One Cheesy Fantasy

One of the most interesting supermarkets in these parts is the independent Acquistapace's in downtown Covington. Their client base is so diverse it occupies both ends of a spectrum of customers, with everything in between. The family descends from the Schwegman empire, and father Steve runs it with his two sons. Adam travels the world in search of wines, spirits and beer, and Erik seeks out fine, exotic, and just downright delicious cheese. He goes into caves with cheesemakers and Adam walks the lanes of obscure grapes growing everywhere, all in search of the best things to eat and drink the world over. Because of this dedication and the size of the operation, they do really fun things to promote these products from time to time. There are a few annual events that are fun, informative, and most of all, delicious.

I do the bulk of the shopping for this household at Rouse’s, but when I am in need of some really special thing I know just where to go. It was during one of these visits that I noticed the gargantuan cheddar cheese one day. The thing was as tall and as wide as three or four adult people. It was there as part of the annual Cheese Extravaganza. I saw it after the event that first year, but have been once or twice since then, though I have never written about it.

Erik’s cheese selection is always the best I’ve seen, encouraging an acquaintance with cheeses you may just want to try by selling little bits for a couple of bucks. Sometimes I would go and get a handful of those just to have fun with them. This little cheese basket is the only place here that I have seen an all-time favorite of mine, Beecher Flagship. Erik brings that same sense of cheese exploration and adventure to this event. 

On this day there were tables set up with all kinds of cheeses from everywhere, just yours for the tasting. The first station a visitor would come to was like a cheese board in Heaven, though not a fancy one. These were cubes like you’d buy to bring to a potluck. Regular delicious basic cheese like white and yellow and mild and sharp cheddar and pepperjack, Colby, and others. Gouda had its own table.

There were stations of spreadables like Boursin and Farmer’s cheese and herb spreads with accompanying crackers.

Ralph Brennan was represented by his bakery, which provided the bread for grilled cheese being made on-site. 

There was a person operating a grill to griddle cheese all by itself. There wasn’t enough time for it to harden into a crisp, but no one cared.

Representatives from all over manned these cheese-tasting stations. They must look forward to this event because of its opportunity to talk directly to a customer about their product. There was European-style premium butter that was a big hit. Some people were so impressed with this they couldn’t get enough of it.

As a cheese lover who still doesn’t understand cheese curds, I was happy to have an opportunity to try a few different ones to see how they differed from cheese. Still nothing though both kinds I tried were good. The cheese curd station also offered little ham and cheese sandwiches.

There was a guy there from a company whose motto is “fine cheese alchemy”, proving it by torching a slab of his cheese as you’d do with creme brulee.

Another station had a rep carving prosciutto, which for some reason always fascinates me.

A pan of penne mac’n’cheese would not have interested me except for the rep who encouraged a taste. He convinced me to try his crab boil mac’n’cheese. He was right. I wanted more of this.

There were stations of cheese mixed with wine and other items, like ash (which I am shocked that I love) but mostly this was a festival for cheese lovers that was mainstream.

The Acquistapace Cheese Extravaganza is a dream for anyone like me who views cheese as another of God’s gifts to humanity. 

It takes place each fall. Don’t miss it next year.