The place where our mutual infatuation with cheese really took root, Cheesetique is a lovely little shop in Del Ray, Virginia. It expanded in early 2008 to include a new cheese and wine bar, which also created a dedicated classroom space for the monthly themed cheese classes. In addition to the area’s best cheese selection, and friendly and knowledgeable cheesemongers, Cheesetique also stocks an array of charcuterie, fresh pasta, olive oils, gourmet crackers, local chocolates, all the necessary cheese accompaniments, wine and beer. (I recently wrote about my “Cheesetique Pasta,” made from the shop’s saffron pasta, salami and roasted tomatoes.)

You can check the archives here for recaps of a few of the past cheese classes, taught by Jill Erber, a.k.a. the Cheese Lady. Jill is the most gregarious cheese advocate I have yet to meet, and is surely destined for a career as the next food network star. Not on that cheesy reality competition, but as the host of a cheese talk/travel show. (Wouldn’t that be awesome?) 

Most recently, I enjoyed the samplings at the fall class, “Love ‘em or Leaf ‘em.” Some of these cheeses were ordered just for the class, so it was a special treat to enjoy them. A favorite was the Vento d’ Estate, an Italian cows-milk cheese that comes wrapped in a thick layer of green hay. The hay imparts a musty, grassy aroma and flavor to the cheese.

Cheesetique is not the only cheese shop in the area, so as the challenge goes on I will branch out a little and report back on some of DC’s other fine cheese cases. But if you are local, you really must make a point to stop in for a panini, cheese tasting, flight of wine or just some personal consultation with DC’s top cheesemongers.

Cheesetique is at 2411 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria. They open at 8am on Saturdays during the Del Ray Farmers Market season, stay open till 10pm Friday and Saturday nights, and are closed on Mondays. If you already know and love Cheesetique, why not join the fan club on Facebook? See you in the shop!

Tonight’s Cheesetique course was on holiday entertaining. The lecture portion focused on tips for creating the perfect party cheese platter. Some useful tips:

• For appetizer or after dinner, serve 3-4 ounces per person; for the main course, 5-6 ounces per person.
• Variety is good, but include one cheese everyone will love and one more adventerous sweet or salty cheese.
• Always let the cheeses sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving, and provide a knife for each cheese to avoid mixing flavors.

We then tasted the ten cheeses pictured, a range of sweet and savory festive cheeses. I tend to like my cheese to taste like cheese, so some of these were trying too hard for my liking. But, the goal was to present crowd-pleasing options, and most of these were inoffensive and would appeal to cheese newbies. My favorites:

• Saint Julien with Walnut (cow, France) – looks like layer cake, luscious and creamy, sweet with a walnut layer. Great for people who aren’t into stinky cheese, this is incredibly mild.
• La Leyenda Brandy Cheese (raw sheep, Spain) – A manchego-style aged cheese wrapped in herbs and soaked in Solera Brandy. Grassy and flavorful.
• Boschetto al Tartufo (sheep & cow, Italy) – Flavored with white truffle shavings, this is Incredibly earthy, creamy, delicate and fragrant.

The bottom right cheese was a Royal Windsor from England. The pink layers are the Elderberry Wine Cheese (okay on its own), and the center is a pungent Blue Stilton. An interesting combination, but the stilton really overpowers the elderberry.

cheese class – “lovely locals”

“lovely locals” class

1 – merry goat round (goat), firefly farms, bittenger md
goats milk brie, chalky center, squishy around edges
2 – monocacy silver (goat), cherry glen farm, boyds md
gooey, tangy
*3 – ash chevre log (goat), pipe dreams, greencastle pa
firm, softens in mouth, lightly earthy
4 – goat with green peppercorns (goat), coach farm, ferndale ny
firm, green peppercorns add fruitiness
*5 – everona cracked pepper (raw sheep), everona dairy, rapidan va
spicy & rich (& $$)
6 – keswick creamery lesher (raw cow), keswick creamery, newburg pa
subtle & creamy, farm of just 40 jersey cows, good with bread & fruit
7 – appalachian spring (raw sheep), locust grove farm, knoxville tn
Gouda-type cheese, squeaky
*8 – pennsylvania noble cheddar (organic raw cow), green valley dairy, kirkwood pa
Amish, completely hand made (hand milked cows), aged 3-4 mos (young for cheddar), creamy & lots of fresh farm flavor
9 – kenny’s farmhouse horseradish cheddar (raw cow), kenny’s farmhouse cheese, austin ky
rich with fresh horseradish kick
10 – grayson (raw cow), meadow creek dairy, galax va
stinky! washed in salt water, pungent & creamy

* = my favorites