Super Deal: La Tur $2.99 at Sigona's

[RWCFoodie]

You might have paid much, much more for this luscious cheese; I know I have! I couldn't believe it when I looked at Sigona's specials sheet today when I stopped to pick up some Navel oranges (5 lbs for 99 cents).

There it was on the ad sheet: "La Tur $2.99 ea. - (Reg. Price $24.99/lb) Silky and seductive, buttery triple creme cheese, sweet flavor of cream. Made from cow, sheep and goat milk. It's like butter with an attitude...." They are not packed in the usual little plastic cups but the price is definitely right.

For more on the subject, here's a link to an old SF Chronicle article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...

[Cynsa]

In my neighborhood: La Tur $11.99
Country Cheese
415 Divisadero St
(between Fell St & Oak St)
San Francisco, CA 94117
[phone]

[wolfe]

Not as good a deal but $16.99/lb La Tur at Rainbow. Each container about $9.

[arlenemae]

Not quite as good a deal as this one, but I just picked up some La Tur at Milk Pail Market in Mountain View for $4.99 for the mini-wheel. Still a monster deal considering this size usually costs around ~$14.

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Milk Pail Market
2585 California St, Mountain View, CA

[jlafler]

Ooh, thanks for the tip!

[Ruth Lafler]

Pick me up some, will you, sis?

[wolfe]

Costco is selling this cheese, similar history, similar packing less than $6, best before 11/25. La Corte described in this blog. Planned tasting tomorrow.
http://awheeleygoodcheeseblog.blogspo...

[jlafler]

Oops, I already went. Maybe I'll bring some for Thanksgiving.

[Melanie Wong]

How ripe is it? I've already placed an order with my own "Sibling Express", but maybe I need to get more if it's not that mature.

eta: Just got a call that the marked down La Tur is in the case near the cash register and has "special" tags on them. Regular price La Tur is in the French cheese section (yes, we know this is a Piemonte cheese).

[skwid]

I'd be careful with ripe La Tur as it tends to ammoniate pretty quickly. I know the Pasta Shop stopped carrying it for awhile because of quility problems (cheese was too ripe and would be ammoniated by the time they could sell it).

[jlafler]

Very ripe. Runny. The rind did seem very slightly ammoniated.

They had some in the regular "French cheese" case at the regular price ($12), and some (only a few) in the "specials" case for $5; presumably that's the stuff they thought was getting too ripe.

[wolfe]

The La Corte was very good.

[Ruth Lafler]

Thanks for the tip -- I'll look for it at Costco.

[Melanie Wong]

The Sibling Express just called me from Costco (sorry, don't know which store) and bought the La Corte, best by date of 12/9.

[Ruth Lafler]

I'm going to check the Richmond Costco when I'm out that way on Saturday -- in my experience they have a better selection of gourmet items -- in particular cheeses -- than the San Leandro Costco.

[Melanie Wong]

He was at the Costco in Mtn View.

[Melanie Wong]

The 12/9 dated La Corte needs more time, the center is chalky. Still, a decadent spread for the morning's English muffin.

[Ruth Lafler]

My sister reported on Christmas Day that they still had some. Presumably the sale ends at the end of the month, so you might want to restock for NYE.

[RWCFoodie]

We ate our last one the Friday before New Years - it was just on the verge of being too ripe (for our taste anyway...)

[Hunicsz]

Thank you so much for the heads up! I made my husband (who works in the South Bay) go by and stock up. I'm currently anxiously awaiting his arrival home. Yummm. . .

[Hunicsz]

OK, just sampled the cheese (my husband bought 8! I love him!). Yes, the packaging i a little clumsy (ie, the paper thing was half covering the top), but the cheese is in excellent and is just mature enough.

[pilinut]

Wow, that is a good deal! I hope I can get there in time to snag some!

[gwarring]

Can you buy more than 1 at that price? I had been planning on having a few in the frig for the holidays anyway. At that price it would be worth the drive to grab a couple or 4.

[RWCFoodie]

They don't seem to have a limit: I bought 3 and there were at least 3 dozen in the display in the cheese case.

[RWCFoodie]

Yesterday when I was there they had a lot of them. They came in packed bulk and they had repackaged them rather clumsily in plastic film. The negative to them not being in their usual little plastic bins is that they are getting a bit mangled - they are very soft so must be very ripe. I didn't taste yet so I can't tell you... The other sort of bad thing is that when they repackaged them, they didn't leave the "La Tur" label on them.... I know they are the "real thing" because I saw the bulk package in Styrofoam and they had the original labels on them. They're definitely a bargain!

[Ruth Lafler]

Wow. That's a great price on a great cheese. Where's Sigona's?

[Melanie Wong]

How was the condition of the La Tur? Very ripe, I hope.

For your Peninsula connection . . .

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Sigona's Farmers Market
399 Stanford Shopping Ctr, Palo Alto, CA

Sigona's Farmers Market
2345 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City, CA

[RWCFoodie]

Thanks for listing the locations Melanie: yes, they appear to be very ripe. T

[jlafler]

FYI, 698 Emerson in Palo Alto is Congresswoman Anna Eshoo's office. Her receptionist refused to sell me any cheese, even after I told him I was a constituent.

However, at 2:00 this afternoon, there was plenty of cheese in the Sigona Market at Stanford Shopping Center. It's very, very ripe, which is probably why they're selling it so cheap -- they have to get rid of it fast. Good for us, though! I bought 5.

[Melanie Wong]

That's pretty funny. I flagged the errant entry.

My bro had called to say that Stanford branch had it. He didn't buy it at the time because he said it was too ripe to carry around with him all day. He'll be back later, hope you left some. Thank you to our Peninsula sibs!

[peachblossom]

Sorry to be ignorant but what is a ripe cheese?

[Melanie Wong]

In the case of La Tur, a ripe cheese will be one that has started to soften as it matures. It may still have a dense middle, but will be creamy or maybe runny around the edges next to the bloomy mold. The texture will be more luscious and the flavor more pronounced. Usually they're sold in a less ripe state for non-cheesehounds.