Bonnie doesn't stint herself when it comes to spending on food,
and she's quite susceptible to the latest trends and also to the impulse-purchase displays aat the front of the fancier stores.
So we got a wedge of L'amuse aged Gouda from the Wine and Cheese
Cask (a fine little shop for the price-unconscious) at the
special price of 25.99/lb. This is a very hard 2-year cheese
with small crystals, somewhere between a Parm and a Cheddar in
flavor, with a complex beefy cheesy aroma and a nice beef fatty
flavor. Lots of umami, long finish. It would go well with red
wine for snacking but could be grated instead of Parmesan, which
it resembles without as much sharpness. This brand is at the
height of fashion and is being featured in a lot of upper-end
fooderies, sometimes at up to $30/lb, I looked it up. At least
it tastes good, though L'amuse makes an ovine Gouda as well.

A tale of two Swisses

Boar's Head, 9.99 from Star - I've had some quite good cold
cuts from this prestige brand. The cheese, not so much. It
smelled odd, had scanty holes, and the texture was, well,
sort of rubbery. It was mildly nutty but with a peculiar
flavor that reminded one of not too clean deli counter,
probably the fault of Star Market rather than of the
manufacturer. Strong milkiness, which one might or might
not enjoy. Correction. I tasted a sandwich from Cardullo's
made with this same Swiss, and the same objectionable
flavor obtained.

Whole Foods (7.99) - pleasantly nutty and a little fruity,
with a little of that pucker that I don't care for in Swiss
cheeses; the consolation being a more aged taste than the
other. Texture was similarly resilient. On the whole, though
I hate to admit it, far superior to the Boar's Head, and for
$2 less. Amazing.

A tale of two Parms (both shredded)

The Cheese Guy - not much aroma; pleasantly neutral in
flavor, more umami than anything else. Between rubbery and
crumbly, bad by itself but okay for the intended purpose.

Trader Joe's aged at least 10 months - really strange.
Aroma and flavor reminiscent of star anise. Rubbery
somewhat objectionable texture. Melted okay, so probably
also okay for its purpose; the problem was that licoricey
flavor, which was persistent.

A tale of two baguettes - these are locally famous
outfits, but I'm not super impressed with their products:
it seems that people in Boston have never tasted a decent
baguette, let alone a bagel. Perhaps, as some claim, it's
all in the water.

Clear Flour Bread - the crust was not crisp, the crumb
was tough not in a good way. The flavor is wheaty in a
good way; the texture shows a complete misundersstanding
of the French baguette, This would merit being spread with
peanut butter rather than pate.

Iggy's - in texture this came much closer to the Parisian
ideal. The crust was decent, with almost the right crisp
but not hardness, the inside decent, but I figure any
little store in the 99th arrondisement would be able to
make a better loaf.

So I was so distressed by the Clear Flour experience that
I went and spread some with peanut butter; no joy there
either, as the hard and soft instead of complementing
each other as in a vending machine cracker sandwich
seemed to war with each other. As a consequence, totally
defeated, I got a slice of the Market Basket Canadian
white and spread it with Teddie super chunky and had
something tolerable - the bread is squishy soft and sweet
and not unlike Nissen's Canadian white, which it may be
in disguise, but it holds up well to peanutbutterization.
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