Austin ModHouse: artisinal alpine cheese throwdown!

…cheese, milk’s leap toward immortality. — Clifton Fadiman

back in november I asked a Dallas cheese monger to give me something new, and stinky. my guy at scardello's introduced me to Der Scharfe Maxx and I loved it.

On our second trip to dallas, a different cheese monger (molto formaggio) said that cheese was too stinky for his customers, he introduced us to two other alpine cheeses, Hoch Ybrig and Challerhocker. we loved them both. #1 son soon declared the challerhocker as his favorite cheese of all time. he was very enthusiastic about this challerhocker. I overheard him trying to explain his love for this exotic cheese to a friend, I don't think his 9 yo audience understood.

so we went to our austin area cheese monger (antonelli's). they did not have any of the three alpine cheeses we'd previously enjoyed. they introduced us to le marechal. and it was good too.

each cheese was so popular, it soon became the highlight of our pre meal snack (we don't eat dinner till around 7:30). we decided we need to do a blind taste test with all four cheeses side by side. while I was driving through dallas on my way back from nebraska, I stopped at both dallas area cheese shops, and then completed my alpine cheese shopping list when we returned to austin.

molto formaggio cheese monger dallas highland park shopping village

we did more tasting at molto formaggio when she insisted we try additional apline style cheeses.

molto formaggio kid cutting the alpine style cheese dallas

we ended up adding a 5th cheese to our list, bergblume. we also tasted and loved napf beeler but I had to draw the line somehwere.

kids enjoying challerhocker alpine cheese at molto formaggio dallas

these cheeses are complexed, very stinky and a bit expensive. maybe this cheese is lost on the palate of such a young consumer... let's see what happens.

challerhocker in hand, our alpine cheese collection was growing molto formaggio dallas highland park

then our cheese tasting guests arrived... total of six adults to help decide a victor in battle alpine cheese.

challerhocker vs scharfe maxx alpine cheese battle 2012

I had the daughter unwrap the cheese and label them A through E. she kept the identity of each cheese secret. I provided appropriate wines, dry riesling. our favorite was the one from alsace: BARON DE HOEN RIESLING 2010

alpine style cheese eating schuster

these cheeses are addictive and best enjoyed thinly planed and naked, as in no cracker or mustard. big chunks are not necessary to get a real taste.

score cards handed in for alpine style cheese tasting hoch ybrig, challerhocker and scharfe maxx

we rated each cheese 1-5, 1 being favorite and 5 being least liked.

alpine cheese competition results 2012 challerhocker scharfe maxx

alpine style cheese competition results

votes tallied, the challerhocker was the clear winner. MY favorite (scharfe maxx) was nearly last but I did give it a #1 on my blind taste. I'll admit the scharfe maxx is especially stinky... the bergblume came in last by a good margin.

challerhocker wins alpine style cheese tasting

he had successfully been able to discern which of the five cheeses was his beloved challerhocker and the adult blind tasting had confirmed it was the favored cheese of the lot. he knows his cheese and his experienced palate has been noted. I won't soon attend a cheese tasting without #1 by my side.

#1 Challerhocker purchased from Molto Formaggio- Dallas

#2 Le Marechal (we purchased in austin texas from antonelli's)

#3 Hoch Ybrig (purchased from Molto Formaggio)

#4 Scharfe Maxx (purchased from scardello's in dallas)

#5 Bergblume

footnote: we only found scharfe maxx at scardello's, we found they do also stock the challerhocker and hoch ybrig. the guys at scardello were excited about this tasting I was planning and shared that they have a wheel of scharfe maxx 365 on the way (aged for one year), get some if you can,

alpine cheese comic art:

alpine cheese nutjob hillbilly

I often make some themed cartoon drawing on my chalkboard before an event at the house, usually while I wait for guests to arrive. #2 son asked "who is that?" I joked that it was me and he rebutted furiously, "it's NOT you, you don't have a hat!". I went and found a hat and he continued to argue each detail until he admitted defeat, "it IS YOU!" then he asked for his turn to pose with my alpine cheese accessories.

west lake hills hillbilly alpine cheese boy

hillbilly alpine cheese lover austin westlake

other local news:

rare texas summer growing season

summer in central texas is historically the time we try to keep plants from dying. it's rare to have an actual bloom or growing season. the plants are growing like crazy and the tomato that are usualy going dormant till fall have started to grow and make fruit again. this has been a very mild summer for us so far.

planter box flowers in westlake austin tx

kat's box of flowers is looking very healthy.

blue dahlia bistro west lake hills:

blue dahlia bistro salad mesclun

I'm pleased to welcome the addition of blue dahlia bistro to the neighborhood. just a few blocks from our home! prices were reasonable and portions were huge! the salad above was just $5.50 and had plenty of delicious pesto.

boullabaisse blue dahlia bistro austin westlake west lake hills tx

kat's bouillabaisse was a big bowl filled with plenty of sea food for $13.95 and was NOT over salted like so many other places serving it.

boy enjoying bread basket at blue dahlia bistro westlake

the bread basket came with marmalade, strawberry jam and nutella for $3.95 and breakfast is served all day.

boy drinking beer (maine rootbeer)

when I found they have a happy hour.... it was like my prayers had been answered. reduced prices on the cheese board, $4 tartines (like an open faced sandwich) and $10 bottles of wine... (HH m-f 4-6.30)

double fisting the sea salt caramel gelato at blue dahlia bistro