La Tur cheese at Costco for only $5.89 each!

[takuhead]

What an amazing deal - saw them at the costco in Mountain View today. I still feel like to got away with something after buying it.
It's an amazing cheese - here's a description I found online

Cheese Facts :
Region : Piemonte
Country : Italy
Cheese Type : Bloomy: Buttery & Rich
Milk Type : Pasteurized Goat, Sheep & Cow
Wine Pairing : Sparkling wines
Rennet : Animal
Age : 2-4 weeks
Producer : Alta Langa

Description :
From the great wine region of Piemonte comes La Tur: a dense, creamy blend of pasteurized cow, goat and sheep milk. Runny and oozing around the perimeter with a moist, cakey, palette-coating paste, its flavor is earthy and full, with a lingering lactic tang. The effect is like ice cream served from a warm scoop; decadent and melting from the outside in. An ideal regional pairing would be a sparkling Asti Spumante – effervescence will whisk away the richness while matching the mild acidity. We recommend you get back-up; La Tur is always the first to go at a party.

[dordogne]

Has the La Tur at this price been spotted at Costco since the holiday season? If so, which stores? Would be great to have the expanded selection of "high end" cheeses available there year round.

[wolfe]

I doubt there will be any until the next holiday season, if at all.. The last best by date was 1/4/11. They do have Delice de Bourgogne at around $10 in a large economy 1# block.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-09-05...
Similar pricing and size for Taleggio

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, it would be nice. But this way you'll just have to look forward to it as a treat! BTW, some Costcos have better (than other Costcos) cheese selections year-round (Richmond and Mountain View are two I know of).

[wolfe]

Earlier last year there was a 3 creature look alike/taste alike cheese for La Tur that was more than the $5.69 but still less than the $14 range. Perhaps that will show up again.

[Merrily1941]

While you are at Costco, get the Kirkland EVOO, which the UC Davis olive growing scientists( they are growing organic olive trees now, the first pressing will be this year) deemed Number One!!! Olive oil we used to buy tastes terrible compared to the Kirkland!
Who knew????

[skwid]

Costco now has the 2010 Vintage Olive Oil out. highly recommended.

Btw, back to La Tur. It is entirely possible that some of the wheels could last beyond the "best by" date. I've also had wheels that were spoiled before the "best by" date. Cheese is a perisible item and as such can and will go bad before it should (or stay perfect long after it should have gone bad), just depends on what bacteria inhabit the cheese wheel.

[wolfe]

Olive oil is also perishable.

[skwid]

That's true. The 2010 Vintage oil was picked in October/November of 2010 so the oil is pretty fresh (as far as imported oil goes).

[walker]

Are you talking about the olive oil in plastic bottles? Somehow, I cannot go for that. I did buy the Tuscan in a green glass bottle and it is so excellent. Before, I always bought Lucini at WF to use on the "good stuff" like salads but this Tuscan seems as good to me for MUCH LESS $$.

[skwid]

Nope, the Vintage Olive Oil is in Glass bottles.

[Gustavo Glenmorangie]

Picked up some of the Tuscan Oct/Nov 2010 olive oil in glass bottles (to distinguish it from the half dozen or so other olive oils at Costco).

Monster good deal: $10 a liter and extremely high quality. A bit soft by Tuscan standards, perhaps, but a real cut above Spanish and California arbequina oils. Excellent everyday olive oil at a fantastic price. Comparable to McEvoy at --what?-- a third the price.

[skwid]

This is a great price. However be careful as the La Tur can spoil and become amoniated in which case the cheese is worthless.

[wolfe]

It's not alone in that. This thread about the bargain at Sigora's 3 years ago suggests that with the present best by dates the cheese has a few good days left.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/466808

[Melanie Wong]

Costco's dating on La Tur is very conservative. We bought from the batch with a best by date of 12/25. First one was sampled on Christmas Day after leaving it out of the fridge at room temperature for half a day. It was still very young, the mold on the rind was still snowy white with no tanning, no mature or tangy flavor, and the paste was still solid with none of the highly desirable goo developed under the rind. Pretty boring and much too young to eat.

