BS: Cheese

Subject: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 07:32 PM

Sod it. This section is so heavy that I thought I'd go out of character and start a cheese information thread. Arrogant pillock!   

I am an aficionado of proper cheese. I'll start the ball rolling by telling you that I think that Wookey Hole cave-aged cheddar is the finest cheddar I've ever eaten. And the cave in question is actually in Cheddar Gorge! Close on the heels are Green's cheddar and Quicke's mature cheddar, the latter made by Mrs Quicke MBE in Newton St Cyres near Crediton. You haven't lived until you've been to Quicke's farm shop just off the A377. Our Bude butcher used to get his free-range pork from their farm, the pigs having been fed on the whey. Best pork I've ever tasted, sadly no more.

As for harder blue cheeses, the finest two ever to grace my palate have been Bath Blue, hard to get beyond Bath as it oxidises rapidly once cut (though Gloucester Services sell it), and Stichelton, which is basically Stilton made with raw milk (legally, Stilton must be made only with pasteurised milk). Like Bath Blue, Stichelton doesn't keep. But it out-Stiltons Stilton by a country mile. Gorgeous.

As for softer blue cheeses, I admit to loving St Agur, rich, salty and creamy. But there's also Montagnolo, Italian name though made in Germany. Bloody fabulous, and you really should eat the grey, mouldy rind.

I also love Brie but am content with Sainsbury's Somerset Brie, consistently good and flowing as long as you remember to give it a few hours out of the fridge. There may be better out there, but it's brilliant stuff for £1.50 a whack.

For a cheese butty, you can't beat a bit of Lancashire, either with piccalilli or with a nice tomato relish. I've yet to buy a bad piece of Lancashire.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 07:42 PM

You're making my mouth water.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 07:51 PM

I'm afraid I don't like cheese. I don't like milk when it's fresh, or when it's been fermented for a long time. While I do eat pizza, most cheeses that people say are great give me an after taste that lasts for months that I don't like. So continue, I know the problem is with me, not anyone else.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 07:53 PM

I was born and bred to eat cheddar.. it's in my DNA..

Back in primary school we had a coach trip to watch Cheddar being made in vast tanks of milk..
could have been in Cheddar, but definitely somewhere close to the mystical source...

In fact while my mum was pregnant with me, she still worked in a local traditional cheddar recipe cheese 'factory', moving and carrying milk churns...

I probably get my broad muscular shoulders from my mum...???

See, that's how much cheddar is good for you...!!!

Heaven - a cheddar and onion bap, and a pint of cool rough cider...


Unfortunately, at various times in my life I have had to give up eating the stuff...
especially when I was into serious gym training...

This time, I've had to give up both cheddar and cider because I am too fat, probably allergic to cheese, and verging on 'those' middle age health problems... 😢

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 08:16 PM

Cheesus man, allergic to cheese? Fight it, man!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Rapparee
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 08:23 PM

We've recently discovered Kerrygold's "Skellig", a nice sweet cheddar.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: bobad
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 09:13 PM

Nothing beats a nice Velveeta......and so versatile too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 09:18 PM

A couple of years ago I saw an ad for Davidstow cheese, accompanied by a romantic photo of Bedruthan Steps on the coast near Newquay. Well Davidstow cheese is made in a massive, ugly factory miles from the coast, next to a disused airfield and about twenty miles from Bedruthan Steps.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 09:22 PM

Velveeta sounds like rat poison to me. Still, if it fills a hole...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 10:35 PM

I'm stuck on Kerrygold's Swiss cheese, both for texture and taste. Who'da thunk that Irish Swiss cheese would be a good thing?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Janie
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 11:09 PM

Saint Andre's triple cream....to die for.

Recently exploring hard, very sharp, English Cheddars. Yum, even though makes the tongue raw.

Confess that while I love cheeses mild and cheeses sharp, cheeses soft and cheeses hard, I can't, generally speaking, develop the fondness for goat and sheep cheeses that I have for those made with cow milk.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 11:10 PM

A long time ago I swore off of the yellow-colored cheddar cheeses in the grocery store. I was staying with a friend in Chicago over the xmas holiday and her family had a traditional sandwich - homemade bread sliced and topped with white sharp cheddar and broiled into the most mouthwatering cheese sandwich I'd ever tasted.

New York cheddar, Wisconsin cheddar, Cabot's (from Vermont?) - there are a number of types of white sharp cheddar that are excellent. And then a few years ago my brother sent me a 3-pound can of sharp cheddar from Washington State University (the ag school) - called Cougar Gold:

Our most famous & popular cheese! Winner of several national and international awards. A rich, white cheddar with a smooth, firm texture. This unique cheddar has a depth and intensity that most people have never before experienced. Its creamy, lingering flavor will leave you wanting for more! Our current stock of Cougar Gold is just over one year in age. Comes in our famous 30 oz can.

They have several varieties, but these ag students do an amazing job of making a sharp cheese. The Cougar Gold has those little sharp salty crystals that burst in your mouth. Talk about an amazing open-face sandwich!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 12:03 AM

.. ok.. this thread has been going along all friendly like for far too long without some argumentative know all pedant starting a slug-fest...


Grrrr.... Wookey Hole is not in Cheddar Gorge...grrrrrrr...

Be like me saying Tintagel is in Dorset...

Trust someone living even further down the arse end of the west country to not know one hole from another... 😜

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 12:10 AM

If you like cheese and come to the US from Europe, don't try what is called American cheese. You will not like it because it has little flavor.
I enjoy a blue cheese called Great Hill Blue. It is made in Massachusetts near Neutaconkanut Hill which is nicknamed The Great Blue Hill. Side notes: on that hill stands the transmitter of Boston's public television stations, and my son worked at the foot of the hill for nine years.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 12:30 AM

btw... xmas list to santa..

A decent lump of Wookey Hole cave-aged cheddar will come to about 25ish quid inc delivery from their online shop..

A 20 litre bag in a box of Thatchers Cheddar Valley cider, about 45 quid inc shipping from their online shop..

an onion and bread buns.. a few pence from Tesco..

Now I'd be happily prepared to risk my health over xmas if anyone has a spare 70 quid


you could call it a combined xmas and birthday present...

.. no...???... ok fair enough....


Though I'd definitely suggest any UK mudcatters looking to stock up for xmas considers this party pack combination...😎

[the cider has a shelf life of approx 1 month after opening..that's only 5 litres per week...]

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:36 AM

cheese! yum!

my favourites are the soft white cheeses, camembert & brie, especially if they are past their (alleged) use-by dates. Ash covered brie is an especial favourite & I do have one in the fridge ...

I also like red Leicester & recently discovered Iberico Mild & creamy, a Spanish cow, sheep & goat's cheese available from Aldi, so no doubt it is available to UK & some US catters. Here we are recommended to eat it with quince paste & Aldi's Margaret River Chardonnay.

