When one hears there are caves at Murray’s Cheese, images of damp, subterranean chasms loaded with mounds of exotic fromage spring readily to mind. As a recent tour revealed, the cheeses aren’t stored and aged in actual caverns, but rather climate-controlled walk-in refrigerators designed by France’s leading affineur, Hervé Mons.
Before entering the cheese storage area you’ll be told to wipe your feet on an antibacterial mat. This is to prevent unintended bacteria and molds from interfering with the cheeses. “Sometimes a cheese needs to be quarantined because of a bad mold,” Taylor Cocalis, manager of Murray’s Cheese Course pointed out.
Depending on whether you’re a real cheesehead or not, the first cave has either a pleasantly pungent bouquet or smells like feet; it contains washed-rind cheeses. The aroma that hits you right in the face when you enter is caused by b-linens. They sound like a hip line of duvet covers, but b-linens are actually the same bacteria that cause a funky aroma in what Cocalis delicately refers to as “cloistered regions of the body.” Surprisingly it was possible to pick out the distinct smell of Grayson amongst all the other cheeses while walking through the narrow room.
Murray’s affineur Zoe Brickley likes to refer to herself as a “cheese nanny” because most cheeses come to the shop after having been partially aged elsewhere. The second cave, which contains bloomy-rinded goat cheeses, is the sole exception, with the mold-ripened specimens undergoing full affinage. “These cheeses need to be patted and turned every few days, if you don’t the fat settles to the bottom. Nobody likes a soggy bottom,” Cocalis quipped.
Ammonia is hardly a smell associated with cheese, but that’s exactly what Murray’s third cave smells like. Among the natural-ripened cheeses lining the shelves are such exotica as the walnut-leaf wrapped Pecorino Foja de Noce. The last cave contains giant wheels, ranging from a 200-pound Swiss Emmenthaler that takes two weeks to sell huge slabs of Parmigiano-Reggiano that are sold at the rate of one a day.
Murray’s holds 30-minute cave tours on the third Saturday of every month. At $10, they’re a steal since they also include a tasting of two cheeses. More ambitious cheese enthusiasts might want to pony up $75 to take the two-hour Mystery of the Caves tour led by Zoe Brickley. And if you’re really nuts about dairy products, you can sign on as a “cheese intern.”
Murray’s Cheese, 254 Bleecker St., 212-243-3289
Photo: Pat Cuatero
