BS: Cheesey reminiscences!

Subject: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 11:47 AM

When I was a kid in 50s/60s Manchester there were only 2 kinds of cheese. Eating and cooking. The former was invariably white and crumbly. More than likely Cheshire. The latter was yellow and harder. Probably a Cheddar of some sort. Cheese spread was Dairylee and if you were lucky you got a triangle of said cheese with a wooden "spreader", a couple of salted crackers and a little pickled onion in a snack pack. Later on I remember Kraft cheese slices but they really were the bees knees and decidedly a luxury food.

In the 70s strange things started happening, like putting cheese cubes on cocktail sticks with pineapple chunks as part of a buffet. If you were really posh you had half a grapefruit with the sticks stuck in it alongside the other half a grapefruit with cocktail sausages on sticks. Looked like a couple of demented hedgehogs had been rolling in the party food. I always refer to the 70s as the decade that taste forgot :-)

Not sure when it was but Edam was probably the first foreign cheese I came across and, luckily, it did not put me off continental cheeses for life. I soon discovered Danish blue, which was promptly trumped by our own Derbyshire Stilton. Now I am narked if my local shop doesn't have a full compliment of French Compte, Spanish Marchengo, Somerset Cheddar and, the king of all, Lancashire in all its variants.

Can anyone tell it is a dull afternoon awaiting a lift to a dinner party in about an hour? With British chicken, a locally made cheesecake and a selection of wines from Italy. (Yes, Steve. Including Mossers Nero d'Avola) Our hosts have a selection of fine malts too. Don't expect any sense from me after nine.

Not that you get much anyway.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 11:56 AM

I thought you wer going to sing the praises...............

"The Bries and I"





I'll get my pinny..............

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 12:07 PM

The cheese shop exploded. All that was left was de Brie.

I was lucky enough to grow up with a cheese course as a normal part of the meal. Thanks, Mom & Dad.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 12:31 PM

Cheese used to be Cheddar, in two colours: white and orange. I have no idea why mild (i.e., young) Cheddar had to be (and still is) orange in Ontario. Old cheddar was (and still is) white.

Fancy cheese came from Oka, a Trappist monastery just over the border in Quebec, and it was (and still is) round and semi-soft with a gentle whiff of adulthood and, just maybe, port after dinner.

Another type of fancy cheese was Danish blue, which was not Danish or even European but just as Canadian as all the other cheese we ate. It had visible mold in it and therefore seemed risky. Its complex and decidedly emphatic flavour announced its status as food intended only for the grown-ups of the household. Consequently, we children insisted we loved it, though we actually had second thoughts after the first bite.

Fake cheese was Kraft plastic-wrapped slices or a hunk of Velveeta, and it, too, was always orange because it was pretending to be mild Cheddar. Its proper habitat was the sandwich lunch your mother made for you to take to school, and it tasted of nothing much in particular unless she augmented it with a sliced pickle, in which case it tasted of sliced pickle.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 01:50 PM

Well here are my favourites. I think Appleby's is the best Cheshire. Mrs Kirkham's is the best Lancashire. Morrison's sell an excellent Wensleydale under their "the best" label. I've researched all the much-vaunted cheddars such as Montgomery's, Gould's, Green's, Westcombe's, Keen's and Barber's, as well as Mrs Quicke's excellent range, but I think the best is Wookey Hole cave-aged. Buy it at M&S and it still has its washed rind. Superb. I find Stilton far too variable, often not creamy enough or unevenly veined or bitter or too salty, so I avoid it. Instead I seek out Stichelton, which is really Stilton but made with unpasteurised milk (not allowed under the Stilton name). It's made by one very careful and proud cheese maker and it's a masterpiece. Another superb blue is Bath Blue, but you have to hurry up and eat it it before it starts to darken. I'm a big fan of three triple-creme cheeses: Vallage from France, Montagnolo d'Affine from Germany and that ubiquitous masterpiece St Agur. A lot of bries are unreliable, often too salty or decidedly bitter or with that horrid chalky middle. Sharpham's brie, made in Devon, is lovely and rich when at its runny peak. The French Brie de Meaux is a grand, tangy example best eaten just before the rot sets in. There's a very nice English camembert made at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset. You might have to leave it out of the fridge for a few days to get it flowing, a not uncommon issue with camembert. I'd rather hack off the family jewels with a rusty machete than eat "mild cheddar" or Edam or anything pre-sliced or in triangles. A bit of philly on oatcakes makes a good lunch. And I have lots of ways of employing mozzarella and proper parmesan.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jos
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 02:28 PM

Once, back in the 1960s or 1970s, we had a whole Cheshire cheese that had gone well past its sell-by date (not that they had them in those days). It came free as it couldn't be sold because it no longer resembled Cheshire - it had gone soft and runny like a Brie or Camembert. Unforgettable.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 02:35 PM

I'd eat cheese on toast when ah were a lad, or I'd grill an ugly mixture of cheddar, milk and chopped onion. Delicious mopped up with nasty sliced Wonderloaf. But I don't remember eating much raw cheese. Maybe a bit of crumbly Lancs...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 02:43 PM

When I was a child on Saturday mornings we would go to Eccles market and buy (small amounts) of Lancashire, Cheshire,Cheddar, Green Sage Derby (dyed) Red Leicester (dyed) and Danish Blue.