I also live this Ski Queen goat cheese

sandra (pondering upon opening the Spanish cheese - wot a shame the Ash Brie is not outside the fridge)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Kampervan
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 02:24 AM

Go to go along with Steve's opening list, but I must add a couple of evil-smelling but delicious French cheeses - Epoisses and Pont l'Eveque.

Life without cheese? ......No!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 02:56 AM

There's Cheddar and Cheshire and Lancashire too,
Leicester's bright orange an Stilton is blue,
It waxes so lyrical what can you do but,
Sing oh the hard cheese of old England,
In old England very hard cheese.

brilliant song from Les Barker performed by Martin Carthy on the six string cheese grater.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 03:17 AM

I have oft retorted to my mate's maxim that the further you get from Lancashire, the worse the cheese gets :-) In seriousness though, I must say that I favour, in no particular order, Lancashire, Wensleydale and Cheshire. Good cheddars are fine but, sadly I do have a slight reaction to them which brings on a bit of wheezing and 'prickly heat'. I do periodically risk it though. Never found any red Leicester, double Gloucester, Huntsman or any such that I would go out of my way for. Stilton is OK but I do prefer Swaledale or Yorkshire blue. Cornish Brie is good. Not a big fan of many French cheeses but you will find a Comte on my cheeseboard when available at the local Morrisons. Finally, even though I hate to admit it, I do find myself reverting to childhood and eating the odd Dairylee cheese triangle or Kraft cheese slice. :-)

Hungry now...

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 03:26 AM

what were those tubes of cheese & onion [or chives] that you could squeeze and suck if you ran out of ritz crackers...???

that memory takes me back to my teens...

Also got a weakness for Cheddars.. cant just eat a couple.. the whole pack goes in one sitting.

Last winter I'd get through 3 or 4 packs a week watching late night movies..
which accounts to some extent for my current weight... 😬

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: BobL
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 03:47 AM

Top Cheddar for me is Keen's, with the other top-leaguers mentioned by the OP not far behind.

Using up some leftovers last weekend I devised a cream of mushroom & goat's cheese soup. A "GIGO Surprise" recipe - the surprise being that the result is unexpectedly good.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 03:51 AM

What a brilliant thread Steve!

Sigh...cheese...I live for cheese. (And all dairy produce, including full milk, butter, cream, fat yoghurt) I love all cheese, any cheese, and it's hard to name my favourites.

BUT - I get rather bad bouts of vertigo which mean I can't get off my bed without falling on the floor. They last for days. And the doctor said it's vestibular migraine, triggered by....CHEESE! I nearly stabbed him through the heart. However, he said just to lay off the soft cheeses such as Camembert, and blue ones such as Stilton, as cheddar et al would probably be okay. And it is, so far. But I adore Camembert, and any blue cheese. My life is blighted, my heart is broken.
THEN the sod added that chocolate could also be a trigger.
He is now buried under the patio...

Please feel very very sorry for me. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 04:19 AM

I also used to like Feta but am finding it a bit too salty nowadays. I do like Mozzarella in a salad or with other dishes and I never used to before. Tastes change I suppose!

D.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 04:21 AM

Blessed are the cheesemakers. [ Monty Pythons Life Of Brian ]


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 04:24 AM

poor Eliza! did you stab him with a cheese knife?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: G-Force
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 05:25 AM

My totally orgasmic cheese experience was Reblochon (from the French Savoy region) served with ham and potatoes, all piping hot, washed down with limitless Riesling.

Got to do it again some time.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 05:39 AM

Lancashire, crumbly or creamy tops my list, particularly the "black bombs".

Having spent my formative years in Somerset I like a good Cheddar, but it has to be a good one.

My wife is particularly fond of Garstang Blue but that's not for me.

If you are travelling on the M6 it is worth looking in at the Dewlay place near Garstang (easy found by their wind turbine) as they not only do good cheese but also sell hampers that you pick what cheese and pickles you want included. They work well as Christmas presents.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: DMcG
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:01 AM

I am not sure why you think the subject of the best cheeses is less inflammatory than some of the other stuff below the line!

Another cheeseophile here. I have a problem in most restaurants since I don't have a sweet tooth so often ask what cheeses are on the cheeseboard dessert offering and then reject it and being too uninteresting. Very occasionally they will say (for example) "Keen's cheddar" rather than "cheddar" but that level of understanding is rare - or perhaps I don't go to enough good restaurants.

Any I am not a home so can't be precise but at the moment in the cupboard are Yarg, a Cotherstone, Tunworth and a couple of French goats cheeses my wife picked up from a cheese stall yesterday without noting precisely what they are.

Widening the discussion a little I am not fond of Austrian smoked cheeses because I find them a bit plastic, but went to a wine and cheese matching workshop and they told us to try it with and without a good Pinot Noir she had selected and the difference was truly astonishing.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:04 AM

M6 Tebay Services is also worth a visit for local farm products. Pretty much like the Gloucester one that Steve mentioned and I think it is those 2 that regularly win awards. Not that they have much competition from other Motorway services...

Anyone remember Cracker Barrel? Is it still going?

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:14 AM

Haha Sandra, no, I bashed his head in with a whole cheddar.

I used to take groups of my pupils to France, to Normandy. I took them round the little local markets to practice their French, while I investigated the local cheeses. (Normandy is a great dairying area) They were to die for. All sorts of soft cheeses in the Camembert style, rolled in flour and smelling divine. I always bought several, but on the journey home (coach and ferry) even I had to admit the stench was a bit excessive. Worth it though.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:24 AM

(Damn. Time to do the "Mudcat Wriggle...")


Ahem.


Wookey Hole not in Cheddar Gorge? Well of course it isn't! Never said it was! Yet another typical baseless claim delivered via a spittle-flecked rant! I was just speaking generally!   Not my fault that some living historian in a book in Waterstones changed the name of Gough's Cave to Wookey Hole! Grrr back to you!!!

Makes you feel good...😈


I'm with Janie when it comes to goat and sheep, though I sometimes order them in restaurants if they're in a starter. I've given Keen's a few goes but I always come back to Wookey Hole. By the way, you can buy Wookey in Sainsbury's and they quite often have it on special offer. They also sell Barber's, but it's always the Wookey for me!

The long cheese aisles in supermarkets depress me. Stack after stack of greasy blocks of cheap "cheddar" made in industrial amounts in weird places I've never heard of such as "Canada" and "New Zealand," and bags of ready-grated. Argh! Nothing called "mild cheddar" or "reduced-fat cheese" will ever darken my doorstep. I don't think cheap cheese is any good for cooking, either. It's Wookey on toast for me every time.

I love anything with mozzarella in it. Last night we had tricolore salad - slices of mozzarella mixed with slices of avocado, topped with halved cherry toms, torn basil on top and then sloshed with extra virgin olive oil. I don't really get the extra milkiness (or expense!) of buffalo mozzarella. Galbani ordinary for me every time.

