Visit exotic places. Enjoy foreign tastes. Learn about the bounty of the world. The fabulous thing about being a culinary traveler in the 21st century is that, with a little imagination, one can travel with world on a shoestring — pretty much without leaving home.
Take cheese.
And to make it a party, we’ll pair the cheese with wine.
Jeff Diamond is a big cheese in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has two cheese shops, one on Oakland and a second in Alameda. He was my travel consultant for this story.
If you don’t have a neighborhood cheese shop or your own Diamond to mine, stay aboard. You can order online — or be your own guide using the cheese and wine shelves of your local supermarket.
Edible Journey
Then, when you get back home, Google the cheeses and wines and journey to the region they came from. Enjoy the flavors, the people, the countryside and the culture. Invite friends on your edible journey. You can have your cheese sliced according to your budget and choose wines in the same way. Whichever way you cut it, it’s fun — and a lot more affordable than getting on a plane!
I asked Diamond to suggest six cheeses from six countries (he carries selections from more than a dozen, over and above the United States, which makes for many a global trail).
I asked him to match the cheeses with six wines. (France, Australia, Germany, South Africa and Slovenia are a handful of vinous journeys possible from his stash.)
Go Italy. Eat Piave. "Shaped like a wheel, this firm cow's milk cheese from the Piave River Valley region of Belluno is a great, flavorful table cheese that's also a nice alternative to Parmigiano Reggiano," he says.
Pair it with Pino e Toi, a white wine also from the Veneto that's a blend of Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco and Tocai Friulano.
Go The Antipodes. Eat Roaring 40s Blue. "This is a nicely balanced, tangy and creamy Blue."
Pair it with MAN Pinotage from South Africa. "This Pinotage, with nice tannins and berry fruit flavors, has been blended with a wee bit of Cabernet Sauvignon."
Go France. Eat Morbier*. “This cow's milk cheese from the Franche-Comté region is creamy and friendly with a bit of a barnyardy kick,” he says.
Pair it with Héretieres de Comte Lafon Mâcon (from the Burgundy region) — a crisp and clean Chardonnay from the winemaker Dominique Lafon.
* Morbier detail: A thin black ribbon of ash dissects This cheese. The story goes that a couple of hundred years ago, when the Comté cheese farmers didn’t have enough curds for a final full-size gruyère, they would put what was left into a round mold, and to stop the flies from settling in, they would cover it with a thin protective layer of wood-ash from the outside of the pot used for cooking the curds. Later, when making the next batch of curds, they would add a layer on top of the ash to form a complete cheese.
Go Switzerland. Eat Heublumen. “This organic gruyere-style Mountain cheese, covered with dried hay flowers (the English name for heublumen, a German wildflower), is aromatic but not pungent, with a good aftertaste,” says Diamond.
Pair it with Confuron-Côtetidot Passetoutgrain, which is half Gamay and half Pinot Noir and the perfect bistro wine from Burgundy.
Go United States. Eat Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. “I regard this as possible the best cheddar in the United States with its persistent cheddary flavors and nice length.”
Pair it with Saldo Zinfandel, “the new zin from Orin Swift who makes the cult wine The Prisoner.”
When your travels are complete and you’re sated, you get to touch down and relax.
No jet lag or bags to unpack. Sounds like a real vacation.
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