Here’s a hunk I will never forget: a cross between Gouda and Comté, called Remeker Pure.
If you’re a cheese fanatic, you’re already calling me on the phone and wondering where you can get some because only a few wheels are exported from a tiny farm in the Netherlands.
Better head for the Di Bruno Bros. heliport and beg a sliver off the guys in the cave who are probably nibbling the last golden wheel.
If you are reading this as a pleasure-seeker who doesn’t know a rind from a Remeker, come closer to the screen. You have a little assignment from me, darling. Go to the nearest cheese counter and try:
- Comté
- Aged Gouda
If you don’t know these two cheeses, you have bad parents. Don’t deprive yourself any longer. Comté is a mouth bath of butter and roasted nuts, made in France’s Jura Mountain region. A good aged Gouda is basically crystallized caramel, thanks to the Dutch.
Fuse these two fabu-dabu cheeses together, and you get Remeker Pure – it’s all butter-crunch and roasty sweetness swirled together in one wheel that could easily rival any flavor by Ben & Jerry’s.
Remeker Pure: A Magical Collaboration
Instead of Ben and Jerry, we have Jan Dirk and Philippe – the next great dairy dreamer-doers!
The two developed Remeker Pure, and here’s how it happened: Jan Dirk van de Voort makes a great Gouda called Remeker, and Philippe Goux oversees the aging of the famous Marcel Petit Comté in an underground army fort. No, I am not making this up.
Most Gouda is dunked in wax, but Jan Dirk wanted to try making a natural rind on his Gouda. He called over to France for advice.
Philippe taught Jan Dirk the salting technique for his exquisite Marcel Petit Comté. Then, Jan Dirk did the unthinkable -- he rubbed the rind of his Gouda with ghee, or clarified butter. Because why not? Ghee makes everything taste delicious (I know because I eat it on toast).
The result is gorgeous in every way. Remeker Pure looks like a deeply golden mountain cheese – or a Gouda wearing snakeskin boots, thanks to the natural rind. Take a bite, and you get creamy texture and savory Comté-esque flavor with the toffee-like taste and sparkly texture of aged Gouda. Every bite is balanced.
Bonkers!
Remeker Pure Pairings
With cheese this good, you don’t need a lot of sizzle on your cheese board. Try a few nuts (almonds or pecans) and some subdued charcuterie – for crying out loud, nothing spicy! I nabbed some
Salumi salami with ginger and garlic, made by Mario Batali’s dad – it’s sold at the Di Bruno Bros. meat counter, and it’s glorious.
To drink, I took the advice of a swarthy cheesemonger and sniffed out a dark’n malty brown ale.
Maple Autumn, brewed with yams and maple syrup, was a ridiculously good match – it pulled out the brown sugar in the cheese but didn’t overpower the gentler notes of nuts and butter.
Remeker Pure is a rare beast. I’m told there will be another shipment in a few weeks, so keep your sniffer out when you hit the cheese counter around the holidays.
For more cheese tidings, please visit Madame Fromage.
