The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #166317   Message #4111512
Posted By: Steve Shaw
26-Jun-21 - 06:33 PM
Thread Name: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
I don't buy cheeses that have fruity, oniony, herby or garlicky additives. Same with sausages as it happens. I'm far too simple a man. Dave is right: Morrisons has upped its game on cheese, and good stuff is there for the taking, as long as you discriminate. The cheese counter at Waitrose is even better, and, in our experience, the cheese person there is generally an aficionado of the cheesy comestibles, and can advise. We have a cheese shop in Tavistock, rather a long way from us unfortunately. They sell only English cheeses, no bad thing, but, in common with some other cheese shops, they shift their stock rather slowly, not great. My two very favourite blues, Stichelton and Bath Blue, are useless unless you can get them very fresh-cut, without that darkening that can be the scourge of the best blues. There's a superb cheese shop in Bath, but that's three hours away, but we always indulge in a big wodge of Bath Blue when we go there. The cheese counter at Gloucester Services (presumably Tebay as well) sells Stichelton. When we first bought Stichelton we stopped buying Stilton, a seriously inferior beast. They are from the same area, but Stichelton, made by a renegade cheesemaker rebel, is made with raw milk, whereas Stilton is not allowed to be made that way. More fool Stilton. I've been a massive fan of St Agur ever since I first encountered it one night in 1998 on the Plymouth-Santander ferry in a force nine gale in Biscay, with a carafe of red wine that I had to keep lunging at in order to stop it from flying off the table in the bar. It is surely one of the best cheeses on earth with a glass of red...