The Big Cheese

Not the Big Apple -- though it's said to be good on slices of apple, nectarines, strawberries or on scones, waffles, pancakes or ginger snaps.

It's Meyer Lemon Quark cheese and we bought it at the Torrance Farmer's Market. Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and "quark" is the German version of cream cheese.

This was produced from Jersey cows at the Springhill Cheese company, Petaluma, CA. Their Web site is springhillcheese.com for a more comprehensive look at their various products.

I asked the vendor if, by chance, they make a Brillat-Savarin (my very favorite) and he wasn't familiar with it. I told him it's a triple cream with a faint citrus back taste and he promptly reached into an iced counter display box and held up the Quark. (Which sounds faintly pornographic, now that I look at it.)

It definitely has a sweet taste and I think of most cheeses as faintly sour (Gouda, Edam) or very creamy (Brie) so it's a different taste. We tried a daub of it on a strawberry and ... eh. I think a slice of fresh peach would work a lot better. Different kinds of sweetness... One pound, shipped, is listed at $6; ours, bought at the Farmers Market, was $5.