The Art of “Cheese o’Clock”

Posted March 7, 2021 2 Comments by Kate

If someone asked me, “What was the best thing that happened to you in the year 2020?” without hesitation, I’d reply “Bi-weekly cheese o’clock sessions, period.”

But what is “cheese o clock” you ask?

Last March, my boyfriend and I were headed to Nepal on an epic adventure, when the pandemic hit hard and countries started shutting their boarders. We spent four days in China before taking the sad 11 hour flight back home. Feeling tremendous sadness that we had just missed out on a trip we had planned for a year in advance, we needed something that would seriously cheer us up. The answer evidently was…CHEESE and lots of it.

Luckily for us, we live close to an epic cheese shop – Les Amis Du Fromage. Starting in April, on a weekly basis we would walk down to grab a new cheese or two to try. Overtime, we started adding to the cheese board – olives, jams, chorizo, smoked salmon you name it. To save our stomachs from gaining the Quarantine 15, we moved our ritual to a bi-weekly occurrence and have been doing it ever since!

We’ve tried more than 20 different cheeses, 11 jams, and too many bottles of wine to count! We’ve also rated all cheese and today I’m going to share my top 10 favorite cheeses we’ve had to date so you can master and personalize the Art of Cheese O’Clock.

Before I dive deep into my cheese recommendations, we gotta talk Rules first. The Rules to achieve a successful Cheese O’Clock.

1. Choose distinctly different cheeses for variety in texture and flavors. One of our favorite combos is to have a double cream cheese, a firm cheddar, and a crumbly blue. I know blue can be polarizing so maybe swap for a firm honey & truffle Gouda.
2. Select a mix of sides that pair nicely with the cheeses. We’re talking spicy jelly/jams, chorizo sausage (fat), roasted peanuts, pickled shallots (acid), olives (Castlevetrano are our fave!), fruit (strawberries) or smoked salmon! Play around with pairings, you’ll never know what amazing flavors you may achieve.
3. Neutral crackers for a solid base. Trust me, this is all about the cheese, don’t let your cracker steal the show. In the beginning, we’d buy an assortment of flavors from Raincoast and overtime we realized that the best base cracker was a simple Italian Croccantini like this. Our three favorites are salted, cracked pepper and rosemary.

Now back to the cheese!

All these cheeses are graded on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the ultimate best and 1 being utter disappointment. I’ve added tasting notes to provide more clarity.

10/10 and probably our most consistent go-to is Campagnier D’Affinois. This French double cream soft cheese is to DIE for. It’s a pasteurized cow’s cheese from Rhone-Alpes region in France and it’s aged for 1-2 months. The texture is silky and the flavour tangy and extremely addictive. If you’re a brie cheese lover, this one is 100% your kind of cheese.

Campagnier D’Affinois – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk, Rhone Alpes, France. Silky, double cream, tangy.

10/10 goes to another fave of ours that we only just found recently and it’s Pierre Robert. The best way to describe this cheese is – buttery. A decadent triple cream cheese from Seine-et-Marne, France. It was basically an experiment tried by two friends and masters of cheese making. They had gotten bored of the cheese they made successfully and began aging it even longer to develop a deeper flavor and melting rich texture. This cheese is smooth, decadent and has a light grassy flavor.

Pierre Robert – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk, Northern France. Buttery,triple cream, delicious.

10/10 for the cheese that truly makes me cry happy tears is the Godminster Vintage Cheddarworth Truffle cheese – try saying that 10 times over! Jokes aside, this decadent cheese from the UK tastes like the pasta dish cacio e pepe. Trust the Brits to make a cheese with rich history – this cheddar is crafted from a 90 year old recipe and aged for 12 months. It isn’t quite crumbly like a blue but crumbles more than your typical store bought cheddar. For those who are scared of the truffle being too overpowering, it isn’t. It’s perfect. Full disclaimer before buying – this cheese is not cheap! Any cheese you see with truffle in it, will be at a higher price point.

Godminster Vintage Cheddarworth Truffle – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk, Somerset UK. Decadent, peppery, light truffle, cheddar.

10/10 for the one sheep’s cheese that made the list and that is Rond Du Val by Papillon. A real surprise and delight when we bit into this creamy, gooey, grassy flavored pasteurized sheep’s milk cheese. Made by the same makers of the very famous blue Roquefort, really cracked it for me with this delicious cheese!

Rond Du Val – Pasteurized Sheep’s Milk, France. Light in flavor, creamy, slight grass.

10/10 for this cheese that often makes an appearance at Cheese O’Clock and that is Cambozola. A great stepping stone into the blue cheese arena. This cheese is a soft-ripened cow’s cheese from the Bavarian Alps mixed with an Italian Gorgonzola that gives it the light funk of a blue. I love this cheese paired with a fresh slice of smoked salmon.

Cambozola – Soft Ripened Cow’s Milk, Bavaria. Super creamy, subtle funk.

10/10 for this local favorite of mine, Romelia from Salt Spring Island here in British Columbia. I have fond memories of waiting at the ferry terminal and devouring a whole wheel of Romelia before boarding. One of the creamiest, no, gooiest cheeses of all time. The only goat’s cheese to make it on the list and it is a true stand out for it’s full flavor, earthiness and washed rind. I’m literally salivating as I write this paragraph just thinking about this cheese.

Romelia – Pasteurized Goat’s Milk Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Gooey, earthy, full flavor.

8/10 is still a high scoring cheese and that goes to Moody Blue straight from Wisconsin! This blue cheese is unique for it’s light smokey flavor. If a stinky blue is your jam, this probably won’t be stinky enough for you as it’s on the lighter side of funk. It’s smooth, creamy, and pairs so damn well with smoked salmon.

Moody Blue – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk, Wisconsin. Creamy, smokey, classic blue.

8/10 also goes to the only Swiss on the list and that is Kaltbach Truffle Cave Aged. Cave aged sounds so mystical! Here’s what it actually means – millions of years ago (22 to be exact), water and ice created the Kaltbach Cave (yes, a real cave!) and lucky for the cheese makers in the area around the 1950’s discovered that the materials of the cave let the cheese mature in a way that is most unique. This black rind cheese is light, subtle on the truffle flavor and pairs wonderfully with a raspberry Merlot jam.

Kaltbach Truffle Cave Aged – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk. Earthy, subtle truffle, slight tang.

8/10 to round out the list goes to the semisoft St. Nectaire cheese from the Auvergne region in France. This cheese is placed on rye straw mats to age which give it a real pungent rind and grassy flavor to the cheese. Don’t get too worried if you smell the rind and are put off by how stinky it is, the cheese is surprisingly far less pungent than it’s casing. I really love this cheese when it’s paired with a fatty spicy chorizo sausage.

St. Nectaire – Pasteurized Cow’s Milk, Auvergne France. Pungent, grassy, semisoft.

That’s all folks! My top 10 most outstanding cheeses we’ve enjoyed over the course of many Cheese O’Clocks. I encourage you to try them out, and if you have your own favorite cheeses, please write them in the comments section below!

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Kate View All →

Kate is the creator of Hungry Feed and a Yelp Elite 6 years strong. When Kate isn’t thinking about her next meal, she’s hiking the mountains in British Columbia and cuddling with her cat Snoop Dogg. Kate’s favorite quote to live by is “People who love to eat are the best people” – Julia Child.