Stop me, somebody!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:44 AM

I think Tebay and Gloucester Services are run by the same setup. I never fail to stop at Gloucester but Tebay isn't on my way to anywhere. Keep meaning to take my mum for a run up there through t'Trough then back through t'Dales and over t'Nick but she isn't travelling well these days. The cheese counter is amazing but uncheap. Some of the more speciality local cheeses, once cut, don't keep well on the counter if the turnover's low, so caveat emptor. Buy one of their three quid ordinary pork pies and you'll never buy a M&S Melton Mowbray again! The local pork on the meat counter is some of the best. I've got two lumps of pork belly (in my freezer, you witty bugger) and a boned rolled shoulder, both of which will yield enough crackling to feed the Lancashire Fusiliers. They sell a piece of pork fillet that's been stuffed with Cumberland sausage meat and wrapped with streaky that you just cook in the oven for an hour. A piece of genius it is, and not dear either. Feeds two of you twice, once hot, once cold, for a tenner.

Eyup, I'm hijacking my own thread...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: gillymor
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 07:14 AM

Our Trader Joe's carries an English Ale Cheddar
now and then and it is the bomb.Goes so well with an Old Suffolk Ale.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 07:28 AM

we don't need no Steenkin Bishop

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 07:55 AM

Slight drift into purveyors of fine foods but as it has already started, who am I to stop it :-)

Elijah Allen's is always well worth a visit. Gone a bit modern nowadays but I remember on one of my early visits a veritable Norah Batty standing at the recently installed check out and insisting that the girl on said check out went to get her shopping. One item at a time. :-) Just round the corner from there in a very narrow alleyway was a marvelous book shop called 'Kit Calvert's'. I don't know if it ever did have any connection with the famous Dalesman and but the owner at the time did wear the same type of hat and attire that you see in such images.

Kit Calvert does bring us nicely back to cheese and I can now break out into Mr Fox's 'The Gypsy'

I stopped an old man I'd met once before:
Kit Calvert, the maker of Wensleydale cheese.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:11 AM

We went to a friends' wedding some years ago, and the 'starter' (hate that word, it's hors d'oevres for goodness sake!) was Camembert fritters. Oh my eyes, I nearly swooned, they were gorgeous.
No doubt I'm one of those common folk who would eat deep-fried Mars bars etc. But I've never forgotten those fritters.

We've watched Red Leicester Morris side several times, and I can never watch them without thinking of...er...cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stu
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:18 AM

Ahhh, cheese... I'm very fond a creamy Red Leicester. I love a good home made French goat's cheese (the type that comes in a little pyramid and is covered with hairy mould). A good Camembert or Brie is always a joy if it's warm enough and goes well with a cold ale. Manchego is also a current fave, and of course a good strong cheddar with the crunchy salt crystals is always very, very welcome.

My mum lived in deepest France for five years and we learnt you NEVER put cheese in the fridge. We do of course, but a decent cheese needs to be out for a day before it's eaten.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:22 AM

Before this blasted vertigo cheese-embargo, I never put Camembert in the fridge. It has to be runny, smelly and warm.
It was never in the cupboard long enough to go off, because someone gobbled it up in a day or two...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:24 AM

Eliza - Why would anyone eat horses doofers? (Proper spelling, not fancy French stuff) Are they like lamb sweetbreads but bigger?

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:32 AM

Hahaha Dave!! My Irish mother called it 'horses' doofers' too!
As long as they're deep-fried, they might be quite tasty! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:37 AM

I've just realised I wrote '...to practice their French' As a retired schoolteacher I'm writhing in shame. I should of course have written 'practise their French'.

I'm sure the cheese deprivation is seriously affecting my brain.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:57 AM

Don't want cheese with added bits of fruity stuff or red wine, port, etc. And I've never enjoyed any cheese that came in a ball of wax. I remember one glorious after-work visit to the Mayflower at Rotherhithe in the long hot summer of '76. A huge lump of firm, tangy cheddar with salty butter and hunks of crusty bread, washed down with a pint or three. Some things just never leave you.

The cheese butty, for me, is best made with a tangy, crumbly Lancashire (or even that creamy Butler's one) or a Wensleydale. Slices of tomato are brilliant as long as you eat the butty immediately. Or a wodge of piccalilli. Waitrose do a very nice tangy tomato relish that goes well on a cheese butty.

Toasted cheese just has to be cheddar, preferably Wookey Hole. Cheddar Gorgeous!

Slice open a chicken breast and smear a heaped teaspoon of Boursin inside. Fold it back up and wrap it securely in a couple of slices of Parma ham (or streaky bacon, etc.) Bake for 20 minutes. Amazing grub, so easy, just three ingredients!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 08:59 AM

European (including Brit) cheese-lovers should take a holiday in Canada specifically to eat their way through the Ottawa Valley from west to east, and then finish the trip with a jaunt through the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

We make seriously excellent cheese around here. Cheddar, Gouda (from "Lankaaster", Ontario), chèvre, several fine blues, and artisanal washed-rind cheeses in bewildering variety. I am particularly fond of Sir Laurier d'Arthabaska, which comes with a nice pic of Sir Wilfred on the label. Ripen it well and eat it with Carr's crackers and grapes -- Fine stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 09:12 AM

Ah yes, the crackers. I'm an aficionado of Bath Olivers. I don't like the ones that are wholewheat or which are herby or peppery. A Bath Oliver has nice bite without being too hard and crispy, pleasantly neutral to let the cheese speak for itself. A night in with cheese and biscuits, with a few olives, almonds and cherry toms, and a good bottle of Negroamaro, and that's me in heaven.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 09:38 AM

I used to travel on my own all over as a student (cheap flights). I was a thin little thing then. One day I was sitting on a tiny deserted beach on the island of Milos in Greece when a dear little old Greek lady appeared. She was carrying a small checked cloth, some grapes, a jug of water and some home-made feta cheese. I didn't speak much Greek, but she indicated she was worried I might burn in the hot sun. We sat together smiling at each other and I really enjoyed the little snack, the cheese was absolutely delicious. Afterwards I hugged her and gave her some money. I could only say 'efharisto' which I knew was 'thank you'.
The Greeks make gorgeous feta cheese...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stu
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 09:46 AM

I think we all agree a good cheese butty/bap/roll/batch with good ale or cider is a gastronomical highlight. Any old cracker will do for me, although I'm becoming partial to Swedish Knackybrod (or what ever it's called). We also have our cheese melted over bacon in oatcakes. Food of the gods.

As for wax cheeses, I'd have agreed but my stepfather has discovered a rather good vintage Gouda that is rather good and seems to be an exception to the rule and I daresay there are some bloody good wax cheeses out there somewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 10:41 AM

My favourite cheese place anywhere is the cheese market in Trabzon, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. It stretches for several blocks, cheese as far as you can see (interrupted only by the occasional fresh bread stall - their local polenta bread is wonderful stuff). Turkey probably makes more varieties of cheese even than France. I've never seen anything like their string cheese anywhere else.

