Many folks are enchanted while gazing at Dutch master Van Gogh's famous "Starry Night" painting. Me? I'm charmed when gazing at an exquisite wheel of Dutch 4-year aged Gouda selling at $12 per pound.

While shopping at Kerrytown, I noticed all imported wheels of cheese on Bob Sparrow's meat counter were marked at $12 per pound (available in 1-pound increments). Reggianos, piaves, manchegos, asiagos ... they got my attention.

I haven't had any really good Gouda lately; Cryovac-packaged versions just don't do a serious cheese justice. And forget about those perfectly round Gouda's encased in red paraffin - generally found in "gifts of cheese", they are of a totally different species. A well-aged, freshly cut Gouda is marvelous, every morsel of this incomparable cow's milk cheese bursts into nutty, tangy flavor crystals on your palate.

If the usual price of top-drawer price of cheese has kept you from experimenting, now is your chance. Zingerman's paesano bread, also available at Kerrytown and my favorite Michigan beer - Humalumalicious - will make a marvelous dinner. But don't stop with bread - this perfumed and nutty cheese would be wonderful grated over pasta, mashed into potatoes or grilled with tomatoes in a sandwich.

There's no recipe for tonight, just more cheese, please!