THIS MONTH'S CHEESE IS:

MUNSTER

8th Century monks from the French valley of Munster first created this soft, orange-rinded cheese. Its name comes the villiage of Munster, a corruption of an ancient reference to the word "monastery." It was and still is made from cow's milk, both pasteurized and unpasteurized. It is soft and has an edible, washed rind. It is not to be confused with the German cheese, Münster.

Here's some more on Munster cheese:

Availability: Good to spotty -- in U.S. only pasteurized is available
Form: Disks
Dimensions: 1 1/4 inches thick, 7 inches in diameter. Smaller sizes are also made.
Weight: Boxed in 1 1/4 lbs (625g).
Fat Content: 45% - 50%
Characteristics: Young -- Firm, dry, russet-colored rind, white-chalk interior; Ripe -- dark, russet rind and straw colored interior; wonderfully smelly rind and huge, beefy, nutty flavour
Related Cheeses: Danish, Esrom, French Epoisses, Chaumes, Langres, Reblochon, Italian Robiola Lambardia, Taleggio
Wine Partners: Hermitage, Cabernet

Whether it be the high mountains and alpine meadows where
shepherds go about their age old tasks of heeding milk in great
copper cauldrons over open wood fires and pressing curds by hand,
or the dim caves hewn out of living rock, where young cheeses ripen
for months and even years, through cheese we experience the joy of
being in communication with nature in all its purity and serenity.
Pierre Androuet,
The Complete Encyclopedia of French Cheese

For more cheezy times, visit Cheesenet.
Leave a suggestion for next month's cheese
View last month's cheese.
View June's cheese
Go back to the main cheese page
Go back to my home page

I must give credit to Steve Jenkins, whose "Cheese Primer" was the source of much of my information.