Heaven on Earth, aka the cheese counter at Eataly NYC

Quite possibly the best (and only) food-related holiday to celebrate, National Cheese Lover’s Day honors the humble and not so humble cheese.

Cheese is truly a transformative ingredient… you can melt it, fry it, grill it and it can be used it in both savory and sweet dishes. It can taste mild, sweet, salty, and sometimes funky (the good kind of funky…trust me, there is one.).  With soft, hard, even moldy forms of it, this culinary chameleon is loved by all.

It’s also the main reason why you’ll never see me become a full-time vegan.

Some of my favorite cheeses (I highly recommend you try them all):

• Grana Padano (Very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, but a bit mellower)
• Humboldt Fog (If you don’t like strong blue cheese and want a creamy texture, this is perfect)
• Piave Vecchio (A sweeter, crumbly cheese similar to Parmigiano)
• Irish Cheddar (Quality is outstanding and it isn’t too sharp)
• Burrata (Mozzarella + Cream, need I say more?)

This is what dreams are made of

All taste great on their own or on crackers. For the hard Italian cheeses, try balsamic vinegar jelly. Sounds super weird, but boy, is it tasty. Hell, this stuff would even make cardboard taste good.

Like any other food, try not to eat your weight in cheese in one sitting (I’ve probably come close). And for the lactose intolerant (I’m so sorry), aged cheeses and anything with 2% lactose or less is safe to enjoy.

Now go eat some cheese!

P.S.- Did you know that the U.S. is the largest cheese producer in the world? More than 30% of the world’s cheese is made here!