That was the entire range of cheeses available at the time.

Since then, although now sadly lactose intolerant, I have sampled literally hundreds of cheeses. My Favourite English cheese, if I was forced to choose, would either be Poachers Imp, a mature Lincolnshire Poacher or a Colston & Basset Blue Stilton.

My favourite "foreign" cheese of all time was a Weisslacker cheese from Bavaria, the smell was appalling but the cheese tasted sublime.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 02:54 PM

Derby's got green bits because of it's age,
And when it gets older it's kept in a cage,
And what does it sing when it reaches this age,
Oh the hard cheese of old England,
In old England very hard cheese,

Les Barker, The Hard Cheese of Old England.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 03:10 PM

After my kids started loving Wallace and Grommet they went through a What's wrong with Wesleydale? phase. Tastes like a good cheddar, Wesleydale does.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 03:22 PM

Growing up in the suburbs of Sydney in the 70s, I also recall those triangles DTG mentions, but also clear these plastic tubes where we would cut or bite off the top, then extrude out some kind of soft cheese for a snack.

Now, a vegan most of the time, I quite like such varieties of cheese on a sandwich for a change.

Also, on an office Christmas do, I was once served a Brie Wellington that had to go back as it had only a large flat mushroom in it...I doubt the chef got the boot, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 04:22 PM

Cheeses that contain bits of fruit or herbs or garlic are abominations. I heard a while ago that only inferior cheese is used for this purpose. I'd make a single honourable exception for Boursin, though even that can be lived without I find.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 04:32 PM

Mature cheddar is fine for those who are lactose-intolerant.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 04:52 PM

From the DT:

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN CHEESES

What a friend we have in cheeses,
Mozzarella, Cheddar, Swiss!
Bleu and Limberger's sweet breezes
Lingering like a lover's kiss.
Humble milk's apotheosis,
Muenster, Provolone, Brie
Damn cholesterol's thrombosis
Cheese is Gouda stuff by me!

Heed the U. S. Dairy Council,
Keep the Gruyere on the shelf.
Even just a tiny ounce'll
Give you vitamin B-12.
Gather, pilgrims at the deli
Buying Edam and Havarti,
Wedges moist and cold and smelly,
Bring home lots and have a party!



Now we are above the line!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 05:04 PM

That pleases

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Helen
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 05:33 PM

When I and some of my friends used to gather on a regular basis about 30 years ago for a light meal, we used to pick a theme.

At the time one of the large department stores had a huge array of cheese in all varieties. I always found it difficult to decide which ones to try, so on one occasion I suggested to my friends that we go to the cheese shop and choose varieties starting with the initials of our names. That was the first time I tried Havarti cheese. I liked it.

I'd rather eat cheese than chocolate. That's how serious my cheesaholism is.

Hubby started making cheese for a while but he hasn't done it in the last year or so. I've tried to wind him up to make some more but I might have to wait until he retires in a couple of years.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Joe_F
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 06:29 PM

Take us to your liederkranz.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 19 - 08:01 PM

Tread caerphilly, please...you don't want to lose your whey...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 04:09 AM

I once bought 100gm of Stinking Bishop because of Wallace & Grommet, and because I live near to its home.


Well it does stink!


Boursin, though even that can be lived without

So does Boursin!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 04:52 AM

A few years ago I was trying out various soft rinded cheeses. There was one from France that tasted great but you couldn't keep in anywhere in the house, such was the rank, all-pervading pong. Fridge, outhouse cupboard, wrapped in polythene...nothing worked. I think it was pie d'Angloys though I could be mistaken...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 09:57 AM

Cheese, glorious cheese... What is that song? Oliver, Kermit?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 10:59 AM

HARD CHEESE OF OLD ENGLAND
(Les Barker)

There's Cheddar and Cheshire and Lancashire too,
Leicester's bright orange and 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.

Derby got green bits because of the sage,
And when it gets older its kept in a cage.
What does it hum when it reaches this age but,

They say double Gloucester is twicest as nice,
They say double Gloucester there, I've said it twice,
Its nice in potatoes but nicest in mice.

Those damn foreigners aren't worth a mention,
Old Gorgonzolas is renowned for it stenchen,
His brother Emil wrote novels in French and sing,

There's Swaledale and Wendslydale, Rutland to add,
Shropshire and Cornish you may not have had,
It's not bad on salads this ballad's not sad and sing,

My young love said to me my mother won't mind,
And my father once liked you for your lack of rind,
No cheese greater love for his food than mankind.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 02:35 PM

They say double Gloucester is twicest as nice,
They say double Gloucester there, I've said it twice,
Its nice in potatoes but nicest in mice.

