Let me tell you something about my current Cheese of the Week, Vermont Creamery’s Coupole.
This petite little brain of a cheese comes in a neat little wooden crate, its delicate exterior protected to a certain extent from the pressures (and cheese pressers) of the world.
Its name borrows from the French word for cupola, or dome—Coupole. And a little dome, indeed, it is.
A dome of supple goat cheese. Couple starts out chalky on the inside, become more supple and creamy as it ripens. At room temperature, a perfectly ripe little wheel is pure silk.
The exterior gets its wrinkly, brain-coral patterning from the application of Geotrichum candidum cultures. It might look a bit weird, but trust me: the flavor is not.
I love this cheese spread on a cracker or soft bread, or all by itself. It goes well with berry preserves, lemon curd, fresh berries when they’re in season, hot honey, regular honey, truffle honey.
It may be a little too goaty for those people who can’t handle goat cheese, but it isn’t very strong at all. The flavor is a little bit tart and zesty and a lot bit buttery and rich.
This cheese is decadent, a real dessert cheese. I can eat a whole one in a hot minute.
Vermont Creamery, you’ve done well with this one.