prematurely molding cheese ?

[im_nomad]

About two weeks ago I purchased a piece of Bothwell's Black Truffle cheese, that had been packaged a couple of days prior. Also picked up a lovely hunk of manchego (my cheese addiction of late). Had maybe one thin slice from the black truffle and rewrapped. Have had more than a slice or two of the manchego, and rewrapped.

Decided to have a few slices of the back truffle cheese with a glass of wine this evening, only to find $14 worth of mold and had to toss it. The manchego is perfectly fine.

I'm no cheese expert, and I know not to push limits of soft cheeses, but hard cheeses seem to last an abnormally long time, especially the super-aged ones ( I admit to having a large chunk of 5 year old goat cheese from Montreal in my fridge for months while I picked away at it). The manchego is not that different in firmness from the black truffle cheese.

What gives? Does the truffle cut down the life of the cheese?

[slewfoot]

According to Paula Lambert (follow this link if you've never heard of her), cheese never really goes bad, it just turns into another kind of cheese. No need to pitch the cheese, just remove the mold (if its type is unknown) and enjoy the new cheese!

http://mozzco.com/

[DallasDude]

Exactly, and I LOVE Paula. A gem for the state of Texas.

[alkapal]

sorry for your expensive loss.

and i disagree with paula lambert. at some point moldy cheese is just mold!

[danieljdwyer]

Cheeses with stuff added to them do tend to get moldy much faster. There are exceptions to this, like cheeses inoculated with mold, or cheeses with ash added, both of which discourage the growth of undesirable mold.
As for how to handle the mold, blue green and most white molds are typically safe to eat, but will ruin the taste of most cheeses. Black mold can kill you, and some white molds are also a potential danger. If it's a big enough piece of cheese not too covered in mold, and you are comfortable with the safety of the mold in question, trim it. Otherwise, toss it.