Happy Cheese Day, Everyone!

Every year, one holiday comes along that trumps all others. On this day, you understand the meaning of your life, and you cherish time spent with your loved ones in front of a raging fire, speaking of the times you’ve spent together on this holiday in years past. And all is right in the world.

I speak, of course, of Cheese Day! What’s that, you say? You’ve never heard of Cheese Day? For shame, good sir and/or madame! For Cheese Day is the best day there e’er was.

Okay, so I’m joking. I also hadn’t heard of Cheese Day until this year, but now that I have, I’m very excited to celebrate it. In a sense, every day is Cheese Day around these parts: if there’s a food I’ll choose above all others, it’s certainly cheese. But nonetheless, this Cheese Day I will take extra time to eat my beloved processed milk.

Cheese Day is January 20, and I plan on eating nachos as my cheese dish of choice; however, I sense that a taster platter of various cheeses may make an appearance. To make things extra interesting, I’m also going to watch a cheesy movie (something romantic, perhaps, or a terrible 80s movie?), and listen to a cheesy album (Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell comes to mind). If you’re going to celebrate cheese day, you might as well go for the full wheel, am I right??

And now, my top 5 cheeses, in random order (btw, when I’m looking for good cheese variety, I always go to Vancouver’s Public Market on Granville Island. It’s a veritable cheese mecca!).

1. Aged Cheddar

When it comes to cheeses, nothing beats the old standby, cheddar. Cheddar’s like an old friend, someone you can count on to make things awesome no matter what’s happening around you. And this is especially true for aged cheddar: a little stronger, a little braver, a little better. Cheddar.

2. Brie

Brie is a subtle customer. Once, a friend of mine called it “heavy butter,” and she was right. It’s the creamy crowd pleaser. Brie is best combined with other things (a Brie and pear sandwich, perhaps? It’s a fun one that way!). I like it spread on a little French bread. With some red wine, of course!

3. Mozzarella

Brie’s older brother, mozza is a helper cheese. Without mozzarella, most Italian food would be far less appealing—particularly pizza. Can you imagine pizza without mozzarella? It’d be a pile of meat and veggies falling off some skinny bread. Gross. Mozzarella to the rescue!

4. Curds

Kind of cheating, I know, but without curds (the byproduct of part of the cheese making process) there’d be no poutine. And without poutine, there’d be no Quebec. And without Quebec, there’d be no Canada. Yeah, I said it. Vive la poutine!

5. Asiago

As a kid, I was raised in a parmesan cheese household. We loved it—both the shake kind and the fancier shredded kind, which we used on all manner of pasta dishes. It wasn’t until I left home for the big world beyond that I discovered the superior pasta covering. With apologies to parmesan, asiago is the best noodle friend around. And in the world of cheese, that’s saying something!

What are your favourite cheeses? Let us know below. Happy Cheese Day!

Image via rdpeyton