It was Christmas in August when I received my Tomme from Point Reyes Farmstead in the mail. It is a hard cheese, not usually one of my favorite kinds of cheese but when paired with the suggested scotch (not a scotch fan, but the cheese made it very tasty, indeed), we found doing the research a real pleasure. My wing man (also known as the husband) and I had no trouble enjoying our task. Although this is a much milder cheese than the blues, the Tomme has its place in gastronomy. We liked the subtle after-bite when savored with a red wine. The crystals in the cheese definitely gave this cheese an extra zing. It was my favorite part of the cheese.

We thought, and the Cookbook Mafia from my work at the library also agreed, that this cheese would be an excellent cheese for melting on a big juicy Kobe beef burger. It would also make a good panini sing for joy. It calls to be paired with items with big, bold flavors, as it is rather mild itself. Salami, cappacolla, proscuttio, sopressata, speck would be good partners in flavor. I might even go so far as to fold it into a slowly-made omelette with some fresh herbs. —Jackie

Scotch pix by sashafatcat