Cheese, Time Travel, and other such things…

Cheese is magical. A mere uttering of the word, makes one smile; it has the power to transform a dish; and it has the power of time travel…Let me explain.

Recently, I had the opportunity to stop by and visit my friends at the Cheese School of San Francisco, if you have not had the chance of visiting, I highly recommending stopping by. It is part cheese/wine shop, part cheese education center, and part restaurant (did I leave out ‘part heaven’?). In all my travels, I have never found anything close to it. 

For today’s visit, I was focusing in on their cheese case, as they tend to carry some unique ones from around the U.S. and the world. Then I noticed a small, dry cheese that was wrapped in cloth with a yellow ribbon, just one sniff, and I found myself half way up the Swiss Alps, sitting in a small chalet with no electricity, about to enjoy a green salad topped with this magical cheese known as Belper Knolle.

No hallucinogenic properties going on here, just my senses taking me back to my last visit to Switzerland. Strange how a sight, a sound, or a smell from our past has the power to recall memories, down to the slightest details, and yet we can’t find our house keys that we had in our hands not five minutes earlier. This was one of those experiences.

Belper Knolle is a raw, Cow’s Milk Cheese that is infused with garlic and pepper that have been aged in a small ball shape that is aged for 90 days. 

It is very hard and must be ‘shaved’ like a truffle partially due to its hardness, but also due to its intensity in flavor. 

The shavings are so fine that they are like flower petals. The cheese is dry, and yet has a creamy, garlicy, and peppery flavor to whatever it is paired with. In Switzerland, I had it shaved over a green salad, drizzled with a fine extra virgin olive oil.

Mr. Peabody may have had his WABAC Machine, but I need only visit my nearest cheese case to be transported to another time and place.