The second one was served at a dinner party on Saturday night, and had been kept refrigerated all this time. So this was a full 2 weeks after the best by date and just starting to show the character we prize in La Tur. The symbiosis of the three milks melding to fuller and richer heights with a very long finish, still no tan spots on the mold or any other signs of ammonia, softer and creamier texture to the paste, tangy oozy goo under the rind . . . now that's La Tur.

[12172003]

I've gone into the Mountain View Costco a few times in the past couple of weeks and they have been sold out. Any other sitings of it?

[Ruth Lafler]

I'm guessing it was for the holidays only and they won't be restocking.

[Tumkers]

I've seen it every time I've been to either the Mountain View or the Alamden Costco. In MV, they moved it from the case just outside the refrigerated room to the low case that is perpendicular to all the refrigerated stuff like sausages and lunch meats. They have cheese tastings in front of it. I however, have been scolded for buying La Tur at Costco instead of an independent cheese shop, so I just look at it longingly. I do agree that it would be terrible to lose the little guy cheese shops with the friendly, knowledgeable sales people.

[psb]

Isnt that kind of a "lump of cheese fallacy"? I mean if instead of paying $10 for La Tur at an indep cheese shop, you can get it for $6 at COSTCO, why dont you just go buy some more cheese at the indep cheese shop with your savings ... i.e. use it as a subsidy.

ok tnx.

[Ruth Lafler]

Yay for buying more cheese!

[psb]

I suppose you could also buy some extra cheap LA TUR and give it away and then lie and say it came from the indep cheese store, hoping to get the recipient hooked.

BTW, for me "friendly" w.r.t. to cheese shops largely is evaluated in terms of "how willing are they to let me try before buy" and to cut to small size, rather than only pre-determined quantities. that's the biggest problem for me with costco cheej. In fact that is more important than "knowledgeable" for me (although there are "bad" indep cheese store which are incompetent ... they dont store stuff correctly, they cant tell "expiring" cheese from "expired" cheese etc].

[sf_duke]

The Costco in SF just got a large shipment in on Christmas Eve. Located in the seasonal cheese display. Best by dates of 1/4/11. Enjoy.

[wolfe]

Same at Richmond. However I still have several best by 1/1/11 and I can't only eat more than1 in 3 days. :-((

[baron45]

No La Tur today at the SF Costco.

[tpc]

I just got a call from Hien, the foods supervisor at SF Downtown Costco, that the new shipment of La Tur is in. Alas, the weather is too rainy for me on my bike, but those of you who won't mind making the trip should see it.

[margieco]

I picked up some today..

[psb]

dood, arent you making a mountain out of a mole hill to save a couple of bucks?
just go to cheeseboard and get a half-unit if you want to try some so badly. i assume you arent in the market for 5 lbs of la tur.

The saving to me looks like about $7/lb or maybe 30% off.

how much trouble are you willing to go to to save $3-4 if you are looking at getting .5 lbs.

advantages of cheeseboard:
they will cut to size. they will let you try. they have a better selection (costco has some seriously crappy cheeses, if you are buying blind). i would dissuade you from getting la tur from country cheese, also in berkeley, even if you find the current price is lower than CB.

there is another cow/goat/sheep cheese which starts with an R whose name i have forgotten
but the CB people will probably be able to ID it.

oh possibly Robiola Rocchetta.

[tpc]

It's even more embarrassing to admit that BART fare to and from San Francisco, from Oakland, is exactly $7. There was an Indian fellow (I think it might have been you) on facebook who recently mentioned having eaten La Tur, and all the people on this thread talking about having scored some, I guess I got caught up in the moment. A bit of panic buying if you will.

