DISH OF THE WEEK: Cheese Caramel from CHEESE GROTTO

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

It’s very rare that I get to say “I’ve never tasted anything like this before.” But when I do, it’s so exciting!

This happened this past weekend leading up to Valentine’s Day on the Brownstone Brooklyn tour I was leading. The tour is all about the exciting local food artisans in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood and together we discovered a brand new one.

At 61 Local, one of our usual stop, we happened upon a new business selling their products and offering samples. Turns out the woman who began Cheese Grotto used to work at 61 Local and, as part of their mission, they are helping her new cheese business get off the ground.

My group of six were eager to check out this brand new product called Cheese Caramel. I had never heard of such a thing and couldn’t quite imagine what it was. I was maybe expecting popcorn that had both a cheese and caramel flavor.

Instead, this ingenious creation is basically a block of caramel that is made with sharp gruyére cheese and seasoned with some sea salt. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I had never tasted anything quite like this. Mind officially blown.

It is sweet, salty and cheesy and I could see this working at many different points in the day. You could cut a slice and serve it on toast. You could crumble it up and put it onto ice cream (yes, cheese and ice cream!). You could just cut off some pieces and let it melt in your mouth as a dessert. It’s pretty versatile in the most surprising ways.

And don’t get me started on what kind of wine or beer to pair this with – it would work with just about anything!! It was so good that almost every single person on my tour bought a box for Valentine’s Day.

While the day of love is over for the year, it’s never too late to romance your sweetheart with something that they have never tasted before. This is just one of the offerings from Cheese Grotto, which is mostly a cheese storage company and offers cheese-making classes. But now keep your eyes peeled for this new product. And prepare for your world to change.