It’s no secret that we could eat Cambozola straight up for days here at culture — and we reckon you’d feel the same way! The soft, tacky blue cheese is mild enough for cheese newbies to love, but provides enough creaminess and delicious flavor to hook even the most seasoned turophiles (like us here at the office). But as wonderful as Cambozola is on its own, sometimes you need to mix it up a little — and that’s where the following recipes and pairings come in.
Snack Time
In addition to its mild blueing, Cambozola is also a triple cream, which means its rich and gooey. When searching for snack pairings, it’s wise to seek out something acidic to balance all that fat. Even better if the snack is crunchy, as that will provide textural contrast. Hm, a vinegar-y bite, an addictive crunch…have you figured out where we’re going with this yet? Spoiler alert: we’re talking about pickles! Cambozola is great when paired with a pickle — our favorite is Rick’s Picks Smokra (pickled okra spiked with smoked paprika). The complexity of the smoked paprika synergizes beautifully with a mild and creamy blue like Cambozola.
Cocktail Hour
It’s no secret cocktails are hot right now — and if you are into this trend, why not make it better…with cheese? With its creamy texture and approachable flavors, Cambozola is ripe for the pairing with cocktails, especially when zingy liqueurs like Chartreuse are involved. This Halloween-inspired cocktail made with Calvados, yellow Chartreuse, Benedictine, and orange bitters is the perfect pair for rich, lightly tangy Cambozola.
The Main Course
What transforms a salad from a side into a meal? Protein — which includes cheese. Hearty starches like roasted potatoes help round the dish out even more, as is the case with this salad of roasted potatoes, melted Cambozola, greens, and cherry tomatoes. While Cambozola works especially well with the bright acidity of cherry tomatoes and the sweet-savory vinaigrette in this salad, recipe author Larry McQuire notes this dish is flexible; he often varies the elements of the salad each night depending on his freshest, most accessible ingredients:
“Right now we have dandelion greens in Austin, so we are using that…in the winter we deep-fried the potatoes, and we’ve done it with an egg on top. The variations are infinite.”
Erica Mixon
Erica Mixon is an editorial intern at Culture. Mixon is also the arts editor of Emerson College's student-run newspaper, the Berkeley Beacon, and editor in chief of an upcoming human resources blog, HRTalentManagement. While Erica is not editing or writing, she enjoys spending time in her hometown of Ogunquit, Maine.