Why have you soured on Country Cheese in Berkeley ? I remember you were the one who introduced me to them, about 6 years ago, when they were having a sale on a very piquant blue cheese that normally retailed for $15 and was on sale for $5. The name escapes me at the moment, but it was quite good.

Ah yes, Blue Castello.

[wolfe]

The actual saving based on a price of $13.99 for a tub at Berkeley Bowl is close to 60%.. The eight I bought for holiday treats paid for my Costco membership. If tpc just wanted a taste all he/she had to do was ask. :-)

[psb]

Oh, I think you are right the discount is a larger ... I believe the Costco LaTurs are
.45 lbs ~ 7oz ... and somehow I turned that into 4.5oz. It is nice Costco sells this in the
"standard size" and you dont have to buy an absurd amount ... I suspect relatively few places are willing to go smaller, as CBoard does.

uh re: Country Cheese ... best to send me an email

if you like blue, at CB try st. agur, dolce gorgonzola, cashel blue, the organic gorgonzola [which actually looks a little greenish], montagnolo. cabrales and roquefort are a little more spendy but of course are classics [i actually like cremy more than crumbly blues]. there is also another one --- forme au sauterne? -- which was really good but crazy expensive. [i am not too familar with the english blues].

[wolfe]

Try the Stichelton, it's a real winner. I got mine at Rainbow.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...

[psb]

Thanks for the reference. I can tell by from the picture I'll like it :-)

BTW, do you know:
--approx $/lb for the Stichelton
--do you know if it can survive reasonable for 2 days "outside" ... I'll be buying
some cheeses for a non-refrig camping trip soon.

Ok tnx.

[wolfe]

About $40 a pound. 2 days at current temps can only make it better..

[psb]

In an amusing coincidence, I ran into a La Tur-toting TPC at Costco today. Anyway, they had a handful out ... I dont think you can normally infer what their supply is from what's out on the floor, but in this case the remaining units were in such crappy condition [kinda mashed up], I'm wonder if those are the end of their current supply.

I thought all of the La Turs were .42 or .45lbs, but TPC claimed they had a wider weight range in spite of being unit priced, rather than weight priced.

It looks like Costco has ISTARA ... although you have to buy the "mini-barrell" unit which is about 1.5 lbs ... I dont know if the $11.xx price is good, but it's a nice cheese ... I was looking for a cheese to take on expedition which can stand up to non-refrigeration.

And now to finish my Brillat Saverin before heading out.

[wolfe]

Ah yes a really good book,I always read a few lines before I go on a trip.;-)
"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are."
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's , The Physiology of Taste: Or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy

[psb]

WOLFE advisory:
I analyzed the STICHELTON. I thought it was good, but frankly I agreed with the CB person that the STILTON they had was better ... I think it was cheaper too. I grabbed some STILTON to eat with DATES.

FYI, the CHEESEBOARD price is $25/lb, << $40/lb, so apparently about 40% less than Rainbow? The only cheese I can think of I've had in that price range is the FORME AU SAUTERN. Maybe I've had a ROQUEFORT in that range, but I dont remember and I usually dont buy RQ or CABRALES in giant quantities. I mentioned to DAVID FARRIS that it's unclear it ever makes sense for me to pay more than $16/lb for a cheese because I almost always would prefer to eat an ounce of the LA BEDAINE $16/lb SMOKED SALMON than any cheese. But I suppose convex preferences/diminishing marginal returns factor in somewhere.

>And now to finish my Brillat Saverin before heading out.
>
Er, I was talking about the triple creme cheese.
[this is kind of a cynical cheese ... it's like half fat]

TPC advisory:
The CB price on the ISTARA is $17, so the COSTCO price is about 30% less, although as discussed you're committing to 1.5 lbs or so.

BTW, did anybody hear something about DAVID FARRIS being attacked by a TATTOOED MAN outside RANCH 99? I dont think cheese was involved.

--psb

[wolfe]

About the cheese, I knew that which is why the ;-).

