What I Learned from Eating $100 Worth of Cheese
Even a plate of cheese can be a metaphor for life.
On Friday, I went to a cheese shop for some exotic, exquisite, expensive cheeses.
My husband and I decided to use the money we might spend going to a restaurant on a fabulous cheese tray. We’ve been binge-watching Anthony Bourdain lately, and one theme that ran through our viewing choices this week was cheese.
Seeing him sip world-class wines and eating from giant wheels of cheese made us want a culinary adventure of our own.
But as we watched Mr. Bourdain eat his way through Europe’s finest, we wondered if we were missing something. If we were shortchanging ourselves with our bourgeois offering of grocery store cheeses.
So last week, we decided to splurge and treat our next “picky” like a mini vacation.
We regularly have what we call “picky” dinners.
I go to our local grocery store (or when we’re feeling rich, Costco) and grab an old cheddar, a piece of blue cheese, and something soft and creamy. I always grab some hot salami and some other type of cured meat to go with.
It’s an excellent way to eat, relaxing and causal and is one of my favorite meals.
I usually get a french loaf or crackers, and I add apples, grapes, carrots, or some other fruit or veg and some type of marinated option to round it out.
This week we decided to mix it up a bit.
We decided to do an experiment. We decided I’d go to the specialty cheese shop on Thursday and with a budget of $100 buy everything we could afford that looked good.
I bought a 7-year-old cheddar, 2 very sharp blue pieces of cheese, creamy camembert, and a lemon gouda with charcoal and licorice. I also bought some local prosciutto from a local farm and some hot Italian salami.
The cheddar alone was over $25.00 for 200g. It was expensive. That was the only one I bought that much of, for all of the other cheeses I got 100g (3 1/2 ounces) and each and for the prosciutto I got 200g. I ended up spending $95 on just the cheese, meat plus a $12 jar of grilled, marinated onions (not Costco sized).
Then I bought a nice bottle of local wine, I live in a part of Ontario that boasts it’s own microclimate and wine region. World-class wines are produced less than 10 miles from my house, so I bought something special but still reasonably affordable.
As I was laying out the cheese platter, my husband and I tasted each cheese I unwrapped.
The cheddar was sharp and crystallized, really flavourful, and delicious.
The two pieces of blue cheese were sharp and peppery. My husband, who loves blue cheese, wasn’t thrilled. He found the pepper taste overwhelming.
The creamy offering was creamy and delicious, very mild.
The real surprise for me was the black lemon gouda, made with charcoal. The gentleman at the shop recommended it when I asked him to show me something really unique.
I was told it had hints of licorice and lemon, and that’s precisely what it delivered. It was like nothing I’d ever tasted before, unexpected and delicious.
When you first put it in your mouth, you get the gouda flavor, rich and savory. Then the lemon kicks in, and the flavor goes up through your palette. You smell it as much as you taste it, and then, in the end, you get the licorice, which lingers as an aftertaste.
It was an extraordinary experience.
Even though it looks like the bottom of a shoe, the flavor is so pleasant, different, and morish, I couldn’t stop craving another bite.
The local prosciutto was also delicious. It was chewy and salty. I ate it on crackers with creamy cheese and a drizzle of honey. It was perfect.
This was a lovely meal. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of it because I didn’t think I’d be writing about it.
The next morning, when my husband and I were recapping the night before, one thing stood out for both of us.
Although everything we’d eaten the night before was delicious and worth every penny, the black cheese, an especially delightful surprise, one question remained.
Was the overall experience any better than our usual grocery store, picky? In terms of the enjoyment factor, did we enjoy that next echelon of price enough to justify the expense?
Did we get twice as much satisfaction for twice the price?
Maybe we’re uncultured. Perhaps we’re small-town hicks, but in reality, having the high-priced ingredients didn’t make it any more enjoyable. We still loved the time we spent with our daughter watching our favorite show, picking at our meats and cheeses, having a leisurely Friday night dinner.
The higher quality of the ingredients didn’t enhance the quality of the experience.
I was glad to try something new, and the cheddar was better than anything you can get in a supermarket in our city. However, spending $100 on cheese didn’t enhance the experience as much as we thought it would.
I could have spent 3/4 of the money on bigger pieces of cheese that would have lasted a couple of weeks in the fridge and given us more bang for our buck. I could have bought prosciutto and salami from the deli counter that would have been just as salty and chewy.
Still, I was happy to support a local small business. Given my choice, I’d shop at small local stores for everything, but it’s just not practical for us.
Will I go back there? Absolutely! I will get more of that Gouda and try something new next time, but we will still do our regular picky’s from grocery store ingredients.
For me, the moral of the story is that life is about balance and being okay living within your means.
It’s okay to take pleasure in the everyday. Cheap and cheerful is better than spending money you don’t have. You don’t need the best, most expensive things to experience a life full of satisfaction and enjoyment. It’s okay to make the best of what you have, to live within your means, and love a life you can afford.
It’s also okay to treat yourself.
By all means, every now and then try something new. Splurge if you want and expand your horizons.
If you have the budget, definitely treat yourself. But be aware, the grass is not always greener on the other side, and you can enjoy cheap cheeses as much as expensive ones when you’re enjoying them with people you love.
Thanks for reading!
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