mail order cheese?

[Thor]

I gotten some from NYC-area dairies that ship, and also tried Zingerman's, which I wasn't too impressed with. Does anyone have favorite mail order cheese shops to recommend?

Thanks in advance,

[Caitlin Wheeler]

Try igourmet.com. I haven't ordered from them, but they have a nice selection, and it's worth a shot.

[Abbylovi]

I can vouch for igourmet. Great selection, nice delivery packaging.

[GG Mora]

Yup, iGourmet. Their customer service is excellent. When I was trying to order whole wheels of certain cheeses, instead of the 1 or 2-lb. wedges offered on the site, the woman I got on the phone walked over to the warehouse, hand-picked the wheels and called me back within 15 minutes with the total weights. And the quality was excellent, too.

[bob192]

Try artisanalcheese.com. They age on premises, and have bunches of really mouth-watering stuff.

[missem]

I use www.fromages.com all the time. Amazing French and sometimes Italian cheeses overnighted to your door. Amazing.

[law_doc89]

I have to echo the praise for this site. You can get things you can get no where else. The website is easy to use.

www.fromages.com

[Scott]

The Mozzarella Company has won many national awards for their cheeses. (At the American Cheese Society competition in San Francisco earlier this year, they won 3rd place for their fresh mozzarella, 3rd place for their caciocavallo, 3rd place for their queso blanco with ancho and epazote, 3rd place for their goat's milk ricotta, and 2nd place for their creme fraiche. For other awards in prior years, see their web site.) Many of their products can be ordered online at their website (linked below). Highly recommended.

Scott

Link: http://www.mozzco.com/

[LindaH]

I can vouch for this one. The Mozz. Cheese Co is located in my city and I have gone to their shop many times and sampled a lot of different cheeses....they are all wonderful.

[StockClerk]

Off-topic, but...

Does anybody remember a mail-order club in the 70's called "Cheeselovers"? It was run by what I can only describe as a flamboyant cheese impersario named Gerard Paul. My family thought he was hysterical and we always looked forward to our monthly newsletter and sampling of cheeses.

Not exotic by current standards, but great by 70's standards - I was exposed to havarti, meunster, old bleu cheeses, smoked gouda, and a few other non-cheese items unheard-of in Southern Illinois. Especially liked their Ugly Duckling crackers.

Any other memories of this?

SC

[lwm]

I remember him well. Cheeselovers International-- a triumph of marketing. I wonder sometimes who he thought he was selling to. He wrote like Liberace spoke: arch, unctuous; oh-too-precious. His rhapsodic advertising blurbs were always good for a laugh. I pictured lonely middle-aged ladies "charmed", their vanities flattered, by this rakish New York entrepeneur, and staging little cheese-tasting soirees to debate the merits of Bel Paese. A favorite line was his offer to take back this cheese "with your disappointed tooth-marks still in it" if it weren't the greatest ever. Eventually he made enough money for a Hasselblad, and his provocatively-posed wedges and rondeles achieved a pinnacle of kitsch art. Everything he sold was marked up about 200%, but hey, what price the knowledge you're of the inner brotherhood of cheese connoisseurs? (And in truth, if you lived outside of NYC or say, Boston, you'd have as much trouble locating some of his "finds" as the customer in Monty Python's cheese shop.) I still have some of the unique cheese-utensils he made available, including one he apparently designed and commissioned. This guy was a bona-fide character, and I have always wondered what became of him. I suspect he's no longer with us because if he were, we'd have heard from him. Anyone know anything about Mr. Paul's post-Cheeselovers adventures? Like maybe going from photographing cheeses to cheesecake? (But I don't think he could have been inclined that way.) He certainly proved Andy Warhol's maxim that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. And what a place in history-- to stand in the spotlight linked arm-in-arm with Messrs. Jarlsberg and Camembert (Triple Creme, of course).

[Delightfully Anonymous]

Geez, I thought I was the only person who ever heard of this guy.

I was given a "gift" membership one Christmas during that time, and bought a few things. I've still never found Havarti as good a his "find" of double-cream.

And I'm still using my Couteau-Chopier (sp?)!

Gad, I'm such a geek........

[Serendipity]

I was looking up "Cheeselovers International" out of nostalgia and curiosity, which brought me to these postings purely by accident. (Where am I?)
I too used to look forward to ordering cheeses or gadgets from Cheeselovers every month. It was my biggest splurge in those days! One of my favorite Gerard Paul recommendations was Gjtost cheese on a slice of tart apple or juicy pear, to be savored with a crisp dry wine. Unimaginable pleasure!