[SteveG]

I'll have to check, but I remember the Stichelton being cheaper than Stilton at Rainbow. And $40 a pound would have jumped out at me; I think it was much less than that.

[wolfe]

I had it quite a while ago and know I wouldn't have paid that but I was getting my estimate off web sites. I'm sure it would be cheaper at Cheeseboard.

[wolfe]

Rainbow Stilton $21, Stichelton $29.
Edit
I think Costco has big chunks of Stilton for less.

[wolfe]

As long as we are doing blues I should mention that because the Stilton at Richmond Costco is about to go bad (wink wink), buy by 26 Jan 2011, the price for 17oz was only $5.97.

[davidl]

for what its worth - the Stilton is now $2.97

[wolfe]

Slight color change suggesting at the end of it's edibility. Going to have to eat a lot of blue cheese this weekend.

[Ruth Lafler]

Bet it freezes....

[tpc]

Wild, freezing cheese. I wonder if you could tell the difference between thawed cheese and unfrozen cheese.

Came back from Richmond Costco, and the Stiltons indeed were only $2.97 / lb. I also saw Brillat Saverin, a goat cheese coated in cranberries, for $3.97 / lb. For lovers of lamb meat, I saw cooked lamb shank in microwaveable tray for less than $3 / lb.

[wolfe]

"Wild, freezing cheese. I wonder if you could tell the difference between thawed cheese and unfrozen cheese."
Yes. The texture is all messed up and the flavor diminishes some. Best used in cooking, as mozzarella on pizza, cheddar in mac&cheese and Stilton on hamburgers with bacon.

[Ruth Lafler]

Just thought I'd clarify this for the record: Istara is a brand name. The cheese they had at Costco was the Istara P'tit Basque.

Istara also makes an Ossau-Iraty (which I prefer), which I believe is what the Cheeseboard will sell you if you ask for "Istara."

[psb]

You know, that is reassuring to hear, because somewhat recently I had
an ISTARA wedge from Cheeseboard on which you could make out the letters for Petit Basque on the part of the label covering my piece ... and I was a little confused because I was pretty certain I had originally tried ISTARA as an *alternative* to Petit Basque, Idiazabal, Manchego etc.

So then I though "uh i guess i was wrong or maybe petit basque covers a lot of ground".

Also the PB tasted a little more pre-fab than I remembered ... although in this case I was buying a hard cheese for a unrefrigerated trip, so it was fine.

[Ruth Lafler]

The problem is that I can never remember how to pronounce "Ossau-Iraty" and thus can't ask for it by name! I'll have to settle for "the Istara cheese that's not P'tit Basque."

[wolfe]

As to your BS, Brillat Savarin, $2.97 for 7oz with cranberry with best buy date of today1/28/11. Bet it's still good for at least the next 24 hours.

[psb]

In another Costco-Cheese Coincidence, I just put some of the BS wi/cran in my fridge 5 min ago ... I hope it is good. I think there was some other costco cheese with fruit which was inedible. If it is actual brillat, it is worth scraping off the cran at $3 for 200grams.

[FYI: this was at SF COSTCO. Mine has a sell-by-date of 2/6/11].

Off topic:
--holy cow, they are selling something like 30oz of SABRA HUMMUS for $2.

--i see they have some kind of BUL-GO-GI they are selling for ~$5./lb in
3lb-ish containers ... has anybody analyzed this?

[tpc]

Would any of you kind souls happen to have an item number for this cheese ? I tried calling my local Costco locations, but nothing comes up for:

la tur
latur
formaggio
affinato

or a search for "cheese". Apparently, everything Costco sells has an item number, and I don't want to make the trek and find out they're sold out.

[wolfe]

#554175

[tpc]

Thanks much. Karen from Richmond Costco says they're out right now, but
SF downtown, Mountain View, and Danville costcos have it right now

[oakjoan]

I just got back from a COSTCO run and they did have the cheeses. Was looking for something else today and didn't really check out all the selections, but I am almost sure they had La Tur. I also saw what looked to be a wonderful cheddar with a sort of gauze wrap.

