Friday, February 13, 2009

Swiss and Cheddar in March

No, it's not our response to the economy. The dead of winter is a great time to investigate the alpine cheese tradition and it's a fine time to delve into the wonderful world of cheddar.

Sunday March 8 at 1:30 at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd (120-121st. St.)
The Joy of Cheese Presents the 8 Best Swiss Cheeses in New York City.
No, I don't mean Finlandia v. real Swiss Emmenthal or Jarlsberg v. Leerdammer, we're talking Hand-Crafted cheese! We will have the best Emmenthal on the planet and a fab Gruyere but there will also be two or three rare firm cheeses from Switzerland as well as several soft gooey ones (but no Vacherin, sorry). Of course, there will be mystery cheeses, fruit, dark chocolate, program notes, and wine recommendations from the fantastic team at Nectar Wine Bar. Tickets are $25 (you pay for your wine as you go) and available either at the door or more safely via Brown Paper Tickets
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54883

Tuesday March 10 & Wednesday March 18 at 7pm at 10 Degrees, 121 St. Mark's Place (1st Avenue and Avenue A)
The Joy of Cheese Presents Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Cheddar But Were Afraid to Ask
We'll have Old World Cheddar, New World Cheddar, and everything in between. They've been making cheddar for nearly a millennium now and there are more offshoots and flavors from this cheese than you might imagine. You'll never take it for granted again. We'll sample six or seven absolutely off-the-hook wonderful cheddars as well as six or seven potent variations on cheddar.
The optimal pairing is whiskey, but we understand if you have to go to work the next day. The 10 Degrees bar is well stocked with red wines, beers and other fine alternatives. As always there will be mystery cheeses, fruit and dark chocolate.
Tickets are $40 ($35 via Brown Paper Tickets) and you pay for your drinks as you go.
The Brown Paper Tickets direct link is http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/56938

Contact me at thejoyofcheese at gmail.

-MJ

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Joy of Cheese Presents The 8 Best French Cheeses in NYC

The Joy of Cheese Presents the 8 Best French Cheeses in New York City

Later for governing a nation with more than 750 cheeses (yes Charles DeGaulle was off by more than half in his famous comment "how can you govern a nation with 325 cheeses"), how do you even get a grip on all this fromage?

The Joy of Cheese will try. On Sunday afternoon February 8, at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd, we will conduct a tasting featuring eight true cornerstone cheeses of this fantastic cheesemaking superpower. Ideally, the tasting will focus on the work of France's leading affineurs, masters of aging cheese, and one of the talking points will be how France became such a fromage haven.

Our roster of cheeses will include fantastic Loire Valley chevre, wonderful Pyrenees Sheep cheese and a great blue, as well as better Roquefort, St. Nectaire, and Tomme De Savoie than you can get in most Parisian fromageries.

The tasting is the latest in our series of 8 on the 8th at Nectar Wine Bar, in which we introduce people to eight varieties of cornerstone cheeses in different themes. Next month we will tackle Switzerland and in April, we will focus on Italy.

The February 8th tasting begins at 1:30 and is expected to last 75 minutes. Admission is $25 and attendees pay for their drinks as they go. There will be a roster of suggested wines chosen by Nectar Wine Bar owner, Jai Jai Greenfield as well as fruit, dark chocolate, mystery cheese, and program notes.

Tickets are available via http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54300 and reservations and questions can be fielded at thejoyofcheese@gmail.com.bbb