[Lisa]

I found an unopened envelope from Cheeselovers International from 1981...ooooh darn I missed my free stuff and discount coupons based on the amount of my previous orders.
Whatever happened to Cheeselovers International?? I miss the college days of looking forward to mail order cheese and friends dropping by with a nice bottle of wine to wind down for the weekend with good music and conversation.

[mamafoo]

Well, it's 2 1/2 years since the last post on Cheeselovers, but I just HAD to write. I just googled it and this was the first site that came up. Upon sorting thru old stuff when moving, I found an order form from July 1977! I wondered if by chance they were still in business. I learned about delicious cheeses from my parents and enjoyed ordering a lot of different kinds from Cheeselovers. As a busy mother of 2, this was our big splurge, too. By the time we had 3 and then 4 children, we couldn't afford their high-priced items. I'm not sure if they stopped sending their mailers because we stopped ordering, though, or if we stopped ordering because they stopped sending their mailers. I am still a gourmet cheeselover, however, thanks to my parents and Gerard Paul.

[60srad]

YEAH, TOAST! I agree that the "chocolate cheese" (which I compare more to peanut butter) was my ultimate educational triumph from this experience! With Wegman's, I can now get it almost any time I want to make the trip, but I wouldn't even know what it was if not for Gerard Paul, whose name I had totally forgotten prior to finding this blog!

[Aerotaz]

While preparing for yet another move (24 in 45 years, but that's another story) I came across a Cheeselovers International gadget; stopped to Google it and here I am. I have fond memories of a time gone by rattling around Midwest small towns in the seventies. The most exotic cheese you could find in the local stores was Velveeta Pimento. My favorite from Mr. Paul was some kind of white cheese rolled in crushed pepper; I have never found anything as good since.

Anyone else with more about this story?

[Stevie]

I LOVED Gerard Paul -- living as we did in Wyoming at the time, it was our lifeline to civilization. I still think his fruitcake was the best I ever tasted, and I certainly learned a lot about what GOOD cheese was supposed to be. Thought he was a fantastic marketer, and whoever his copywriter was, deserved a Clio for great sales writing!

[fozzie]

I belonged to the Cheeselovers mail order,too. We were in Detroit in the mid 70's . Gerald Paul ran it and seemed knowledgeable for the time. I was introduced to Port Salut, Triple cream havarti, and some good crackers. As I recall, he got heavier into gadgets and single item deals like "firehouse cheese and butterkase" and finally went out of business. At first he was skeptical of any cheese that was altered by smoking, or shooting peppers or karaway into it. Later, he included these into his offers, lost some cred, and went downhill.

[fladd]

I've had really good luck with Cabot's in Vermont. Pretty much just cheddar, but very good Vermont Cheddar.

Link: http://store.cabotcheese.com/index.tmpl

[jen kalb]

fromages.com - impeccable, but very pricy

crowley cheese in Vt. (their extra sharp) - its a colby cheese, rather than cheddar, good and strong

I note that the igourmet products some have recommended are available through the amazon site in their new gourmet foods store - purchase through the chowhound link to amazon and you will support this site as you buy your cheese.

[steakandeggs]

I don't know if you are still looking for a mail order cheese shop, but one I know of with very delicious cheeses is Formaggio Kitchen (www.formaggiokitchen.com
)
cheese is always sent at the peak of perfection or they won't send it, and will offer you something else.

[Firegoat]

I've had several orders from Cowgirl Creamery (gifts from my sister).
They were quite good and arrived in excellent condition. Their catalog has a nice selection of organic cheeses.
http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/

[MsDiPesto]

Agree with Cowgirl Creamery and igourmet.com. Would also like to throw in murrayscheese.com

[MsMaryMc]

These folks don't have an extremely wide selection--they only sell what they make at the university's dairy--but what they have is quality. Cougar Gold is legendary in these parts.

[fullbelly]

Farmstead in Providence, RI does an excellent job: http://www.farmsteadinc.com/shop.html

Crazy knowledgable staff.

[Phurstluv]

Cowgirl Creamery.

[DaisyM]

Murray's cheese! I'm impressed with their delivery and selection. We loved a gift of the cheese of the month club. Now, we order frequently. The epoisses is always just perfectly ripe.

http://www.murrayscheese.com/