[tpc]

It befits a Greek tragedy, for the very fate I worked to avoid is what I met. This morning, during an early respite in the rain, I set out on my bicycle to SF Downtown Costco, and they were out of La Tur! I had been told by Karen at the Richmond Costco that this store had over 100 units. I asked the food section supervisor, Hien, who said they were out, and then I asked the store manager, who I presume went to Hien, and after a bit of investigation, Hien told me that what I was told by Karen was correct, but the Costco inventory system was in error. At least I didn't kill my dad and sleep with my mom, or something horrible like that. Hien told me another shipment should be coming in before Christmas.

[AntarcticWidow]

Novato Costco has several cases. I picked up enough to get through the holidays. They have a "best by" date of Jan. 15, 2011.

[hhc]

None at Fremont Costco, so had to make the trip out to Mtn View Costco. That La Tur cheese is really tasty! I recommend it too.

I also got a Wensleydale cheese w/ cranberries from England (Holiday item) $7.06 that I thought was just ok.

Both cheeses taste good on the Milton's original multigrain all natural crackers on sale at Costco $6.99 - $1.5 instant mfg coupon.

[dordogne]

Has anyone found La Tur at other Costco stores--specifically San Francisco or Richmond? This is a fantastic price for a very fine cheese

[wolfe]

Richmond, just returned with 4. Takuhead was overcharged or misremembered. My cost only $5.69.;-)
Best by 12/25/10

[takuhead]

LOL - I am going back for more - must have misremembered :)
My two kids, 5 and 7, ate over 1/2 in one sitting....must go and restock asap before Costco realizes that are practically giving it away.

[wolfe]

I have seen it recently at $13+.

[Ruth Lafler]

And I've seen it for more.

Anyway, I just got back from Richmond Costco and they have a whole extra cheese display (cluster of four refrigerated cases) for the holidays. Picked up the La Tur and some Delice de Argental with truffles ($11.99). I was also tempted by some DOP taleggio for the ridiculous price of $8.29/lb. They were sampling it (and a lot of other good cheeses), and it was nice and soft and gooey. They also had some Cambazola that looked good and ripe.

[lexdevil]

They've also had some cheeses from Fiscalini of late, as well as a bandage wrapped cheddar from someone I can't recall. A Rogue blue too (the smoked blue, rather than the amazing, but spendy, Rogue River Blue).

[wolfe]

From Costco Cheese on Chain board:
"I have had many of the cheeses from Costco and found them in some cases excellent. Unfortunately some are only available for a short time. I enjoyed the Beecher's pack of flavored chedder's, the Bravo(Silver Mountain cloth wrapped cheddar), the white Stilton with apricots. I really liked the La Tur copycat with the really good price. Quite a few of the cheeses have been medal winners including the Fiscalini cabernet soaked cheddar, Purple Moon."
And now the real thing.

[gretasue1]

I found it in SF around Thanksgiving. Another terrific cheese, similar to La Tur is La Bourgogne - same consistency, larger round, absolutely delicious. They've also got great price on English Stilton.

[elise h]

I bought it at the SF Costco this week. It is lovely. Not too tangy or barnyard like, but perky enough. There were only 10 in the case, so you had to look carefully for them. They were in the regular cheese case, not the case showcasing holiday cheese specials. look for the ones with the most recent pack date. I hope you find them!

[wolfe]

Actually they appeared to have several batches. One was best by 12/25 and should be very good now. A second was best by 1/11/11. Richmond seemed to be out although I did not look in the long coolers.

[pushslice]

Thanks for posting this (and reminding me); we picked this up at Costco just on a whim, served @ Thanksgiving, and it got raves all around. We will def. be repeat customers. it made the other cheeses also on the table (harder ones, fwiw) feel neglected by comparison ;-)

[hhc]

thanks for the tip, sounds great & such a bargain!