...isn't that the one locals run/fall madly down a hill after, BB?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 02:59 PM

No idea- While I have been to Norway, spent the night in Germany, and 40 minutes in Denmark, I am the only one of my family to have never gotten to the UK.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 03:04 PM

It is indeed near Gloucester - wiki

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 04:13 PM

Thank you for the link.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 05:30 PM

I like a good Cheddar but they are hard to find. Most is just "cooking cheese" as my Lancashire mother-in-law called it.
I found Cheshire and Wesleydale when I went to uni and used to buy them instead of sweets.
Creamy Lancashire is my favourite, particularly the black wax "bombs".
I was looking forward to trying some French cheeses when we went to Brittany for the first time, what a disappointment!

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 19 - 06:08 PM

Well M&S sell Wookey Hole, Robin, £2.50 a lump. I don't think there's a better cheddar and I've tried a lot of the supposed elites. Now I don't usually speak up for mass-produced cheese, but Davidstow creamery (a fancy name for a cheese factory just up the road from me that looks like a Soviet gulag), which makes Cathedral City, turns out a very nice version of said cheese called Extra Mature. If you don't see those words on the wrapper, you haven't found it. It isn't half bad and it's brilliant for cheese on toast or to put in an omelette. Or just to eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Jun 19 - 04:05 PM

All these years I have pronounced it Wendsleydale... Spell checker told me I was wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 27 Jun 19 - 06:07 PM

And now I notice that I can't spell it either!

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Jun 19 - 06:40 PM

A couple of the supermarkets here in England now have a "free from" range, and I find Tesco's vegan soft cheese very nice in a sandwich with lettuce, olives and tomato sauce. Coconut oil and soya replace milk. My poem "My Diet"

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Jun 19 - 07:54 AM

I understand that M&S sell a three-year-old Cornish Cruncher that is highly regarded. I'll be in Hayle M&S in about half an hour so I shall avail myself of a hunk thereof. I'll let you know. By the way, it's scarily windy here today. Very useful for anyone who, whilst in company, can't stop the mselves from "cutting the cheese" (aka "floating an air biscuit" or "treading on a duck").

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Jun 19 - 06:14 AM

...isn't that the one locals run/fall madly down a hill after, BB?

Yest but be only one, which would make it a single Gloucester.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: CupOfTea
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 11:39 AM

Spotted this thread just after last night's delightful dinner held in friends' lovely garden. My part of the feast included a cheese tray with a selection from the best cheese shop in tge West Side market. The hosts are very fond of cheese, have made cheese & sampled widely on travels to France & Ireland. I had to have Sage Darby because of Les Barker (having previously gone for some Doublr Glouster for the same reason, which pleased Judy Cook considerably), some "4-year Chedder" frim Quebec, a sheep milk chese from Italy, Ossau, another I think from Italy- Ubriaco, that had a crust of wine must that was WONDERFUL. At that point I'd maxed out my budget.

I've been surprised to find some very good cheeses at ALDI's. When I heard they were part of Trader Joes (or vice -versa) it explained the gift packs of interesting cheeses that included cranberry Wenslydale. Irish cheeses show up often, as well.

Leftover cheese for noshing on between dances today. A nice thing for a summer Sunday.

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: David Carter (UK)
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 12:22 PM

ALDI in the UK have very passable Roquefort, Brie de Meaux, aged Gouda, Manchego, Gorgonzola, Fetta. To do much better you would have to order direct from continental suppliers. Tesco have a wider range at higher prices, Sainsbury not so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 06:20 AM

I'd skip the Cranberry in Wensleydale Joanne it's bloody awful.

I am not a fan of adding anything to cheese, especially fruit. I can just about except chives in Double Gloucester at a push.

If you visit the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes it's a joke. There's cheese with cranberries, apricot, ginger, mango, pineapple, spice, caramelised onions, balsamic onions, gin, beer and garlic (ugh).

I think there are other that are "seasonal" all spoiling what is basically a decent cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 07:11 AM

I heartily concur with that. I will not countenance cheese with added fruit. I understand that only cheese that is likely to turn out to be disappointing is treated in this way. So you're buying inferior cheese whose poor quality is masked by fruity bits. No thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 07:14 PM

I promised I'd be back with my thoughts on the much-vaunted three-year-old Cornish Cruncher from M&S. To be clear, it's the stuff in a gold wrapper, not the stuff in a black wrapper. It's £5.25 per hunk, but, to be fair, it's not a bad sized hunk. Still quite dear.

Well it does have that crunch, for sure. And it's nice cheese. But the overriding feeling is one of saltiness. I'm not getting that sort of lactic, cheesy tang that I thought I might expect from such an aged cheese. So the saltiness, probably needed to preserve the stuff for three years, seems excessive and not in harmony with the less assertive cheesy aspects. I won't be buying it again.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 07:51 PM

Reminiscences: having discovered the delights of Reblochon cheese during a holiday on the French Alps (Savoie): we brought a whole one back home, which was then in Shropshire - by train and car, so quite a long journey. Although well-wrapped, and (unrefrigerated!) it made its presence known. You can now get it in the UK, but not then.