The grimmest cheese experience I've had has to be the annual agricultural fair in Hamilton, New Zealand. They had competitions for butter and cheese. There were vast tables with dozens of cheddar cheeses and blocks of butter on them (about fifty pounds each), each table having three blocks with first, second and third prize rosettes stuck on them. After sampling several tons of each, how the heck could they tell?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 10:47 AM

I have just (re)discovered Rakusen's thin crackers. Very light and do not overpower the cheese in any way, even the herby ones. I have also spotted that they are now proudly proclaiming 'Made in Yorkshire' :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 10:53 AM

There's a cheese made at Utah State University called Old Ephraim, after a local grizzly of the 19th C., and a second called Old Juniper. Both are excellent; the first is a smoky swiss.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 12:35 PM

One sizeable part of the planet where cheese is not too popular is China.

Chinese fermented beancurd, an intense-tasting relish, had always reminded me of a ripe blue cheese, but the Shaoxing tasters, faced with a Stichelton, disagreed. "It does have a rich umami taste," said chef Chen Judi, "but there's also a bitter aftertaste that people in this region wouldn't like at all." Several of the tasters were repelled by the sourness and astringent aftertaste of the Isle of Mull, which I'd thought was the most innocuous. "Our rotted thousand layers just doesn't have that sour taste," said Mao.

That comes from this article about Cheese and China

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: EBarnacle
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 12:40 PM

As both Lady Hillary and I are lactose intolerant, we mostly eat aged [spoken properly in two syllables--a ged] cheeses. Our current favorite is Manchego sheep's, not the cows', cheese. When I played in Richard III, I made it a point to supply the cast with a good double Gloucester in his honor.
Drifting slightly, we make our own skyr as a spread to go with lox--heavenly. We use commercial skyr as a starter for the yogurt/skyr.
I have found that the heretical use of matzoh goes well vice Carr's wafer. Same product, different presenation.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:07 PM

Want to hear my cheese jokes?

No?

Hard luck...

What cheese to you use to lure a grizzly?

Camembert

How do you smuggle cheese out of Wales?

Caerphilly

What cheese can you disguise a horse with?

Mascarpone


Mwahahaha

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:18 PM

It's interesting how certain ethnicities and populations are lactose intolerant. In addition to East Asians and the Chinese, large numbers of Africans cannot digest milk or milk products. Yet Fulani, Masai and Tuareg among others have herded cows for millennia and milk/cheese are the mainstay of their diet.
My husband had serious calcium deficiency when I met him, with soft, fragile bones, loose teeth and the beginnings of rickets. Luckily, he tolerates milk well, and I stuffed cheese down him until it was coming out of his ears!
His tribe, the Senoufou, became herders in Northern Ivory Coast, but many of them cannot tolerate milk. After several years in UK he has grown 5cm taller and is as strong as an ox. He had X-rays and treatment for his spongy bones, and thankfully is now in very good shape.
I rather think we were meant to meet; a calcium-deficient man and a cheese-aholic!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:41 PM

I was raised on a provincial west country factory council estate..
some things are still deeply culturally embedded in my psyche....

Branston Pickle.. there.. said it..

No apologies for my lack of epicurean culinary sophistication..

Strong tangy mature cheddar and Branston sandwiches, and a tin of Heinz tomato soup... yeah...!!!!! 😎


[of course the bread does have to be wholemeal these days.. a nod to higher education and the influence of middle class girlfriends of past decades..]

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:42 PM

I doubt whether there's enough lactose left in any cheese to annoy the lactose-intolerant. As you say, aged cheeses are even safer, but I'd be brave and try a bit of everything!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 01:58 PM

Oooh I love Branston Pickle!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 02:14 PM

..even though I'm from such a 'primitive' background, I must give a shout of respect to my Nan's home made pickled onions..
my mum's were almost as good..

not tasted such a fine pickled onion since the 1970s..

Any onion bought in a jar is a pale imitation of the pickled onions I was raised on...

In my 30s I was an accomplished photographic / darkroom technician..

I knew my chemicals and how to prepare them..

At home I had all the requisite equipment, I had the transferrable skills..
so why not apply them, and make my own pickled onions ready for xmas.

It was pre internet, so I found a vintage recipe from somewhere [wish I could remember..???]
and stayed up all night brewing and jarring the onions..

Many weeks later, I was amazed and how good a job I'd done..
They were nearly the same as my childhood onions..

But I rested on that accomplishment, for whatever reasons or personality failings, never to be repeated again...


Bugger.. I fancy a good strong dark pickled onion.....🤔

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 02:38 PM

That's interesting Steve about there not being much lactose in cheese.
At least it's full of calcium, which was the main issue.
He does adore that ghastly evaporated milk in his tea (grooo) and pours gallons of cream over his rhubarb crumble, so I'm pretty sure he can tolerate lactose.

Ooooh, pickled onions. As Girl Guides we always bought sixpenn'orth of chips on the way home, and a penny pickled onion. Sheer bliss...

Oh this thread is tormenting me something shocking! (drools...)

And I did like those cheese jokes!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 02:58 PM

..right.. given it was about 25 years ago, and my memory is perishing and withering..

I have vague recollection that the recipe called for the vinegar and spices concoction to be heated up, or even boiled..
and that our entire home reeked for days afterwards..

If that's not a false memory, then I was probably not allowed to ever make my own pickles at home again...???? 😞

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 05:10 PM

Mrs Gnome makes a fine pickled onion and occasionally turns the skill to pickled eggs as well. Dark brown and tasty. I would send you some if we had any left over PFR. And if it was allowed to send dangerous substances by post.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: ranger1
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:28 PM

American "cheese" is not really cheese. The American Dairy Council refers to it as "cheese food product".

I love cheese. Cheddar, gouda, brie (mmm, brie!), mozzarella, Jarlsberg, parmesan, ricotta, paneer. Its all good. Not so fond of the moldy ones, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 06:47 PM

And what of parmigiano reggiano! I love Italian grub and I always keep a good stock of parmesan. I haven't got enough money to try all the different ones but I've settled for M&S parmesan, from the Canossa dairy which is 2000 feet above sea level. It's slightly softer than most parmesan and has a touch of sweetness. I love it!

What is utterly wrong is the dismal tub of ready-grated parmesan. This cheese should be grated fresh over whatever dish requires it. As a matter of fact, I wasn't happy with my old grater so I've just invested in a Microplane fine grater that is a pleasure to use. I know a chap in Bude who rarely used parmesan but who had owned the same tub of the grated abomination for ELEVEN YEARS!!! He told me that it still tasted fine. NO IT DIDN'T!!!

I was in Siracusa in Sicily in September and I found a shop that sold ricotta salata dead cheap in vacuum packs. Three of them now reside in me fridge. It's quite a hard cheese, eminently grateable, very salty and tangy, that is the only cheese to have with Pasta Alla Norma, the one with aubergines, tomatoes, garlic and basil (no onions for chrissake!). I'm currently looking for other ways to use it. It's very hard to find in the UK.

