365 Cheeses

Cambozola and I have had a strange past. Something about the pre-printed Bavarian-blue cheese label seemed too processed, a little too contrived to me. The name had a fake, manufactured quality to it. I thought of it as a stuck up girl in the cafeteria who had no real grounds for her airs. With that prejudice I avoided even approaching her to find out if my assumptions were correct. Finally, having taken out all the other local girls and needing a date for Sunday night I decided to give Cambozola a try. We hit it off swimmingly.

Labeled as a triple cream, this cheese bears more of the qualities of enriched camembert-like cheeses than of its blue relatives. It is mild for a blue and may be a good starting point for anyone who thinks they do not like blue cheeses. Germany is not famous for its cheeses, sitting at the foot of the great Swiss cheeses to the south. Many might find Cambozola too processed but I really enjoyed every bite.

According to the manufacturer's web site the name is a tribute to a 4th century Bavarian settlement called Cambodunum. The name of the producer Käserei Champignon, "Champignon Cheesemakers" or "Button Mushroom Cheesemakers", confused me for some time. I was unclear if "champignon" was a reference to the blue fungus seeded into the soft cheese. Instead the name came about from the mushroomy smell that many of the bloomy white rind cheeses have and that being the main style of cheese the Käserei produced, they took the French word for mushroom as their brand.

Name: Cambozola
Type of Milk: cow's, pasteurized
Type: soft, blue, bloomy rind
Produced in: Germany, Bavaria, Lauben, Käserei Champignon
Date Purchased: 9/23/07
Date Eaten: 9/23/07
Purchased Where: United States, North Carolina, Raliegh, Whole Foods
Price: $14.99/lb.