Nothing Says Autumn Like Cheese & Apples:
A Cheese & Apple Pairing Guide
My favorite time of year is Fall. The temperature is cooler, the air is crisp, and of course, the trees here in the Northeast put forth a display of brilliance that is breathtaking. I love putting on a cozy sweater and enjoying the outdoors. The farmer's markets are still chock full of produce, and the seasonal selections inspire me to head back into the kitchen to take advantage. Winter squash and apples are piled high, and though they are available year-round, there is no substitute for a locally grown, in-season apple.
Apples also happen to be the perfect match for cheese. I know I'm stating the obvious when I say cheese goes with apples. The salty, earthy, and nutty characteristics in particular cheeses are just perfect next to the tart, sweet, and crisp fruit. Besides the traditional combination of cheddar and apples, there are other styles of cheese that work well with apples. Hard cheeses such as aged Gouda, washed rind cheeses like Oma, mountain cheeses like Comté, and even blue cheeses make terrific matches. Below are a few of my favorite cheese and apple pairings. These are just suggestions, of course; with all the different varieties of apples in the market and the thousands of cheeses available, the possibilities are endless.
1. Nancy’s Camembert is a creamy, bloomy rind cheese from the Hudson Valley. It is meltingly smooth and buttery with the texture of a triple-crème and an earthy bite.
It would go well with a sweet or tart apple but I like it with an Empire apple.
2. Pecorino Tartufo has a great truffle flavor and it doesn't overwhelm the goodness of the cheese. Rather, the ingredients blend together superbly, making for a beautiful balance between earthy truffle and nutty, sweet, almost caramelized aged sheep's milk.
I like it paired with a sweet apple such as a Honey crisp or Jonagold. The resulting marriage is slightly reminiscent of a caramel apple.
3. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a firm, raw cow’s milk cheese from Wisconsin. It has a nutty, fruity almost sweet flavor similar to a French Alpine cheese called Beaufort. It is a match made in heaven with a Macoun.
4. Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia is a shop favorite. Made from pasture raised, raw cow’s milk Grayson has the perfect blend of buttery, bacony flavor and barnyard aroma. It pairs beautifully with a sweet apple like a Red Delicious