I use parmesan in omelettes, for making several varieties of pesto, in risottos and on several pasta dishes (though never with fish). The rinds always go into tomato sauces or ragus. But I also eat it secretly once Mrs Steve has gone to bed. A finger or two of parmesan just before bed gives you sweet dreams!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 11:18 PM

Today we were in the midst of preparing Thanksgiving dinner and needing a little mid-afternoon pick-me-up. I pulled out a roll of Trader Joe's fresh mozzarella and a bowl of my ripe home-grown tomatoes (all picked last weekend before our first frost). My daughter set up a plate of alternating thick wedges of tomatoes and robust slices of the soft cheese, all drizzled over with a good Balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil. What an amazing combination. I wish I hadn't put all of the basil in the freezer, a leaf of that between tomato and cheese and we'd have all died and gone to heaven.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 04:24 AM

slight thread drift for UK catters - on the weekend I bought a jar of Pan Yan pickle from a 90 year old English-born jam-maker. She & her son raved about it & as I don't like jam but do like pickles I bought it & looked it up on google when I got home.

I hadn't realised it was a lost product (taken off the market some years back & the only recipe lost in a fire, so eventually reconstructed by fans after a jar with label was found in a shed!) & a wonderful memory to many people.

I've just tried a bit from the jar & it's sweeter than I thought it would be (DUH! pickle is not pickles!) & will make a delicious finish to my dinner with a spot of cheese. Maybe my Ash Brie, or my yummy Iberica cow, sheep & goat cheese ...

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 06:04 AM

Up here, it's more likely to be oatcakes with your cheese:yummy!
Nice crunchy extra mature cheddar from Aldi which is my husband's favourite.
I like blue cheeses too, Stilton, Shropshire Blue, St Agur, Gorgonzola, Dolcelatte piccante, Strathdon Blue, even the concocted Cambozola.
As wax-covered truckles go, the Arran cheeses range, about 8 different varietes, are all nice.
And for other hard continentals' yes Comte is great, closely followed by Gruyere.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 06:23 AM

That is almost an insalata caprese, Acme. The original doesn't have balsamic vinegar, but that is an interesting idea. I suppose you had to make up for the lack of basil! Don't you yanks keep a pot of it on your windowsills? I have three varieties of extra virgin olive oil but only the very best goes on my salads, an expensive Tuscan one from M&S in my case (the bottle lasts a long time). I find that just a tiny pinch of salt adds a nice touch of savour to such dishes as the mozzarella isn't salty. Try adding slices of avocado to make a tricolore salad (the three colours of the Italian flag). It does cry out for basil! If you eat enough of that, you don't need much else!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 09:27 AM

I make a five-fruit chutney that goes beautifully with old Cheddar in a cheese sandwich. The bread does have to be home-made whole wheat for the full effect ... I realize that I'm in serious danger of becoming a food snob. Tant pis.

Next year, Himself retires from the Canadian Army and we're leaving Ottawa for Stratford, the seat of Perth County in southwestern Ontario. I've lived in Ottawa for three-quarters of my life, but the thing that bothers me most about moving -- apart from whole stressful moving house thing -- is finding a decent Italian grocery that sells Parmigiano Reggiano at a price I can accept. And buffalo mozzarella! Insalata caprese is one of life's finest things, in my admittedly arrogant opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 09:49 AM

Admittedly, the buffalo goes well in caprese, but so does good old Galbani ordinaire!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 10:43 AM

If you can get hold of Lincolnshire Poacher do so, it is a superb cheese. Poachers Imp is a matured version of the same. Both are strong cheese,s which I would not hestitate to recommend.

My last lot of homemade Blue Stilton was, even though I say it myself, sublime. It's a lot of work to make cheese at home but with one exception has been very good.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 10:50 AM

I recall I once had a German cheese, I think from Bavaria which was named Weisslacker (check spelling) The aroma was bloody awful but the taste was simply heavenly.

The stench of the cheese, kept in the cellar, permiated every room in our large four storey house. After one night it was hung outside the back door.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 11:59 AM

My father used to sing a funny song when we were small:

"You put it on the table when the dinner party comes.
You put it on the table and it eats up all the crumbs.
Gorgonzola! Gorgonzola!
Three cheers for the green white and blue!"

He said it was referring to the fact that Gorgonzola cheese is full of maggots (not true, but we believed him at the time.)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 12:04 PM

Good heavens, I've just found the song on Youtube, sung by 'Henry Hudson's Melody Men'!! 'Gorgonzola Song'.
Feel a bit choked up listening to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 12:52 PM

I had a small hedge of basil in my garden, but it went with the freeze; I harvested much of it the night before, and put it in the freezer. I rearranged my sunroom plants recently, so perhaps I could coax a basil to grow in there over the winter.

I have one variety of EV olive oil, I shop at a Middle Eastern Halal market near where I work - they serve the region with a lot of their offerings so everything is fresh. I buy a 3-liter bottle of usually Lebanese EV Olive Oil at a time - decanting some into a pour-spout bottle near the sink, keeping the rest in a dark cool area in my pantry shelves. I use it for many things so go through a couple of bottles a year.

I was shopping before the big holiday and watched a couple of people pick up bricks of Velveta - probably unlike any cheese food you've ever tasted, unless you have a quirky American section in your grocery store and had a curious death wish and tried it. Cheese Whiz is another one of those food product things that is almost indescribable.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: EBarnacle
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 03:29 PM

Steve, I wish you were correct about lactose intolerance but you are not. Cheese has to be aged or otherwise treated [smoked, for example] to allow the lactose to be gone. My life has changed significantly since I have learned which cheeses will make life unpleasant for me. Yogurt acts as a probiotic if it has active cultures to digest the lactose for me. It has become a relatively minor affliction for me.

Lady Hillary's form of intolerance is more of an allergy to unaged cheeses. We are both still experimenting to find out what to enjoy and what to avoid and will probably do so for the rest of our lives. For some reason, a good brie is safe for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 03:33 PM

Anyone tried those 'cheese strings' for children? They sound like an abomination, but perhaps I'm wrong!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 03:47 PM

-Know your Victim !-

Wrap a cheese, ideally Cheddar, in aluminum foil and plastic bag.
A dead old cellphone is optional for the plastic bag.

Give it to a select person going to the airport.
Upon scanning the cheese will appear as C-4

Hilarity or tragedy will ensue.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 05:10 AM

Back in the early 80s we developed a taste for Reblochon while on holiday in Savoie (had never seen it in the UK then, tho' you can get it now.) We brought a whole cheese back by train from Chamonix, all the way back to Devon. Rather smelly journey!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 05:54 AM

On holiday in the Picos de Europa in northern Spain in the late 90s we discovered some delicious local cheeses that came in small rounds, and every day at lunchtime we scoffed one with a big hunk of fresh crusty bread. We were so taken with 'em that we brought a load back home to give to everyone. But when we tried the one we'd kept for ourselves it was terrible. We heard nothing from anyone else we'd given one to! Talk about not travelling well...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 06:47 AM

Dare I introduce a note of musicality eg:

For cheese a jolly good fellow
& the one that goes
The bries and I



I'll get my coat.............

