Week 23 – Pierre Robert at Slow Bar!
No, I wasn’t hanging out with some cool new dude named Pierre, although maybe I wish that I were, he sounds like he could whisper sweet nothings into my ear in a foreign language, however, in this case Pierre Robert is the name of the cheese. This was sort of an impromptu cheese outing; one of those nights were you find yourself a glass (or two) of wine deep and need to get something in your belly before you turn into a hot mess. Slow Bar (and no, I don't know why it's called that, a quick Google search doesn't give me the answer either) is usually my jam for late night happy hour burgers (one of the better burgers in town), but now pretty much anywhere I go, if they are offering a cheese plate, I am ordering it.
Two problems: One, I totally forgot to take any photos of the cheese plate. Which, A. makes for bad blogging, and B. makes it harder for me to remember details about it (also, you know, wine and all). The second problem is that I’ve reviewed so many cheeses now that I’m running into duplicates of what you would find on an ‘average’ cheese plate, palatable for the regular Joe. Which I guess isn’t the worst problem to have. Slow Bar’s cheese plate offers a smoked Gouda (see week 22), a Cambozola (week 9, part 2) and Pierre Robert. Which leaves us with good ol’ Pierre to review.
Pierre Robert: Pronounced pee-air row-bare, this cheese was created after cheesemaker Robert Rouzaire and his friend Pierre began to experiment with the aging of another one of their cheeses, Brillat-Savarin. Leaving it to cave age longer, 3-4 weeks versus 1-2, gave the cheese a creamier, richer flavor. This triple-crème-style (meaning fat content 75% and higher) cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk in France’s Seine-et-Marne region. Today, Robert’s son continues producing his father’s cheese. To be noted, this cheese’s label features a boulder, perhaps a nod to the cave aging process, or to the translation of Pierre, meaning rock. This cheese has a mild, buttery, salty, taste at first, with a slightly acidic finish. The Pierre Robert was my favorite on the plate, spread on lavash. Because of the delicate flavor of the cheese, it pairs well with something sweet that doesn't overwhelm the palate, such as grapes or fig jam (both included on the cheese plate). It would also pair nicely with a Moscato, or sweet Champagne.
Up next in my ever present quest to ‘catch up’ Memorial Day weekend! Which maybe I’ll get to finishing over the weekend! Stay tuned and cheese on!