The frost-bitten landscape may not be a feast to the eyes,  with the stillness permeating into your very existence but somewhere in that dormancy there sprouts a reason for you to rejoice because in all the snowy-whiteness there are glorious winter cheeses to choose from.

The cow’s milk winter cheeses; which are available for about three to five months in a year, warm up to your need in every possible way; when they make their entry into the market, during the month of November or December. There are the European varieties such as the Mont d'Or, Haut-Doubs and Försterkäse and those of American origin such as the Winnimere and Rush creek, which add variety and style to the winter season of cheeses gaily melting in all richness.
Let’s explore these varieties and savor the melting softness of each:
•    Mont d'Or : This specialty winter cheese was first made in the 19th century  in the Swiss region of the Mont d’Or mountain. The cheese owes its richness to the high-fat winter milk it is made from. The aging it goes through by getting wrapped in a spruce bark, gives the cheese the woodsy flavor, which intensifies to taste like a satiny cream when aged. The French make of the winter cheese is also called by Mont d’ Or and Vacherin du Haut-Doubs.
•    Försterkäse: The cheese of Swiss origin (Krummenswil) made from raw milk, is a washed-rind cheese, which is rubbed with a mix of salt-brine and a local white wine to nurture the bacteria, which impart the earthy flavor to the cheese. The woody flavor comes by wrapping the cheese with a local pine bark. The aging period for this glorious winter cheese is 60 days.
•    Winnimere: The American cousin of  Försterkäse, the raw milk cheese is made from the winter milk of Ayrshire cows of Jasper hills farms. The glorious winter cheese is then wrapped with a bark of the jasper hills' trees and then washed with a lambic beer. With an earthy bacon flavor, the cheese with a bright orange rind and a soft center, is all about flavor and fragrance.
•    Rush Creek Reserve:  The newcomer from the Dodgeville region of Wisconsin, the Rush Creek Reserve is a subtle version of the Mont d’Or. The cheese is wrapped with spruce bark imported from France. The aging process of the cheese takes place in the Pleasant ridge reserve, rendering earthy notes  in a mix of fruity and milky flavor. The cheese is mild in taste compared to the other glorious winter cheeses.

Now that you can choose from glorious winter cheeses, winter need not spell the stillness of the biting cold or the lashing sleet because the cheesy warmth in silken softness, melts away the freezing moments in rapturous flavor and fragrance!

Photo Courtesy : portfo.li