Then there was the local speciality in Asturias, Cabrales cheese: a blue cheese with a green wax coating. Totally delicious and often featured in sauces to go over meat dishes: I got the recipe for the sauce from the chef at our hotel: basically just cheese cream and brandy! Just had to bring some back, and they were very big cheeses, so we bought a quarter of a whole one: by then it was ferry from Santander to Plymouth and drive all the way back to Edinburgh! Anther smelly journey.

Agree about the Davidstow very mature cheddar, which we can get in Waitrose, and also the Cornish tickler, but ASDA have Devonshire Vintage Tickler, which is as good, and ALDI do a very good Scottish Vintage Cheddar (strength 6). And there are some other good regional "Cheddar" cheeses here in Scotland, from Islay, Mull of Kintyre, Orkney and Arran, as well as the oatmeal rolled soft cheese Caboc.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 08:34 PM

Well Mrs Steve and I were introduced to Cabrales by a lovely lady who ran a wine/tapas bar in Potes, in the Picos de Europa, in 1998. In those halcyon days you could wash down your tapas with a bottle of El Coto Rioja for three euros, or was it quids. She was so keen for us to try the queso that she wouldn't let us pay for it. It tasted magnificent, but I've never found the Cabrales on sale here to be anything like as alluring. Could be that it doesn't travel well.

To change tack, is there anything finer than a hunk of halloumi grilled on the barbie?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Jul 19 - 03:07 AM

I spotted Yorkshire squeaky cheese in Mossers the other day. I'm guessing a halloumi style but I didn't try it. I'll let you know if I do.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 02:32 PM

Why do some cheeses (swiss) change flavor a lot when melted, but others (cheddar) don't?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 05:39 PM

Halloumi...........ugh .............. tasteless, rubbery nonsense.

I wouldn't feed it to my cat!!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 07:24 PM

Not seen Cabrales cheese on sale here, but even bringing it home was a bit of a disappointment: just like that amazing new shirt that looked so great on you in Spain, but now at home makes you just look ridiculous!
We stayed several times in Arenas de Cabrales, where our evening 3-course mesl cost 5 euros each, inclusive of 1/2 litre of wine each. That was late 90s too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 09:40 PM

We stayed three nights in Arenas in 1999 (or was it 1998...). I was that argumentative northerner who supped many a glass of Rioja...Did we cross paths? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 01:02 PM

This week I was returning home on a long journey, on a hot day. Included in the luggage was a Brie - that was about 40% Camembert, which I had forgot.
Note to self don't buy French Brie from Sainsbury's. Mind you it is similar in the Auvergne - Brie is infra dig, Camembert fills the shelves.
Every time I stopped to photograph OS Benchmarks and got back in - the smell was vaguely , er , um , bodily. I politely turned up the fan to get some fresh air. My passenger probably had acclimatised and didn't realise, and I thought it was her!

Good job I didn't say anything.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 02:56 PM

Brie is notably taste free.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 04:25 PM

Unless it's Sharpham's.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 05:59 PM

"We stayed three nights in Arenas in 1999 (or was it 1998...). I was that argumentative northerner who supped many a glass of Rioja...Did we cross paths? :-)"
Aw, sadly (?) I think we missed you Steve! We were the ones with the Bolshie 15-year-old in tow - "No, you're too young to go to Majorca with your pals" - but he did in the end enjoy the holiday, even if he and his Dad left me miles behind on any walks we did!
And although this is a BS thread, have to mention the fab music that was played in the restaurant at breakfast: how often do you ever experience really nice music at breakfast - along with the orange-crushing machine? Proper wonderful Asturian music from Tejedor, as I found out when I enquired of the staff: took me another 2 years to get one of their CDs - when they eventually came to Glasgow's Celtic Connections as a support band!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 01:59 AM

Brie is notably taste free.

Not in Sainbury's or in the Auvergne! Camembert is an acquired taste and it produces an acquired smell from the digestion thereof. Give me Brie every time.

To those of us that science refers to as "supertasters" any strong taste is too much. We seek the calm haven that is subtle. And a good Brie is all of that.
FWIW taste perception varies with texture - it is all about expectation and the human brain. Anyone who can figure that is destined to be a millionaire.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 05:05 AM

I'd cheerily admit that the type of cheap, unripe brie that appears on tables alongside unwashed green grapes and undrinkable four-quid "claret" at wine and wisdom evenings, the sort with an unyielding dry crust and a thick, chalky middle, is a true horror. I like to leave soft cheeses lying around outside the fridge for at least half a day, longer in winter. Mismanaging a brie is as bad as drinking prosecco that's at central heating temp. Give the brie a squeeze before purchase in order to ensure you have a cheese with potential. The main faults I've found with brie have been too much salt and a bitter finish (the latter can mean the cheese has gone past its best). A refusal to ripen is something I associate more with camemberts. Some supermarket bries are marked "ripening." They usually do ok after a few hours at room temp.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 05:09 AM

