My first love has always been cheese before it was sweets. When I started running a lot, it seems I altered my body's chemistry and I started craving sweets more and more. I've found that since I've taken a break from excessive cardio and running completely, my true taste buds are starting to return.
First cheese love before being introduced to gourmet cheeses? Cheddar, of course. But one day I heard about brie cheese and how creamy it is, especially triple creme. I went on a brie frenzy and tried all sorts of brands.
Then not too long ago, I was browsing the Murray's Cheese section of my local Kroger and stumbled upon Fromger d'Affinois. It's brie's creamier, more buttery cousin and not as pungent. I had been eating brie lately and was on my weekly grocery shopping trip at Central Market when this truffle version caught my eye. I mean, truffles go great with anything savory. I love it on fries, I love truffle infused oil on my baked potato, I like it in my mustard, it's just such a great flavor. To mix it in with creamy buttery cheese? That's a guaranteed winner.
This was not cheap. That little wedge cost about $10 and I can eat that pretty darn fast. But I won't. Because I've learned to savor food. And also because my bank account is not made of gold.
You can see how creamy and soft this cheese is. It's definitely softer than a lot of brie cheeses, similar to a triple creme brie. For some reason, I noticed it is a little more "oily" as it didn't stick to my dish as much as brie does. Doesn't matter to me, if you're eating cheese, are you really watching what's oily and what's not?
This cheese is pretty soft so you don't need to let it come to room temperature like you do for some brie varieties. My first taste of this was euphoric. The rich butter flavor and super creamy texture of Fromager d'Affinois with a hint of truffle. It's not as pungent a truffle flavor as a lot of the oils, but it tasted fresher somehow, bordering on shiitake mushrooms. It doesn't overwhelm the cheese where you lose the cheese flavor but it complements each other. I usually go for the original flavored cheeses since additional flavors sometimes mask the true flavor of the cheese, but this was soooooo good. The rind is not as pungent like that of brie and I think contributes to the flavor profile.
If you like truffles and you like cheese, this is like a dream combination. Fromager d'Affinois is made with microbial rennet so it's suitable for vegetarians. When I was vegetarian, I had the most difficult time finding french cheeses that did not use animal rennet. This was my go to when I couldn't find a vegetarian brie. You might like this even better than brie.
I've been seeing Fromager d'Affinois at more and more grocery stores, but this Truffles variety was only available at the Central Market near me. If you have not tried the original flavor and can't find the Truffles variety, try that instead, although this one is pretty darn special. I'm sure Whole Foods would be willing to order it for you if your local one doesn't already carry it.
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