Armenian String Cheese pt. 2 Electric Bugaloo

My plan today was to talk about the Bonne Bouche. Unfortunately I didn't see Junglefrog's comment in time, I reformatted the disk, and lost all of my photos. I did take a few new ones, but then something happened. Something magical and glorious.

There it was at the supermarket. Armenian String cheese. I've sent the word out to all my friends to be on the lookout for this cheese in Chicago and had some up empty-handed. For some reason, the grocery behind my house is now carrying it.

Before I get into the meat of it you should know something. I am a cheese snob. I looked at it, sitting in the little cheese island where I'd previously found "brie log" and was slightly grossed out by its plasticine appearance. I went into this experiment with a supreme bias and you should be aware of that.


Sealed tight the Armenian string cheese looks like any other hermetically sealed cheese. It has a sheen to it that I don't think is the plastic wrap.


Unleashed from it's plastic prison what do we find? More plastic! This was one of the shiniest cheeses I've ever seen. It looked like it had been shellacked. No, those aren't mouse turds. They are "spices". Gross. So gross.


The string cheese is about to get stringy. It pulls apart very easily and feels a bit like play-doh. It also has an odd smell to it. Not quite dairy, not just plastic wrap. We let the cheese sit for a while to get some of that plastic smell and taste out of it. It didn't work.


It's a pile of string cheese. A really plasticy, rubbery pile of string cheese. Ick! Pleh!



1. This is probably not "real" Armenian string cheese. Just as K***T isn't a representation of American cheese.

2. I didn't even try any other applications. Based on a hunch, I think this might melt well. Plastic pizza anyone?

3. I approached this cheese with horror and didn't give it a fair shake.

Unfortunately, none of this matters. Based on this taste test I have no further interest in acquiring or heaven forbid tasting any more Armenian string cheese.

As you know, I hate to end negatively, so here's some fun happy non plasticy stuff. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I am renting a car and driving to Wisconsin to go to a seminar on raw milk cheese. I am super uber excited! Vermont Butter & Cheese Company is sponsoring the VT Cheesemaker's festival next month, and they are looking for photographers. You'll be paid in cheese and gratitude.

And finally, my nephew turned 2 yesterday. We had a big cheese feast on Saturday, and the little man loves cheese. He was very intrigued by the soft rind on the Constant Bliss, and thought the Little Darling was good enough to lick! He's a very good boy.