The Perfect Cheese Plate: The Irish Collection

Tasting Ireland’s Farmstead Bounty: Durrus, Coolea and Cashel Blue

Mar 16, 2009

Whether to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, or anytime you feel a bit o' the Blarney coming on, a cheese plate of Irish cheeses is a great focus for a gathering of friends.

A cheese plate can be an appetizer or a course before dessert in a meal or the focus of a party where you explore the nuances and how they relate to other foods and beverages, especially wine or beer.

What makes a cheese plate perfect? It should open the participants eyes –and taste buds—to the subtle or sometimes profound differences between the myriad varieties of cheese.

When you serve multiple cheeses, the key is to highlight the differences. The differences may be obvious, a tasting of cheddar, brie and a blue-veined cheese, for example. Or the differences in a similar cheese between various countries: a Stilton, Roquefort and a Gorgonzola, for instance..

There really aren’t any rules to cheese plates; just aim for a variety of flavors and textures. Like wine tastings, it is usually best to offer the cheeses in a sequence (or in order on your buffet) from mildest to strongest flavor.

For this tasting, the focus is on the variety of cheeses from the emerald isle: Ireland, the island of "forty shades of green." Ireland is a rich, green and fertile land, home to five times as many cattle as humans. Butter and milk have been valued since ancient times and a new generation of cheese makers are now rediscovering old recipes and valuing cheese again.

While Ireland has some large producers like Kerrygold, where milk for making cheese is pooled from several sources, farmhouse cheeses from Ireland uses milk produced by the farmer's own herd.

Three Cheeses From Ireland

The humid, warm, salty conditions of the Southwest tip of Ireland are ideal for the making of this creamy wash rind cheese. Durrus is a farmhouse cheese from the upland valley of Coomkeene, on the Sheep's Head Peninsula. Durrus is made in a copper vat; the curd is then cut using a cheese harp and turned into moulds where it is hand turned five times.

Made in the style of Tomme de Savoie, Jeffa Gill has produced this coral-colored, deep-flavored, raw milk, semi-soft cheese local herds since 1979. Her Durrus has taken a gold and two silvers at the World Cheese Awards and a gaggle of golds at the British Cheese Awards. Contact Durrus Farmhouse at 00 353 27 61100 or durruscheese.com.

This cow's milk cheese is made by the Willems family in the Irish hills of County Cork. Dick and Helene Willems gave up the hectic restaurant business and travelled Europe in search of a more peaceful place to live. After brief stints in France and Spain, the family found a farm near the inland town of Coolea in Cork. Excellent grazing conditions steered them towards cheesemaking. With a nod to their Dutch heritage, they set about to make an Irish version of Gouda. Made from pasteurized cows milk, the presence of wild Irish herbs in the grazing fields gives Coolea a richer, fruitier flavor than Dutch Gouda. Mature Coolea, which is aged for over six months, is piquant, nutty and sweet with a fresh aftertaste.

A dry Riesling matches well with Coolea, but it is assertive enough to stand up to a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cashel Blue is hand-made by the Jane and Louis Grub family from their dairy of Freisian cows. Named for the historic Rock of Cashel that overlooks their pasture, the flavor is not as assertive as many blues, the texture soft and spreadable at room temperature. Its ivory-colored paste is laced with powdery blue veins; its caramel and cedary flavors.

Pair this cheese with a fruit-forward Chardonnay, desert wines or Guinness stout.

This one may be harder to find, but the Grubb family also make Crozier Blue from sheep's milk. It has a creamy, delicate, texture and a rich, sweet taste ending with a sharp finish.

ResourcesIf your local cheesemonger looks at you funny when you ask for cheeses from Ireland, check out these online sources:

The copyright of the article The Perfect Cheese Plate: The Irish Collection in Appetizers/Finger Food is owned by Larry Ervin. Permission to republish The Perfect Cheese Plate: The Irish Collection in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.