepherds’ animals produce the milk that makes the cheese.
Following our first cheese course of the evening, we had a green salad made with Jean-Marie Cornille Olive Oil from Provence, France. According to Ihsan, this is “reward yourself oil”, as it is very expensive and something you only use on special occasions. The oil has a slight fruity flavor and is difficult to import, so you should buy it if you ever find it. We also had grilled pork chops made with Vignalta salt from Veneto, Italy; and Schwerter’s Mustard from Schwert, Germany. The salt is herb infused, which is made by placing fresh herbs within the salt where they dry out and infuse the salt with their flavor. Ihsan passed around the jar of salt and it smelled wonderful. I had never eaten pork chops with mustard, and I really liked them paired together. The mustard had a great flavor and I bought some to add to my extensive mustard collection. A red wine was served with the pork chops, which I passed on.
Cheese Course #2 had two different cheeses: Blu di Capra and Cevrin al Pepe, both goat’s milk cheeses from Piemonte, Italy. These cheeses were paired with Floriano Tiglio Honey from Elva, Italy; Lo Brusc Acacia Honey from Provence, France; and Olof Viktors Knäckebröd rye cracker from Glemminge, Sweden. This course was served with Isole e Alena, which is similar to a port wine that had a great flavor. I thought both of these cheeses were more funky than I like, and while the accoutrements were meant to balance out the funk, I didn’t care for either of the cheeses. The Blu di Capra is meant to mimic a gorgonzola cheese but is made with goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk. The Cervin al Pepe cheese had a peppery finish to it that was unique. I didn’t like it, but it was definitely something I had never had before and was interesting to experience. The Floriano Tiglio honey was not as sweet as honey typically is, and it had a thicker, grainer texture because it was dripped from the screen and not filtered like most honey is before it is sold. The texture made the honey unique, and I liked it. The Lo Brusc Acacia honey was very sweet, and like most honey you eat, it was filtered.
We finished the evening with a few parting sweets: Lisbona Tomatis cookies from Pamparato, Italy; Carquinyolis Sant Quinti biscotti from Sant Quinti de Mediona, Spain; and Lakrits Salty Licorice from Ramlosa, Sweden. I loved the cookies and biscotti. The cookies are made from cornmeal and while they have a sweetness to them, they aren’t overly sweet and are very common to find when traveling anywhere in Italy. The biscotti was excellent and are the perfect dessert to eat when paired with a dessert wine. I detest the taste of licorice, however I did try a piece. It was very soft, which is a better texture than the waxy texture of Twizzlers or Red Vines, but the flavor is one that I will never enjoy. Dan likes licorice and even he said the flavor was too much.
I loved this class. Most of the offerings were things I had never had before, and it was fun to hear Ihsan and Valerie talk about their extensive travels. I mentioned to Ihsan after the class that almost everything on his menu was from Europe, and that he should do a class highlighting American products. He is going to think about it, and I really hope he does one!
(Wednesday, September 19, 2018 / @julieschultz79 / #mycrazylifeblog)