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 06:51 AM

Hahahaha Mr Red!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 09:57 AM

we were 2 or 3 bands packed in the back of a mini bus touring central Europe..

I've long forgotten the joke a bass player told that cracked us all up in hysterics for several kilometres of dreary motorway..

.. but the punchline was "Cheeses of Nazareth..."....

The bottles of potent Czech home distilled spirits given to us by friendly locals might have helped the telling and reception of that cheesey joke.. 🙄

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 10:27 AM

Lincolnshire Poacher is another cheddar I've tried, but to me it ain't Wookey Hole! Every now and again I accidentally find a good Stilton, but more often I'm disappointed. The bog-standard Tesco one with the Union Jack on the wrapper used to be very good but I haven't tried it recently. You just never know with Stilton. Tried the much-vaunted Cropwell Bishop last week. I could appreciate the flavour, but the texture...it was like chewing a mouthful of clay. I find the Blacksticks blue cheeses too dry as well. Cornish Blue, made up on Bodmin Moor at Minions, is a lovely cheese, softer and milder than Stilton but beautifully balanced. Great with beer!   Cashel Blue from Ireland is very nice, but the best bit of it I ever had I bought loose off the cheese stall at Barnstaple pannier market. It looked a bit ropey and mouldy but it was a class act!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 10:31 AM

Unless it looks exceptionally diseased and crawling, I always eat the rind on cheese. I'm still here!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 02:31 PM

Ditto, Steve. But I find the black wax round a bit of Leerdammer a bit chewy...

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 05:40 PM

Yebbut that isn't "rind," Dave!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 05:44 PM

It certainly isn't squire...

:D tG

(Doesn't work as well on the screen as it does in my head but thanks for the feed anyway :-) )

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 09:15 PM

Aha, Picos de Europa: loved the local Cabrales blue cheese: and they made into a sauce to go over steak, chicken or any other sort of meat: got the recipe from the chef in our hotel. But like clothes you buy on holiday, never quite the same charm or flavour when you get it/them home!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: LadyJean
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 09:56 PM

Pittsburgh's famous Strip District includes the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company an Italian grocery that must offer a couple of hundred varieties of cheese, from all over the world, and very reasonable prices. Allegheny Mountain Smoked Horseradish, a local product, is a favorite with my family. But just about anything they sell is going to be good. Warning, this time of year the counter will be crowded.
If you find an Amish farmstand, chances are their cheese will be pretty good too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 02:36 AM

Wensleydale ? yes Sir, right I'll have some of that, no Sir, that's my name Mr Wensleydale.

from Monty Pythons Cheese Shop sketch, and

more Wensleydale Grommit ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 02:39 AM

In Gods own County, you can't have Christmas cake without Wensleydale.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 08:56 AM

A lovely lady who ran a tapas bar in Potes introduced us to Cabrales in 1998. We'd already had several tapas and she wouldn't let us pay for the cheese. We washed it down with a bottle of El Coto Rioja. Happy days!

Have bought it in the UK several times since and it's never had quite the same charm about it as it had that evening. That sort of thing happens all the time!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 11:01 AM

This thread makes me miss the old Rick Fielding food threads. Such great discussion, recipes, instructions, and joy of eating.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 04:20 PM

I will admit that when I buy Brie I always look to seek the one nearest its sell by date. Sometimes I am even lucky enough to find it reduced because of this.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: JHW
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 05:02 PM

'Cotherstone' is a firm but light structured cheese with a fresh tang rather than strong old taste. Only made by one person in Teesdale (who had hoped to get out of it when she married but thankfully was required to continue)

Lovely one just had this year was 'Fosseway Fleece', sheep cheese (kept the wrapper). Don't know where it comes from but I bought mine in Porlock, Exmoor.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 05:28 PM

Out of interest and on quite a serous note, one of my family suffers from a lactose intolerance. What I read earlier seems to indicate that lactose levels in matured cheeses are low or zero. Did I read that right and does anyone have a link to medical or chemical confirmation of it?

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 06:02 PM

Just too many cheeses and I only know a few.

For a cheese salad sandwich, these days, I'd usually prefer a Cheshire or something similar. Same would go for a Welsh Rarebit.

The strongest cheddar you can get is, IMO, the best you can have for a cauliflower (,etc.) cheese and for cheese scones. The Snowdonia ones are nice but the stronger/extra mature or whatever of the more common brands found in supermarket (eg. Cathedral City) are OK.

A good sprinkling of parmesan really can enhance a pasta meal.

Then there's stuff I'll eat just as I like cheese. I could include a dollup of cottage cheese to go with a salad here but I'm more thinking of our own households sort of rotation of cheese and something I might have say on a cream cracker. These will include Stilton, Shropshire Blue, Gorganzola, Danish Blue, Roquefort, St Agur, Camembert (and I like the tesco's own brand unpasteurised – a bit more bite to it at the moment than that brand that got a lot of tv adverts not long ago ) brie (Somerset is nice)

For a personal indulgence, I think St Agur is really nice on a crumpet. It melts in nicely.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Nov 16 - 06:21 PM

St Agur melted on a crumpet? Bloody typical. 11.20, Sunday night. Crumpet shop closed. DAMN!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 05:07 AM

Fosse Way Fleece Sheep's Cheese - Somerset Cheese Co

or this list

there you go JHW, only £22 plus £3.25 postage!

Personally: Brie and bacon melted on a Staffordshire Oatcake - heaven. Or if you can't get the Staffs ones, Yorkshire do do a poor imitation, (speaking as a Staffordshireman)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 05:54 AM

The finest hard cheese I ever tasted that wasn't cheddar was Llangloffan, made in Pembrokeshire from raw milk by Leon Downey. We saw Leon making the cheese in 1983 and I'll always remember his hairy arm, almost up to the armpit, stirring the huge bath of milk from his own Guernseys (or were they Jerseys...)! He was very opinionated, in the right kind of way, about the defects of modern mass cheese production. He retired in 2006 but I believe his cheese is still made to the original recipe. We used to order whole cheeses by post from him in those early days, one of those coming in at under twenty quid. Bet they cost a tad more these days! The cheese, once cut, froze really well if you couldn't eat it all within a couple of weeks or so. Gorgeous stuff it was/is!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 06:06 AM

When it comes to Brie, some very good ones are made in the UK these days. We used to swear by St Endellion Brie, made in Cornwall a few miles down the road, but it was inconsistent, not always in a good way (Brie that's going past it can turn bitter, but incorrect younger Bries can go the same way). To be fair, we haven't tried it for several years so I'm sure that it's still superb. Sharphams make a superb Brie if you can catch it just right. Sainsbury's Somerset Brie is very nice and not expensive. I like my Brie to flatten itself out, forcing the cheddar on to another plate. You shouldn't be cutting yourself a piece of Brie. You should be scraping it up!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 06:19 AM

Brie ? absolutely tasteless IMHO

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 06:22 AM

You forgot to put 100 on your post Steve!

