Is Blogging about Cheese Worth the Effort?

The short answer is – yes, so far.

I am really enjoying this blogging thing. Since I started my cheese adventure I’ve been motivated to try many cheeses for the first time. Two of those are now personal favorites; Ovinsardo and Niagara Gold.

Ovinsardo Cheese

Niagara Gold Cheese

It takes a little work to research each cheese that I am writing about. But the information that I am discovering has its rewards. I like that there is a story behind each cheese. It adds a dimension of pleasure in the same way that my University Art History class gave me an understanding and appreciation of art. It made viewing art … well … more pleasurable.

The same goes for the cheeses that I have tried. Most of them taste good, but somehow they taste better when I understand where they came from, who makes them and what makes each cheese special.

I also find it interesting to review the statistics from my blog and see what search terms people are keying that bring them to the blog. The top three search terms that people have used to find my blog so far are Poutine, Cheese and Kinder Egg.

The top 5 most popular topics so far are:

#1 – Chevre Noir – Canadian Goat Cheddar

# 2 – Mac’s and Cheese – Cheese Boards

#3 – Devil’s Rock Creamy Blue Cheese

#4 – Oka is Okay by Me

#5 – Sao Jorges Cheese from a Small Island in the Atlantic Ocean

The most popular click through on my blog so far is the link to fellow cheese blogger Madame Fromage.

My purpose for starting the blog was to keep an online journal and share it with anybody that might be looking for similar information. The reward for sharing is that I am getting the benefit of useful comments and emails from many people. Most appreciated are the ones recommending more cheeses to try or pairings.

One reader familiar with the Sao Jorges cheese suggested pairing it with banana. Evidently they do that in Portugal. It never came up in my research. Who knew?

I have not been doing this for very long, so I don’t have much point of reference. So far my blog has enjoyed well over 1,000 visitors with page views increasing steadily. I would never get to interact with so many cheese lovers in person which makes that statistic pretty amazing.

I’m sharing this information assuming that you might find it interesting. I’ll be back to cheese tasting, researching, photographing and writing real soon.

Devil’s Rock Creamy Blue Cheese

My friend Liza emailed me today about an interesting cheese she read about in today’s Globe and Mail. Of course I had to check out the article.

Here is a quote from the article.

If velvety is a quality you look for in cheese rather than fabric, you need to add Devil’s Rock Creamy Blue Cheese to your shopping list. Thornloe Cheese, a dairy based in the northern Ontario town of Thornloe, created the recipe to be a higher-fat, smoother version of their more traditional-style Casey Blue. The goal was a blue that still had some bite, but with its sharpness cushioned in a rich, luxurious texture.

The article lists locations around the Greater Toronto Area which carry this cheese. I’ll be trying it soon and adding it to my growing list of cheese experiences.

via Cheese so smooth you’ll be humming Blue Velvet – The Globe and Mail.

Update: March 2, 2011

Devil's Rock Creamy Blue Cheese

I found the Devil’s Rock Creamy Blue Cheese at a local Longo’s supermarket. Longo’s had the cheese available as a whole brick or half brick. I tried the half brick.

How does Devil’s Rock Creamy Blue Cheese taste?

I have yet to meet a blue cheese I don’t like. I found the cheese very creamy, just as expected. But I found this cheese milder than I expected. Don’t misinterpret that comment … it was pleasantly mild. This is the first Canadian Blue Cheese that I have tried. Therefore, by default, it is the best Canadian Blue Cheese I’ve had so far.

But when compared to its international competitors such as Roaring Forties, Ovinsardo, Saint Agur or Roquefort my preference leans toward the stronger blues.

This cheese would be a good bet on a cheese board. The shape and black wax casing are visually interesting. I think it would be enjoyed by most people simply because it is creamy and mild. If that was Thornloe’s objective then they hit the mark.