Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk cheese

Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk

I was reading Serious Eats' post "A Brief Guide to Great Stinky Cheeses" when I thought to myself that stinky cheeses have really come a long way in this country. Sure, certain cheeses like mimolette are still being treated with severe skepticism, but I simply can't ignore that pungent taleggio now defends a role as legitimate pizza topping and that cheese plates capable of making their presence known from across the room are featured on nearly every trendy menu.

My love affair with strong cheese, as with anyone of French blood, started in the womb. Surely you didn't think my mother would stop eating cheese just because of a little pregnancy situation... As a child, a big block of parmesan set out on a plate with a hand grater was a staple of every home-cooked pasta dinner. In my teenage years, a summer job at a snack shop in Normandie was fueled largely by Pont l'Evêque on baguette. In college, what I most anticipated when spending a weekend home was Friday night's dinner, if only because the final touch was always Roquefort and red wine. And I still remember the first time my dad treated me to a fancy tasting menu, and how when it came to ordering dessert we both made a point of requesting the cheese course and stating, with a wink in each other's direction, "the stronger the better."

Admittedly, I have taken my love of cheese a little far sometimes. Like that time I showed my college friends around my hometown of San Francisco and decided to stop by the Cowgirl Creamery shop in the Ferry Building and splurge on their Red Hawk cheese, a washed rind cheese that rivals even the most "floral" of French cheeses. All the while forgetting that we still had an afternoon of sightseeing planned. And would not be back to my parent's home to lock the cheese away in the fridge until the next day because we were spending the night in Berkeley. Which ultimately led to a very smelly car and a few bitter remarks. But that Sunday lunch my mom made, topped off with that Red Hawk cheese? To me that was justification enough.

I never liked those little tree car freshener things anyway.