Another trick I've learned is to leave the soft cheeses out of the fridge to ripen up as soon as you get home, putting them in the fridge only when you think they've reached eating condition. Then you know you'll have the cheese right very shortly before you need it, just an hour out of the fridge. Nobody dies using this method. Cheese is very good at looking after itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 01:39 PM

We usually put Camembert in the bread bin: when you get that "sweaty trainers" smell as you walk past the bread bin, it's ripe and ready, runny in the middle. But I agree, some Camemberts never achieve that: they go from unripe to "totally honking" in one swift move.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 02:17 PM

Nigel Slater had a way with reluctant camemberts, but they needed to be one of those that came in a wooden box. Bake it in the box for a little while, in the meantime boiling some small new potatoes in their skins. Put the cheese in the middle of the table and dip your spuds in it. And no double dipping...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 02:56 PM

Many years ago when I was a VERY skint student in Oxford the local supermarket was selling Brie off cheap because it gone 'runny' I bought half a Brie for 50p. I would have bought the whole thing but I didn't have a quid.

Fed us both for 2 that Brie!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: robomatic
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 05:57 PM

I lived in an ex-fraternity house which had been turned into an international house. One day we had a fondue party and I volunteered my little camper stove, a version of gas/ petrol/ white fuel using SVEA. It was supposedly adjustable, but the adjustment involved turning a balky metal 'key' about 1/8th of an arc. Usually came on pretty strong. So it was surrounded by a bunch of pots and was under a big pot full of rapidly churning cheeses and it flared a bit, and then wouldn't stop flaring, and one helpful soul threw it outside with a good overhand. Not for nothing did I learn later that SVEA stoves were called "Swedish hand grenades".

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Jul 19 - 10:16 PM

Don't heat brie. Makes it smell, well, like semen.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 07:59 PM

Velveeta, a product of the Kraft company, has a major problem for those of us who are lactose intolerant. It is insufficiently aged for the process to eat the lactose and make it safe for us, as real cheddar is. Let's just say the results can be quite messy.

For some reason, a good, runny brie does not bother me. I can adore it.

When my theater group did Richard III, I made a point of getting us a pound of double Gloucester in his honor. Good stuff!

My current favorite snacking cheese is Manchego. Amazingly, Costco has it for half the price of the local supermarkets. Of course, you have to buy a quarter wheel. No problem.

Lady Hillary and I make our own yogurt. By varying the curing, we can produce almost any texture from liquidy to a good spreading cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Jul 19 - 05:52 PM

Not a great fan of the Manchego we get in the UK - generally rubbery and waxy: however, in Spain, different story: so many different strengths and grades - as with Comte in France.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 10 Jul 19 - 06:02 PM

"Don't heat brie. Makes it smell, well, like semen" (Mrrzy)...but with Brie Wellington it has to be heated, so maybe you'd give it the boot?!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jul 19 - 07:10 PM

Well I may have produced gallons of the stuff but I'm buggered if I know what it smells like. I suggest confusion here. Just wash you tackle pre-orgasm, then smell again post-come just to make sure you're not confusing semen smell with dirty bloke smell.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 11 Jul 19 - 05:39 AM

Isovaleric Acid - cheesy cheese smell of cheese, and also found in smelly socks. And off beer.

So if you keep your socks on in bed ...................... it might explain Mrrzy's comments.


Mind you, the New Scientist did have an article in the "News in Brief" section that reported research that concluded keeping your socks on for sex actually improved it. Probably a winter thing. Keep the extremities warm (oooer missus) and the body feels warm.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 11 Jul 19 - 06:08 PM

...and Swiss cheese..?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mo the caller
Date: 11 Jul 19 - 06:26 PM

Some of the posts upthread were reminiscent of 3 Men in a Boat.

A good strong but not too strong Cheddar can't be beaten. Co-op sell a good Organic Mature Cheddar. For years it was assumed that if you wanted Organic cheese (which I do for animal welfare reasons) you wanted one so strong that it took the skin off your tongue. Things have improved now.

Can't stand red cheese, tastes artificial.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jul 19 - 06:56 PM

I've tried all the much-vaunted unpasteurised cheddars. I even set up a blind tasting for Mrs Steve a couple of years ago which included Keens, Gould's, Westcombe and Montgomery's, as well as the pasteurised Wookey Hole. The latter won hands down. I tried Montgomery's again yesterday. It's strong, assertive and very tangy. But there's something just a touch unclean and cowy about it. Seven on ten, best of the unpasteurised bunch. But Wookey gets 9.8486 out of ten.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Neil D
Date: 14 Jul 19 - 02:34 PM

