Cheese proves its versatility with eggs, no matter their form
Celebrated food writer M.F.K. Fisher once wrote: “Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken.”
What better symbol of springtime and renewal than an egg? It’s inarguably a perfect form—an austere vessel, smooth and tranquil but containing multitudes. An egg is potential personified, lying in wait to hatch—or crack—before fulfilling its intended destiny.
Eggs and cheese belong together, as evidenced by their proximity in settings from farmstands to grocery stores. Eggs can be perfect in their understated simplicity, but they can also achieve transcendence with their dairy companions. What would a quiche be without cheese? Merely a sad egg pie, that’s what. An omelet without chèvre? Not worth getting out of bed for on a Saturday, if you ask me. Even caviar, the loftiest of eggs, is made loftier still with the humblest of dairy products: crème fraîche.
“It might seem that an egg which has succeeded in being fresh has done all that can reasonably be expected of it,” wrote novelist Henry James. Depending on your interpretation, James either didn’t own a sauté pan (and must have been dairy-intolerant), or he inherently understood that it was only through human intervention—and often in concert with cheese—that eggs achieve true enlightenment. Fortunately, many recipes have been developed around the intersection of eggs and cheese, and much has been written about their undeniably perfect union.
In this time of renewal and vigor, however, let us not forget that not all eggs come from avian or piscine reproductive structures. While fauna eggs have long been a symbol of spring, candy eggs have at least a century of history behind them—and they share the spotlight when the first verdant shoots pop into existence. But do these unconventional egg expressions also work with cheese companions? Of course they do! In springtime, everything is possible. Here, we look at cheese pairings for eggs in all their jelly, gummy, and chocolaty glory.
Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper + Cadbury Creme Eggs
Origin: Holland | Milk: Pasteurized Sheep
Lambs are also canonical in the array of springtime symbols, and Cypress Grove’s sheep gouda, Lamb Chopper, brings its own candied essence to the table, with sensations of sweet cream and nuts. Cadbury Creme Eggs, abundantly sugary with milk chocolate and liquid marshmallow, highlight Lamb Chopper’s sweetness, but there’s just enough nutty earthiness to give it an edge—much like its lamb-on-motorcycle logo. Could you cut little Lamb Chopper soldiers to dip into the egg’s soft-boiled sugar center? You could. Should you? Absolutely.
Four Fat Fowl St. Stephen + Jelly Bird Eggs
Origin: Stephentown, New York | Milk: Pasteurized Cow
Is there any more thematic cheese pairing than something from a dairy named after zaftig chickens? Such is Hudson Valley’s Four Fat Fowl, with its motto, “Cheese worth clucking about!” Like a singular chicken egg containing multitudes, so too does a bag of jelly bird eggs—commonly known as jelly beans—with its kaleidoscope of colors and flavors. Whether you’re partial to certain varieties or prefer jelly bean roulette, it’s best to give these eggs a simple, wholesome nest in which to roost. St. Stephen, a pudgy, comfortable triple cream is such a nest. With enough heft to match the toothsomeness of the candy, its notes of butter and brioche won’t be out of place with lime or licorice.
von Trapp Family Farmstead Oma + Gummy Fried Eggs
Origin: Waitsfield, Vermont | Milk: Pasteurized Cow
For many, cheese is egg’s rightful soulmate, but some effectively argue that bacon deserves the top honor. With von Trapp Farmstead Oma, you can kind of have both. A small-format washed-rind whose texture is redolent of pudding, Oma wafts with the salty, umami double-punch of peanuts and smoky, cured pork. Bacon and fried eggs are typically in lockstep, and this porky, pudgy cheese finds its perfect match in a fried egg candy. But gummy fried eggs are more than just a clever look: vanilla-flavored whites with a citrus or orchard fruit “yolk” offer gentle sweetness that’s the perfect counterpoint for Oma’s funk.
Bleu de Brebis + Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs
Origin: France | Milk: Pasteurized Sheep
Penicillium roqueforti isn’t quite robin egg blue, but it’s still a good look for a candy egg cheese board. Hailing from the pastoral fields of France’s Auvergne region, Bleu de Brebis is a sheep’s milk Roquefort alternative with a roasted, savory depth and a fudgy, sticky texture—something it has in common with peanut butter. Chocolate and peanut butter may come in cup form most of the year, but come vernal equinox, it’s all about the egg. This salty, piquant blue and peanut butter duo presents an eye-opening kind of harmony, one that’s very much on-brand for the growth potential of spring.
Neal’s Yard Dairy Montgomery’s Cheddar + Cadbury Mini Eggs
Origin: England | Milk: Raw Cow
Aged by Neal’s Yard Dairy, Montgomery’s Cheddar is a textbook example of English Cheddar. Made at one of three remaining farms in Cheddar’s ancestral home, it is crumbly, nutty and veritably warbling with the springtime flavors of grass, allium, and horseradish. Cheddar may be one of England’s most beloved culinary exports, but so is Cadbury chocolate. Among the pioneers of seasonal chocolate eggs, Cadbury’s delightfully speckled candy-coated mini eggs have been beloved since their introduction in the 1960s. Montgomery’s Cheddar and Cadbury Mini Eggs have a little terroir in common, but their true pairing potential is in the tension borne of a perfect sweet-savory match.
Pamela Vachon
Pamela Vachon is a freelance food and beverage writer and educator based in Astoria, New York, whose work has appeared in Bon Appétit, Wine Enthusiast, and VinePair, among others. Formerly a bartender and captain at New York’s two Michelin star restaurant, The Modern (where her cheese education began as a driver of a tableside cheese trolley), she is also a certified sommelier, and leads cheese, wine, and cocktail tastings through Murray’s Cheese and Night Inn.
Madison Trapkin
Former Editor-in-Chief Madison Trapkin is an Atlanta-bred, Boston-based writer. She graduated from Boston University’s Gastronomy master’s Program in December 2018 and started at culture in March 2019. She is passionate about The Feminist Agenda, pizza, and regularly watering her houseplants.
