Toma

  This 6 time award winning cheese by the fabulous Point Reyes Cheese company is seriously good. The center of this cows milk cheese is soft, buttery and almostspreadable but firms up a bit towards the natural rind. They describe this as an "anytime, any table" cheese. It has a rich, strong flavor but it's not unfamiliar, which lends itself to many applications. The first bite is butter, just rich, delicious, creamy butter but it finishes expectantly with a nice little tang that lingers in your mouth. Side note: Toma cheese is kosher, gluten-free and made with vegetable rennet so it's great for people with special diets too! 

How to eat: 
 We ate the cheese as is, with no accompaniments and it was fantastic. We have about half of it still left that I cannot wait to layer on some crackers with honey. Point Reyes says that it would be great as a melting cheese like a grilled cheese or in mac'n'cheese. I definitely agree that this is a go anywhere do anything type of cheese. It's easy to eat and will please many different types of palettes. 

Pairing:
 This cheese has quite a tang, so keep that in mind when pairing things. Anything sweet would be fantastic, like honey and jams. Strong beers and red wines would be great accents to the tang as well, like a strong porter or stout. 

Where to buy:
 Their website http://www.pointreyescheese.com/shop has the cheese available in either a wheel for $65, or 8oz wedge 3-pack for $33. We purchased Toma at Taylor's Market (again, it's right by our house and is a fantastic little market) for $7.59 for 7.3oz.