It seems like most of the people posting this thread are British; odd because us Americans are pretty fond of cheese too. I like a lot of imports, Manchego, Gorgonzola, Chevre and I especially like a Shropshire Farmhouse Blue some of our shops carry. But my favorite of all is the cheese of my youth, sharp (aged) Swiss, which oddly enough, is not an import. The region just to the south and west of here is called the Switzerland of Ohio, both because it is dairy farm country and because it was settled by immigrants from Switzerland, both Amish and non-Amish. Actually, Switzerland of Ohio is a tourist bureau invention; we call it Amish country. (Here's a piece of trivia that might amuse you Brits. The Amish people call all non-Amish folks "English" even if they are of Swiss or German descent. This is because the Amish still speak German as their first language even after many generations in this country.) There are cheese factories all over the area mostly specializing in Swiss cheese. There is more Swiss cheese produced in Holmes County, Ohio than in all of Switzerland. It's all good but sharp is best. At 2 years it starts to get crumbly and little bits of salt form on the surface. Delicious!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Jul 19 - 02:46 PM

Your lucky, Neil. In my visits to the US (mainly Illinois, Missouri and Florida) I never found anything remotely resembling cheese :-P We were tourists but staying with locals who took us to local stores and even a farmers market.

I am very surprised Shropshire blue gets out there. If you can find it try Swaledale blue, or just plain Swaledale, as well. Either cow or sheep. Of course, as I have often said, the king of cheeses is Lancashire but the Yorkshire lot know a thing or two about cheese as well :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Jul 19 - 05:45 PM

Blue cheeses are always very young. I've found Stilton to be way too variable and unpredictable. Most of the "county blues" are rather dry and anodyne. Apart from foreign class acts such as St Agur and Montagnolo d'Affine, not to speak of Gorgonzola piccante for my death-by-fat chicken pasta dish, the only blues I ever bother with are Bath Blue and Stichelton. Two Brit masterpieces, hard to obtain.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Neil D
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 11:50 AM

Dave, your earlier mention of Lancashire cheeses has me intrigued. Unfortunately, I.ve never seen any over here and I've been in cheese shops from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. There's a market in Pittsburgh's warehouse district that has over 150 varieties. I'll have to check there next time we get over that way. The Stichelton you mentioned, Steve, sounds delightful, but I believe you said earlier it was unpasteurized so it probably doesn't get approved for export.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Neil D
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 11:54 AM

Here is a fond cheesy reminiscence. I once had a chunk of aged Stilton that had aged even further after I bought it. I threw it into a pot of tomato soap I had on the stove. The smell drove my wife and kids out of the house, but it was the second best soup I ever tasted.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 12:04 PM

A good stilton is hard to beat. And it does freeze very well!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 12:15 PM

From wiki -

Lancashire is an English cow's-milk cheese from the county of Lancashire. There are three distinct varieties of Lancashire cheese. Young Creamy Lancashire and mature Tasty Lancashire are produced by a traditional method, whereas Crumbly Lancashire (more commonly known as Lancashire Crumbly within Lancashire) is a more recent creation suitable for mass production.

The crumbly is good on toast but I prefer the mature "tasty" for anything else.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 01:42 PM

I threw it into a pot of tomato soap I had on the stove.

I often throw in cheddar in tomato soup. It ends up stringy. But I have never tried soap, or washed with tomato soap!

Have you ever tried real tomato halves in tomato soup. Put them in before you heat it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 02:05 PM

Stilton is always young. It can't be "matured" for long because, as with all blues, it is riddled with a fungus that has expansionist instincts. Too much Stilton is over-salted, not properly veined (in other words, evenly) and possessed of a horrid, uncreamy texture and bitter finish. You'll get an occasional good 'un but the risk is too great.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 02:23 PM

Steve, 2 years ago I bought a full Colton and basset stilton. 7.5 kilos of superb cheese. I cut it down to 250gram wedges and froze most of it. It is still superb. Due to my lactose intolerance I can only consume small amount, and suffer accordingly!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Anne Lister
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 05:50 PM

My first experience of Serious Cheese was on a family holiday - in the mid sixties we used to drive down through France to a rented villa in Spain, taking three days on the drive down and three days on the drive back. We stayed in some characterful hotels, and in one of these I still remember a muttered conversation between my Dad and a waiter, on the grounds of "unchain the vintage cheese". A huge wheel of cheese was brought in, and slices of it distributed to us all. It was a decidedly adult taste, but a sign of things to come.
My other significant memory was when I lived in France, in Lyon, and up the road from my tiny apartment was a cheese shop which has never been surpassed in my foodie experience. There were all manner of treasures, and a personal favourite was the unpasteurised Camembert. I took one home to Wales one Christmas, travelling to the Channel in a friend's well-heated car and then from Southampton to home by train. People cleared seats for me on the train, obviously thinking I was very ill. I reached my parents' house when they were out, but they knew I was there because the cheese had left scent trails that even a nose-less person would spot. By Christmas Day it had been exiled to the garden shed as it had tainted almost everything in the fridge. Oh, but it tasted good!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 07:30 PM

Well for a few years I tried freezing cheese, admittedly not Stilton, and invariably found that the texture suffered somewhat, even after a short time, becoming less creamy and more crumbly. Great if you want to cook with it, but definitely not for the cheeseboard.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 08:03 PM