Please stop talking about lovely, delicious, runny, smelly soft cheeses which have to be 'scraped up'. This is cruel and unusual punishment for me, labouring under my 'soft cheese ban'. I'm almost considering having some anyway and getting vertigo for several days - it may be worth it!

I used to keep my Camembert in a cupboard until it was practically a puddle, and a bit stinky. The thought of spreading it on a crumpet is making me drool. I don't think I'll look at this thread again; it's making me very jealous and sad!

(Seriously though, very good idea for a thread, and most interesting!)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 06:46 AM

I think you have just been eating the wrong Bries or maybe the right ones at the wrong time, Dave H!

Anyone have anything for me on the lactose, or lack thereof, in matured cheeses?

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:02 AM

I agree about brie - no taste that would invite me back. Maybe someone in the US who likes it can recommend a brand that is worth trying to give it a second chance.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:14 AM

Hello, Gnome: I have no science on the lactose in cheese, only anecdote. I, too, live with an intolerant digestive system that goes into collywobbles after over-indulgence in milk not treated with lactase, but I can eat yoghourt, kefir and most cheese without incident.

May I suggest that you give yourself a trial on those cheeses you consider most worth the trouble, not to speak of discomfort if/when you hit your lactose load limit? Also, have you tried taking a lactase tablet (if such are available where you live) with the first mouthful of a potentially risky milk product?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:20 AM

I used to think that of brie but Inow both enjoy it, Dave. Maybe the thing as hinted at by others,is not to worry too much about sell by/use by dates. Steve gives a good indication as to a nice consistency. It should improve in taste as it moves from "sliceable" to a more "spreadable" inside.

Now does anyone enjoy edam? I don't think I've ever got beyond the "bland and boring" etc. with that one.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:21 AM

Thanks Charmion - It is not for me but a family member and she does sometimes take a tablet. Funny you should mention kefir as we were talking about that only yesterday with someone else who highly praised it for easing the symptoms of IBS. I shall pass your good advice on anyway.

Acme - It's as much about serving Brie correctly as the brand. Some good advice from Steve earlier. Did you try it straight from the fridge, as it was trying to run off the plate or somewhere in between?

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:36 AM

I love camembert mind, riper the better.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 09:27 AM

Strangely enough Jon, I've always loved Edam. But it has to be a bit hardened and dry.
My sister and I once came home from school and demolished an entire Edam between us like two greedy pigs. Our school dinners had been especially revolting that day and we were starving. Our father walloped our bottoms good and proper when he found out. The cheese had been intended to last us all for several days.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 09:48 AM

Edam is made backwards...

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Raggytash
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 10:37 AM

For many years I too suffered from a lactose intolerence. For a cheese lover such as myself, normally at least 10 varieties of cheese in the fridge, it was a great loss. For reasons unknown to me I seem to be coming out of it in the last year or two. Providing I don't go over board I can now eat cheese again in small doses. Which has led to me now making my own cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 01:11 PM

Whenever we buy a new Camembert, we put it in the bread bin rather than the fridge, for at least a week, before cutting into it: then hopefully you do get the runny, spreadable middle! (And blame hubby's socks for the smell!)
As for Dutch cheeses, the extra mature Gouda isn't bad, but needs a strong knife and wrist to cut it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 03:20 PM

I used to suffer much more from lactose intolerance than I do now, and I think the improvement is due to a dramatic change in my health since I started a new asthma therapy. It's three and a half years since my last bout of bronchitis, previously a semi-annual event, so it is also three and a half years since I last took a course of the wicked antibiotic that not only knocks out even the worst case of bronchitis but also does a number on my intestinal economy.

I still avoid ordinary milk in any quantity; I can take as much as is required for a cup of tea, but no more unless it is treated with lactase. Fortunately, lactose-free milk is now common in Ottawa supermarkets, for which I thank the growing ranks of Asian and African immigrants among our neighbours.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 03:43 PM

Charmion, bronchitis is absolutely awful; I've taken 2 weeks to shake off my recent bout (the first I've ever had, due to a virus) I thought my lungs were haunted, they wheezed howled and whistled all night. I'm really glad you've stopped getting it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 08:29 PM

A great thing to do with a Camembert, even the ones that refuse to ripen, is to unwrap it then put it back in the wooden box. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a moderate oven. In the meantime, you should be boiling some salad potatoes in salted water until tender. Open a bottle of red wine, sit opposite your lover across a small, candle-lit table and look lovingly into each other's eyes as you dunk the warm spuds sharingly into the melted cheese and eat. Then have an early night.



Bugger off, no, I've never done it (well, I've dunked the spuds in the cheese at least...) You can but dream...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 09:10 PM

Steve - You think that's a romantic scenario... When I was 15 I had a long passionate french snog with a girl from school
with half a mouthful of Bowyers steak and kidney pie saved for later hamster-like in my cheeks.... 💑

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Nov 16 - 09:29 PM

Bowyers?? Jaysus, you'd have to keep it in your cheeks for at least four hours in order to tenderise the gristle....

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 04:39 AM

Hahahahaha! You two are an absolute scream!!! :)

If I ate cheese just before - ahem - a romantic interlude, I'd need Gaviscon administered orally by tube during the proceedings.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 05:34 AM

I too am unimpressed with most cheeseboards offered in UK restaurants. There are now considerably more types of artisan cheese made in the UK than in France (I believe we overtook France in the 1990s). But to see a typical UK restaurant cheeseboard you wouldn't know it.

Within 20 miles of where I live in Kent there are at least 20 artisan cheese makers producing a wide variety of soft and hard cheeses from cow, sheep or goat milk, many of them from "raw" milk.

But even when one of the restaurants around here advertises local cheeses on its cheeseboard, I can pretty well guarantee that they'll just be Duddleswell and Kentish Blue.

There's one pub in town that, from October to end of April, puts out a cheeseboard on the bar, Mon-Thur between 5pm and 7pm, free, and they DO try and select a good variety of local and (mainly) other UK cheeses. For a pub cheese board it's fabulous, with 5 or 6 different cheeses normally on offer. We try and limit our visits to 1 a week!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 06:12 AM

Brie fritters

Now yer talking

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 06:27 AM

Talking of pies, which we were briefly, do you miss Hollands Meat Pies, Steve? They don't even understand the concept of a 'meat pie' a mere 30 miles from Haslingden and if I ask for one they reply 'pork, meat and potato or steak and kidney?' At which point I walk out in disgust...

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 06:28 AM

...to be fair though a couple of local shops sell pork pies to die for.

