I wish to expand my cheese-eating horizons. Please suggest to me some cheeses I should try. Suggestions make me feel adventurous. Plus, I just ran out of smoked gouda and can't decide what to buy next. It is a difficult decision at times.

Also, this is the 2500th post in the members forum.

I totally lied about that 2500th post thing.

You know what's sad? As much as I like cheese, I am woefully ignorant about too many types of cheese.

If you haven't been man enough to step up to the blue cheese plate yet, this is your moment.

Don't just grab anything you see that happens to have some blue/green gunk growing in it, though. First, make sure it's supposed to be blue cheese. Second, make sure that it's not Kraft. Other than that, as an introduction, any blue cheese will do.

Next, you need to look at the "non-cow" domain of cheese. These days, most snobby grocery stores and the finer cheese shops will carry a wide selection of goat and sheep milk cheeses. Here, start with something that says 'chevre', and is pale white. It will come from France and be basic goat milk cheese. Then you can start experimenting with cheeses with herbs, harder cheeses, aged cheeses, and etc.

I agree with all that Z suggested.

In your cheese experiments, don't serve yourself a mixture of strong and mild cheeses. Just make up your mind which you are going to sample and stick with it. For instance, if you're enjoying a gorgonzola, it is senseless to have camembert there as well, because once your palate is set for the strong cheese, you won't get anything out of the weaker one.

To advise you on specific cheeses, it would help to know what you have tried so far.

God, I love cheese. All kinds of cheese. I probably can't actually help you, because I like almost any cheese that isn't actually processed and plastic. Especially a really good danish or tasmanian blue. Yum. But don't neglect the harder Italian cheeses! (Although people tell me they find the smell of parmesan or parmegiana offputting, but I wouldn't know about that).

Wow, i totally wasn't expecting this discussion to be about actual dairy products.

I just looked in my fridge and saw a very pedestrian selection: smoked Gouda, Havarti with black peppercorns, Swiss, Romano, grated Parmesan, sharp New York Cheddar, low-moisture Mozzarella, and smoked Rofumo. We must have eaten up all the Asiago and Romano.

All cheese is salty, but it seems to me that the hard Italian varieties (Parmesan, Asiago, and especially Romano which i think is supposed to be from sheep's milk) and the crumbly Mediterranean types (Feta and other Greek sorts) are extremely high in sodium. When i use these dry grated cheeses i prefer to reduce the salt in the other parts of the recipe.

Some soft cheeses are really nice when you bake them in sandwiches or casseroles; i love the bubbly, crusty, brown results. But some cheeses (like those French Camembert, Brie, and other runny sorts) are a little too mushy for most sandwiches. They ooze all over the place if you try to bake them. This makes them fine for dipping and fondue, but not so nice for grilled sandwiches nor potatoes au gratin.

Some of the hard dry cheeses (especially parmesan) have a strong flavor which dominates the milder fare (such as mozzarella) so when i make a sandwich with a combination of those i tend to use lots of the weak stuff, and only sprinkle a tiny bit of the strong stuff on top.

You're in Pennsylvania; this might be to your advantage, as a Cheese-Loving-American:

It is my opinion (and this is just a gross overgeneralization, so please don't jump all over me) that the popular cheeses of the Northeast (i.e., Cheddar, Muenster, and all the usual varieties from the land of the Cabots) tend to be more sharp than the weak pathetic cheeses we have out here in the West. I ate New England and New York cheeses for thirty years, then four years ago i moved to Washington's Pacific Coast where most dairy comes from California and from the states west of the Great Lakes. I think the dairy products out here are very weak and flavorless, as though they were all trying to be like some kind of nondescript "American Cheese"; whereas the Northeast stuff often had more pungent sharpness.

I reeeeally miss a nice hunk of Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar to accompany a slice of apple pie. That was one of my "Old Yankee" grandmother's nicest desserts, back in Vermont.

In Response to Teledildonix (#34329):

Wot about the Tilly?

Of course, if you can get some Venezuelan beaver cheese, by all means try it.

my current favorite is Queso Fresco on huevos con chorizo y papas. it's very tasty and makes for a yummy breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack. and it makes the house smell like mexico.

In Response to deerboy (#34330):

Tillamook? I eat their stuff, but i don't think it's very remarkable-- nice, but sort of high priced for ordinary fare.

Then again, i suppose all the dairy in this country would be priced much higher, if it weren't for the crazy subsidies.

In Response to Teledildonix (#34335):

This is true. You guys have crazy cheap cheese and milk. I just thought it meant American cows were sluts.

In Response to tynic (#34336):

Crazy Mad (like a Fox!)

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#34333):

Queso Fresco on huevos con chorizo y papas

I really don't think I've ever drooled this much about a posting here.

I'm not that knowledgeable about the fromage, but I'm a sucker for good brie. The stuff I had tonight was okay, though not fabulous. But good brie, especially warm--oooh.

Also had a good goat cheddar a while back. Sharper than your average cow cheddar.

In Response to Llamarama (#34359):

I'm not that knowledgeable about the fromage

Well, with some steady training, practice, and a willing partner you'll find that it gets easier to be cheesier.

In Response to zamphir (#34360):

you'll find that it gets easier to be cheesier

That's not what I hear from Chester [fritolay.com].

In Response to Llamarama (#34362):

Chester [wigu.com] is a Scientologist [wigu.com].

In Response to gtyrrell (#34367):

Tag Team +5.

In Response to mkinyon (#34323):

These posts all give me a pretty good starting point, I think. I shall now strive to get over my fear of bleu cheese.

Really, just assume I haven't trie any cheese beyond [several types of] cheddar, mozzarella, muenster, colby, monteray jack, gouda, parmesan, and romano. And you'll probably be fine. I have tried others, some not so common or popular over in my area, but I can't say I'm terribly diverse.

Unfortunately I'm still in the middle of an awful cold, and I don't eat cheese when I've cold sicknesses because dairy products make my phlegm content soar upwards.

But thanks for the starting points. I'll try a few suggestions out once I'm recovered and I'll let you know where my progress has progressed.

In Response to zamphir (#34382):

Whoomp! There It Is!