Just back from another brilliant weekend at Stonehaven Folk Festival,where we stay in a wee hoose on the harbour. Last year, my sister came all the way up from Kent for the weekend: bought herself a couple of "Caboc" (Scottish cream cheese rolled in oatmeal) to take home, but then forgot to take them out of the fridge. We were well on the way home before this was discovered, so told the landlady she could keep them.
Had completely forgotten all this, but when we turned up on Thursday, there were 2 cheeses in the fridge for us, courtesy of the landlady. She hadn't been able to track down any Caboc, but there was a very nice cream cheese, salmon and dill roulade and a small wheel of goats' cheese. Thanks Yvonne!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 11:28 AM

Coming back to the OP. I'm younger (b 1960) but my memory is pretty much the same as DTGs. We had the processed cheese wedges, I think mum used to refer to our main household cheese as "mousetrap" and we didn't have much awareness of other cheeses. I think the first 2 foreign cheeses I got to try were Danish Blue and Camembert.

Re the 70s parties, I think vol au vents were another must but maybe we were posh - we certainly did both the cheese and cocktail sausages.

--
I'm tempted to try Steve's recommendation of the Wookey Hole cheddar, at least to have tasted at and might order direct. £7 postage is a bit steep for the 454g piece I'd probably get but I notice the company offer a range of cheese. Any others ("non bitted") worth a try? I've seen a sheep one, a goat one and other cheddars.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 02:57 PM

I tried some Roquefort today for the first time, it's supposedly the king of cheeses, very nice but not much different from blue stilton.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: DMcG
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 03:20 PM

Last September was my 65th, and my 40th wedding anniversary so we had a large celebration, including a great deal of cheese.

Here is the order from one place:


Appleby's Cheshire 1kg
Lord of the Hundreds 1kg      
Baron Bigod Whole
Colston Bassett Baby Stilton (Approx 2kg)
Keen's Cheddar 500g
Cornish Yarg 250g   
Reblochon Fermier Missilier
Appleby's Cheshire 250g   
Epoisses Gaugry

I also picked up some from a local shop ...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: DMcG
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 03:23 PM

... and I also tried to commission a tune from Kathryn Tickell for my wife, but because it was a bit short notice she had too many other commitments to be confident of finishing it in time, so she suggested Amy Thatcher compose one instead, which she did. Amy and Kathryn played on a recording of it for us.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 11:25 AM

Raggy, Lactaid or generic lactase helps a lot, especially when in doubt.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 11:49 AM

I was well into my teens in the 1960s before I realized there were more varieties of cheese than Colby (but I knew Colby came in different ages) and that grated cardboard that came in a tin in the boxed Chef Boyardee pizza kit.

Colby came from the cheese factory in Colby, Wisconsin, a couple miles from my grandparents' dairy farm. All of the milk produced by my grandparents' herd of mostly Holsteins with a couple Guernseys and Jerseys was trucked a couple miles down the road to be made into Colby cheese.

It wasn't until the early '70s that my horizons expanded to Havarti, mozzarella, Gtost, and blue cheese (though mostly encountered in blue cheese dressing).

Oh, I take that first statement back. I also knew (and liked) Limburger from an early age because my dad liked it. (I was around three when I'd get up when my dad got off work as a welder-fitter on the second shift at Allis-Chalmers and split a beer with him.) I shared his taste for pickled pig's feet, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 12:15 PM

Thanks Ebarnacle, I,please look that up.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 12:35 PM

Wondering if Dave Hanson's trial of Roquefort was one bought in his home country: even if it is an import, it probably won't match up to what you'd be able to get in France.
As previously mentioned, you may only get one variety of certain European cheeses on offer in the UK, whereas in the country of origin, there may be multiple versions of e.g. Manchego, Comté.
And talking of Stilton, rhe last lot I had from ASDA was particularly nice!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 03:04 PM

In my song "We Go Together" I mentioned cheese and wine going together...do different wines go with different cheeses..?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Jul 19 - 07:48 AM

Errrr....


Yes!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Jul 19 - 07:22 PM

The brilliant Morrison's 2017 Nero d'Avola goes with any cheese, as does the ASDA Wine Atlas Negroamaro 2016. I have two worries about the Nero d'Avola. First, will the 2018 vintage be as good, surely on its way any time now, and second, Dave hasn't managed to persuade the Morrisons powers-that-be to get the bugger back on the two-for-a-tenner offer....

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 04:26 AM

Go away from my fridge, babe,
Leave at your own chosen speed.
I've only got a soft French cheese,
It's not the one you need.

You say you're lookin' for a cheese,
Never weak but always strong,
To attack you and offend you,
With a truly awful pong.
A cheese to make your neighbours stay indoors,
But it ain't Brie, babe, no, no, no,
It ain't Brie you're lookin' for, babe.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 05:06 AM

They take no notice of me now I'm retired, Steve.

Not that they did before.

Have you tried the Barbera d'Asti BTW? That is lovely.

