Cheese 101 at the Cheese Shop of Des Moines

I went to the Cheese Shop of Des Moines (@CheeseShopDSM) with my mama today for a Cheese 101 class.

We were greeted with some sparking wine and almonds while we watched the monger (that's okay to call him that...) plate the cheese.

Check out all those wine glasses. :)

The Cheese Shop is a pretty new local establishment over on 42nd by La Mie.  They have great american cheeses and the staff is all really excited about wine and cheese and chocolate and everything that makes life worth living.

How cute is this label?

We sat down and tasted 7 different types of cheese from Bloomy Brine to semi soft to Blue Cheese.

The fresh cheese at the top was the most delicious for me.  It was a whole milk ricotta from Cali.  You could really taste how fresh the milk was.  My mom said she would even eat it with a spoon.  I would have to agree.  Ricotta isn't just for lasagna folks.

The washed rind cheese is the one on the left of the plate with a red rind.  It was FUNKY.  The monger was wearing a shirt that said, "Embrace the Funk" But I couldn't quite embrace that.  It just couldn't get past the smell.  And even if I didn't sniff it first, you could smell it on my breath after... That needed a nice red wine swish.

My mom marked almost every cheese as her favorite.  I was a little more picky.

In the end I came to the conclusion that my parents need to buy a cow.  She didn't go for that.

Alisa, you look so cute! Oh, this old thing?

Absolutely stop in and ask them about their events.  They have another one coming up where they pair cheese with wine and beer and then you vote on which works better.  This class is booked for the next two months, but I'm really considering the wine vs. beer class.