Have a beer, and upcoming tastings

It's only recently come to light, but beer and cheese are more compatible together than wine and cheese. The reasons for this are complex and have to do with the hops and sweetness of beer balancing out the complexities of cheese. Still not convinced? Come to The Joy of Cheese/d.b.a Six Pack, a new series at d.b.a Brooklyn, 113 North 7th St. in Williamsburg (a block and half west of the first L stop into Brooklyn, Bedford Avenue). This summer we will offer hour long tastings that feature six cheeses and three beers. There will be program notes, dark chocolate, fruit, and plenty of discussion about both cheese, beer and their pairings. Admission is $20 and space is limited so act now!
Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

Sneak preview of July
July 7 at 10 Degrees: Good Cheese for Hard Times vol. 2

July 15 at Nectar Wine Bar: The 8 Best Vermont Cheeses in NYC
July 16 at Stella: The Stella Seven presents Francophiles Delight
July 21 at dba Brooklyn: Cheeses and I.P.A.'s

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese Presents Pasteur's Delight

It’s time to stop treating pasteurized cheeses as if they were uniformly dull.

Some of the best new cheeses are made from the Pasteurized milk as are some of the most reliable classics, and so are a few cheeses that we think are made from raw milk.

To pasteurize or not to pasteurize is an issue with both flavor and health consequences and we’ll discuss them in the next Joy of Cheese tasting. We’ll survey 12-14 cheeses not made from raw milk. In addition, to an alarming variety, you’ll be able to tell your expecting friends that there’s a whole lot more than aged gouda for them to eat.

But we’re going to have some amazing aged goudas too.

There will be dark chocolate, fruit and two mystery cheeses. I am happy to answer questions about these cheeses and about cheese in general.

The tastings are Tuesdays February 26^th and March 4^th as well as Thursday February 28^th

As always the tastings run from just after 7 until around 8:30 at 10 Degrees, the wonderful wine and high end spirits bar at 121 St. Marks Place in the East Village. Admission to the tasting is $30 and you pay for your drinks as you go (but it’s 2-4-1 Happy Hour till 8).

Reservations are a must. Contact me at thejoyofcheese@yahoo.com

The Joy of Cheese blog is up at http://thejoyofcheese.blogspot.com

Next tastings: March 25, 27 and April 1: The Local, great hand-crafted cheeses of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

-MJ

The next tasting

The Joy of Cheese Presents Cheeses to pair with Autumn wines

Ever notice that all of the wine and cheese pairing strategies come from the wine community? At The Joy of Cheese we’d like to counter that with some wisdom from the cheese side.

Autumn wines tend to be a fruitier and sweeter than their warm weather counterparts, and to a cheesemonger way of looking at the world, that means it’s time to break out the more aggressive cheeses. At our next Joy of Cheese tasting, look for such off the beaten path delights as Shawandase from Long Island (yes, Long Island), Rocotiere from France, Calcagno from Sardinia and a host of other loud and proud cheeses.

The tastings will take place October 16, 18 and 23 at 10 Degrees, the wine and high end spirits bar at 121 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. The tastings start just after 7 and run until 8:30. Tickets for the tasting are $30 and attendees pay for their wine (or any other spirit that suits them) at the bar separately. To reserve space, e-mail me at thejoyofcheese@yahoo.com.

Our tastings usually begin with an introductory cheese, then a flight of three cheeses followed by a round of fruit, and a mystery cheese to keep folks on their toes. This flight/fruit/mystery cheese sequence is repeated twice then at the end, we finish with a round of chocolate (usually 60% dark from Jacques Torres). I’m happy to answer any and all questions about cheese. Although many of the regulars call these classes, instead they are more like informal discussion groups where a delicious series of cheeses are served.

Next tasting: A Man Called Rolf, the cheeses of the great Swiss affineur Rolf Beeler November 6, 8 and 13.