D.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 06:52 AM

To be a pie it's got to have a crust all round. Those things in a dish with a puff pastry top are casseroles with lids!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 09:08 AM

Those things in a dish with a puff pastry top are what we on this side of the Herring Pond call a pot pie, and in well-regulated households they are made of leftovers.

Don't eat them in restaurants if you can possibly help it. God alone knows where the ingredients came from; I suspect the worst.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 09:10 AM

Oh, so we're talking about pies now are we? Good, I can eat those with no vertigo to follow.
A butcher's shop in Aylsham, Norfolk make their own pork pies (one can watch) and the chap raises the pastry by hand round a wooden former ('raised' pies, you see). In go the nicely fatty pork bits and meat jelly made from boiling up trotters etc. They do apple-and-pork, and quite a few other variations. To say they're delicious is an understatement.
Do they make me fat? No, no, neither do the crumpets, cream, cheese and so on. I'm not at all fat...... heh heh.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 09:31 AM

Wait till nearer weekend, Eliza. It is a known fact that pies have no calories on a Friday.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 09:38 AM

Don't know the butchers shops there but I have been told Icarus Hines in Cromer is quite a good butchers shop in the area.

I live with vegetarians though, always was a bit picky with meat and usually follow their (cheese included) diet.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 09:47 AM

when I was training 3 or 4 times a week at the gym my all year round breakfast was porridge...

Now my breakfast is tesco and ginster pasties and steak slices..

.. yes I know.. not ideal.. in fact very wrong on so many levels..

but it's a convenient & reasonably affordable proper blokes start the day breakfast...!!!

[.. plus banana, yogurt, and apple for nutritional balance... 😜]


yeah.. i wish i knew of a decent pie maker in the town centre...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 10:01 AM

A new micro pub called 'The Two Sisters' has opened in Skipton. I perused their menu while I had a pint there last week. The meal that caught my eye and I must try it out when I am feeling particularly rash was 'breakfast pizza'. Sounds like it would go down a treat with a tasty blonde or a strong dark porter...

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 10:05 AM

I'd quite like a strong dark porter! Although that more or less describes my lovely husband :)

I do try to eat healthily. I try to have only one slice of an Aylsham pork pie. Which is a pie cut in half. Then, one has to eat the other half or it might go off...
But I might have a lettuce leaf on the side to balance things... or I might not bother.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 10:41 AM

further cheesey food for thought, discussion, and recommendations...

cheese pasties

cheese straws

cheesecake

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 10:46 AM

A lady in our village makes beautiful cheese scones to die for. She makes dozens and dozens for village sales, and they sell out in a few seconds. I've seen ladies actually fighting over them!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 12:15 PM

Pip makes tasty cheese scones and cheese straws. She uses a strong cheddar for both.The cheese straws tend to be a Christmas time only item here.

There may be a baker or perhaps a tea shop round here that makes decent versions of these but I've at least usually found shop bought ones a disappointment.

She used to make a nice lemon cheese cake when I was a lot younger. The cheese layer was much deeper than the usual supermarket ones we get these days and it had a lighter texture. We have lost the recipe for this.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Joe_F
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 06:04 PM

I will eat almost any cheese on a cracker or with an apple. However, for cutting in little cubes & putting on top of a bowl of chili, I use the cheddar that Cabot (I think it is) calls "Seriously Sharp". I would hate to use a *frivolously* sharp cheese for such a purpose.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Nov 16 - 08:57 PM

If you have any leftover cold mashed spud, grate at least a third of its weight of cheddar into it and mix. Beat an egg. Get some butter melting in a big frying pan. Make little flattened patties out of the spud/cheese mix. Dip each one in the egg and fry on both sides. You'll know when they're done. Have some of these for breakfast and you won't need to eat again until the sun's below the yardarm.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 06:19 AM

why is there never a blunt cheese?
Or come to think of it A flat Minor cheese?
You can always tuna fish



I'll get my coat............

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 06:27 AM

"why is there never a blunt cheese?
Or come to think of it A flat Minor cheese?
You can always tuna fish"

Transposing a couple of letters, maybe it was just feta things turned out that way?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 06:47 AM

Just transpose the letters Caerphilly, that's all I ask.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:12 AM

And now we're back to puns. Call me when you're done.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:25 AM

Cheeses wept...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Senoufou
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:31 AM

Where do cheeses stay when in London?   The Stilton.

(Sorry Charmion)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:56 AM

Is there no whey we can stop this? Maybe people curdent care less. It could become a cottage industry I suppose.

Double (Gloucester) apologies.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:12 PM

Dave, I cannot give you citations but the GI specialist I consulted gave me that advice. As to other cheeses, the situation is the same as when dealing in poison, it depends on dosage and sensitivity. For some reason, even though we are both sensitive to cream cheese, we can both eat New York cheese cake, which is cream cheese based, but not ricotta cheese cake. We always carry lactaid or similar product just in case.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 30 Nov 16 - 08:52 PM

Sorry to bypass the barnacle (tho I did read it!)
For Jon Freeman - "it wouldn't be natural"! Of course we all like sharp cheeses.
And add to Steve's recipe a wee ingin(onion) and some mushrooms, and you're in heaven!
As for the pehs (correct pronunciation in Dundee) up here, Scotch pies (pehs) have to be deep-fried afore ye can eat them, or ye can hae them coated in batter afore the deep-frying (as you can pizza tae!) And if youse think that's thread drift, the ither speciality here is "cheese pie (peh)", which is macaroni cheese in a pastry case

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Dec 16 - 04:39 AM

Just transpose the letters Caerphilly, that's all I ask.

A Pricy Hell ?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 01 Dec 16 - 05:02 AM

With reference to the old Eurythmics song:

Sweet dreams are made of cheese
Who am I to diss a Brie
I cheddar the world and a Feta cheese
Everybody's looking for Stilton

Some cheese wants to be Bleu, too
Some cheese wants to be Buchette d'Anjou
Some cheese wants to be cubed
Some cheese will be braided by you

Sweet dreams are made of cheese
Colby or Chevre, if you please
I ferment the milk and then I squeeze
Everybody needs penicillium

Mould is better, on the rind
Mould is better, leaves taste behind
Mould is better, cheese is confined
Mould is better, use my enzymes

Some cheese ought to be grated
No cheese should be ammoniated
Some cheese will always be hated
No cheese wants to be called rancid

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Dec 16 - 05:23 AM

Well done Rob! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 01 Dec 16 - 02:10 PM

ahh yes.. the eurythmics.. that's what good folk music should sound like.. pounding synth bass lines.. and electro drums...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: ripov
Date: 01 Dec 16 - 05:08 PM

Definitely needs undertones. Must penicill in a bass part.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 01:58 PM

Worth re(creme)fraicheing?

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 02:21 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 02:23 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 02:26 PM

On a third attempt, RIP to Manuel, from Barcelona.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheese
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 02:30 PM



Real, funny British cheese man th attempt- need to clean up my 'puter:)