Eat. Brie. Moan

I saw, I ate, I moaned. Yesterday, after a long but wholly awesome market day, I stopped in (for the first time-gasp!) at La Grotta dell Fromaggio on the Drive to see what all the fuss was about. Besides having a perfectly good, very fresh panini (a real one, not the West's terrible bastardization of it), I picked up some brie. Now, as far as I am concerned, Brie is the Queen of all cheese. While I am partial to Smoked Gouda, the elegance and celebration of subtlety and texture that Brie encompasses is unsurpassable. I had been craving some ripe, runny brie for a few days, and had initially set my sights on wrangling a round of it from Little Qualicum at the market. But, I've been feeling lately, after having wonderful and far superior non-LQC cheese of late, that LQC really isn't all that great. True, their Brie is award-winning, but not gold-winning. Plus, in many ways they pander to the masses and that is where their success is found. Qualicum Spice (probably their best-seller next to their Island Brie) is very pedestrian, appealing to any and all, and not that great and not that unique. Plus, I harbour some very negative feelings towards certain people at LQC and always will because of certain unprofessional, bitchy, inexcusably callous, and ugly-ass actions of one certain unprofessional, bitchy, inexcusably callous, and ugly-ass employee. Thus, I was looking through the bries at La Grotta and while waiting for my panini, picked one up that was perfect: 140 grams, double-cream Brise du Matin Brie for only $3.50. Yes, you heard me right, 140 grams of delicious Brie for only $3.50. It was incredible, runny from the get-go, creamy innards, mushroomy memorable rind, put LQC to absolute shame on the three most important criteria: taste, value, and price (in that order).
Needless to say, the cheese is gone. Bought yesterday around 4pm, and gone today around 3pm. My boyfriend loved it as well, and he is indeed a fan of Brie. I will certainly return for some more. Probably this week.
Now, I hope to go out to either Xoxolat or 49th Parallel, for some drinking chocolate. Drink. Chocolate. Moan.