Three hours to cheese understanding

It took me so long to grok wine that when I realized I knew even less about cheese, I felt despair. How little did I know? On a visit to the cheesemonger in Grand Central, I enjoyed a proferred cheese and asked, "So how is this different from pecorino?" The woman looked at me funny and said, "well, one's from a goat and one's from a sheep." oops. With so many bad uneducational wine tastings under my belt, I thought it would take many tries before I had any understanding. Instead, Murray's Cheese's 101 class taught me enough to feel confident.

We tasted 7 cheeses with a two wines and fruit and meat as accompaniments. The cheese were of very different types, but what made it so memorable (ergo, helpful) was that the instructor didn't get hung up on categorizing. She gave us flavors that were representative and used them to illustrate a common vocabulary that would allow us to order them again, but didn't get crazy about New World vs. Old World or goat vs. sheep vs. cow. Moreover, her enthusiasm was infectious and enabling.

Even with a sample of only seven, I came to see certain commonalities in what I liked. I adored both the sheep cheeses we tried, although that might be because they were the uncooked pressed cheeses. While I've eaten and enjoyed washed rind and blue cheeses in the past, the contrast made me realize I don't enjoy them quite as much as say a "bloomy" (creamy, Brie-like) cheese.

I can't wait to try my new cheese knowledge at Fairway - although I have to eat all the stuff I have in the fridge first!