Castello cheese - moving with the times
"Beneath the demure exterior lies a taste sensation waiting to be discovered. Cut it open: chilli flakes burst through the thick, silky interior like fireworks. Steady notes of sour cream and vanilla are interrupted by a flicker of heat that builds and builds into a fire of flavour, before melting in a warm, buttery finish.
This ad in the latest Coles magazine was my inspiration today. I'm not really sure why. I guess it struck me that I had not kept up with Castello. To me Castello is blue cheese - and most people rave a bit about it, but, as I have said before, I just don't like blue cheese so it's not usually on my shopping list. Most people seem to think it's a blue cheese that non-blue cheese eaters can like. But not me.
So seeing an ad for a chilli flavoured Brie type of cheese - yes down in the small print it says it's a Brie, although their website describes it as a white mould cheese. Though I suppose that's what Brie is. Anyway the ad made me realise that they have branched out. Are keeping up with the trends.
So next time I was in Coles - and indeed buying cheese for last Saturday's lunch party I saw they also had a truffle double cream cheese, so I bought it. But I'm ashamed to say that (a) I did not try it - I still can we have some left - and (b) I forgot to ask what people thought of it. And these particular friends are proper gourmets so would have said something meaningful - although on the other hand they may have just dismissed it because it's Castello, bought in the supermarket and therefore not gourmet enough.
I actually found an article in Good Food which was a review of cheese that you can buy in the supermarket - and as we all know you can now buy all kinds of imported and expensive cheese there, so no need to be a super snob about the only cheese worth eating coming from a specialist shop. Anyway they tasted quite a broad spectrum of cheeses coming from all over the world, including some of those French cheeses and down to Home Brand cheeses - and they included Woolworths, Coles and Aldi too. The cheeses were marked out of 100 and number three on the list was Castello Creamy White with a score of 83. Top was Shadows of Blue (86) and second was Meredith Dairy Plain Goat Cheese (84). Way down the list with 26 was South Cape Vintage Club Cheddar. Obviously they didn't test everything, but it was interesting.
Castello White is actually the first cheese that the company made - way back in 1893.
A Danish cheese maker called Rasmus Tholstrup laboured away perfecting the cheese before it was produced commercially.
Today the website describes this beautiful looking cheese as:
"An aromatic and fresh acidic cheese with hints of honey and summer meadow, Castello White has a white rind, creamy white cut surface and smooth consistency. The full-bodied and slightly bitter flavour carries notes of butter, cream, and a distinct acidity that gives way to a long, mild, and balanced aftertaste."
There is also a cheese called Creamy White, but whether this is the same thing or not I really don't know.
I have to say that their copy writer certainly has a way with words. And their photographer and food stylist is super with the look.
Rasmus' son Henrik bought a Swedish dairy which produced the white cheese. Wikipedia maintained that the creamy blue was produced in the 1950s. and the blue in the 1960s, but the website maintains the creamy blue was first made in 1969. It's all about the same time anyway, and also at that time - in 1958 Henrik bought several dairies in Denmark. I believe it was a kind of co-operative, but in 2006 it was acquired by Aria Foods - also a Danish company. The website maintains that each different cheese is made in a separate dairy. Each dairy specialises in one particular cheese. In 2012 they started making Havarti and in 2013 a Blue Brie. Their most recent product is Feta cheese - marinated or plain. They have also recently revamped their packaging to make it look rather more exclusive. So a very successful company - so successful they can afford to have an Australian website. Which is very attractive and contains brief descriptions of all their cheeses plus a whole lot of recipes for how to use them.
But I think it's the blue that it's famous for. And there seem to be several different ones. I believe it's quite a complicated process - brine is involved and complex patterns of holes made in the cheese before inserting the cheese. And a mix of sheep and cow milk. The one at the right is the Traditional Danish Blue. The two below are the Creamy Blue and below that is the Black and also the Saga Blue. I have no idea which is the Blue Brie - probably the Creamy Blue.
I think the black is the most powerful one. Some of the pictures I saw of this looked very mouldy indeed. And to me the Saga is the prettiest
So there you go - a very successful company - another one that started out small with one dedicated man working away in his own little space that is now a massive one exporting to the world. Those Danes - for such a tiny country they do so many amazing things. And also - don't ignore the supermarket when shopping for cheese. One of those blues or was it the white, won prestigious international award, one year. And if you ever put some Castello out on a cheese board it always seems to get eaten first.
