Aside from milk differences, what would you say distinguishes the rinds of Pyrenees tomme family cheeses (e.g., tomme de pyrenees, garrotxa, ossau, all related cheeses, in other words) from the Savoie tommes?
I know the Pyrenees styles get Mycoderm and Mycodore; I know a washed rind that includes PLA, or a wash that includes various linens is very different from a mould-centric rind. What else? I ask because by my eyes, although I do find some very smooth rinds on savoie tommes, I also see heavily mottled, thick rinds that to me, anyway, suggest what I see in the Pyrenees as well.
Secondly, it's been bugging me for awhile but it's probably been buried: I've seen mycodore described as both a yeast, and a mould. Does it exhibit characteristics of both? How about Mycoderm? What moulds are we talking about, that inhabit Pyrenees rinds? Mucor? Others?
Finally, I know Vermont shepherd is a sheep's milk cheese, styled after the Pyrenees region. What of Elk Mountain? I know it shortchanges Gianaclis's creation (after all, it is her cheese, and not a region), but if you were to talk regional European influences, where would you place the cheese?
Thanks, thinking on rind characteristics.
Paul