Back to cheese. Saw some Yorkshire Brie yesterday but didn't buy it. I'll let you know when I do.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 06:58 PM

Great, Rusty! A few more verses, please?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 03:23 AM

Nope, sorry, TB, but Les Barker got to the cheese puns first and as usual, did it best. I just use my effort as an introduction to doing a straight Dylan song, as in, 'I was going to do this one, but decided not to.'

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 06:08 AM

Yes, Rusty, one has to tread Caerphilly...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 09:27 AM

How to tempt a grizzly

Camembert

How to disguise a horse

Mascarpone

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 03:11 PM

Certainly not a connoisseur of either cheese or wine, when I have occasionally joined a meet-the-staff wine-and-cheese do at a hotel, I have gone for rose and a small selection of cheeses (temporarily breaking my veganity, as I sometimes do), but I recall there being several other options of both wine and cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 03:20 PM

Avoid rosé, eat cheese according to flavour and enjoy life. I've met many a vegan who doesn't know that cheese requires not just milk but also (often) a gut extract from slaughtered calves, and that wine and beer is often fined using a fish gut extract.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 04:42 PM

Cheese omelette for lunch today in a small hotel that my friends and I used to stay in during the village's folk festival: nostalgic visit! It was that red-coloured Cheddar, but mighty tasty! Sadly no wine of any sort for me, as I was the driver! Lovely route back over the hills to Embra!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 02:49 AM

It's called isinglass Steve, originally extracted from the swimbladder of the sturgeon.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 04:23 AM

Quite right, Dave, and the connection between the swim bladder and gut has been evolved away in modern fish. Thanks for being gentlemanly enough to not correct me! The point remains that many a vegan beer drinker has been blissfully unaware...

Come to think of it, how dare vegans attempt to extract enjoyment out of life by drinking beer anyway...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 04:29 AM

The cheese omelette is indeed a thing of beauty. My preference is to grate parmesan generously on to the unset top side, then fold in half for a few seconds. Always in a very hot pan, always cooked in butter. An omelette that is completely set in the middle is very disappointing. My dad used to cook his "omelettes" to death on both sides, no folding. You could sole your shoes with 'em.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 04:32 AM

The other thing about omelettes I learned from a telly chef (can't remember which one) is to refrain from beating your eggs to kingdom come. Just a light blending with a fork, and who cares if you can see bits of white in the finished article. The mix needs seasoning but not milk!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 06:35 AM

I know a number of vegans. Some by choice and some by various medical issues. They all seem to enjoy themselves and what I have tasted of plant based food has been excellent and very tasty. Excluding vegan cheese;-) While being an omnivore myself, I can appreciate that my food choices are not for everyone and there is a good argument for reducing animal based products. When I was brewing I never used finings. You just need to either pour carefully or accept cloudy beer!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 06:44 AM

You could always use bentonite clay. I was a cloudy beer aficionado myself. If it bothers you, just drink it out of a pewter tankard!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 07:26 AM

Apparently clear beer gained prominence in Pilsen, Bohemia, due to the popularity of Bohemian crystal drinking glasses. Hence the popularity of Pilsner beer. Of course the person that told me could have made that up!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: EBarnacle
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 09:44 AM

And, of course, never get prepackaged grated parmesan, as a major ingredient is cellulose, aka wood dust.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 10:49 AM

And Parmesan can never be vegetarian. Only calf rennet is allowed in its manufacture.

Why would anyone buy ready-grated Parmesan? Whether it's got wood-dust in it or not, it tastes like it has. I don't even grate it until the food is in front of everyone, then it's a question of "say when" as I ceremonially wield my hunk of cheese and grater.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 01:06 PM

Not sure if Tesco's Free From soft cheese is off soya and coconut oil, but I find it makes a nice change on a lettuce (not so keen on cucumber as it can make the bread a tad soggy) and olive sandwich - always with tomato sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 03:45 PM

On the hard cheese front there is no doubt that I'm an aficionado, a student even, of the finest cheddars. But ce soir I have sampled a lump of Mrs Kirkham's traditional Lancashire. As a matter of fact I'm still nibbling the last scraps of it, sat outside in the balmy Cornish evening light (whilst Mrs Steve is indoors watching yet another angst-ridden drama...), washing it down with a well-filled glass of Negroamaro...

This cheese is a masterpiece. Yes it's a Lancashire. Yes it's crumbly. Yes it's tangy. But it's also rich, creamy, buttery and complex, perfectly textured. Am I in cheese heaven, I ask myself.

And tomorrow I'm going to try the much-vaunted Appleby's Cheshire. It doesn't look like that cheery, lightweight, crumbly Cheshire that makes such a good cheese and tomato butty. It looks like a serious cheese. I'll keep you posted...

Begod, cheese...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 04:30 PM

Hear! hear! Steve ... but it's still off milk! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 05:35 PM

Aye, Singletons is probably the best. I must try a blind test with Butler's but I certainly have found non better so far.

Enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 05:42 AM

The Appleby's didn't overly impress, as nice as it was. Singletons, eh? I'll look out for that one. Butlers, so-so... I don't care for Blacksticks Blue at all. Too dry and claggy in the mouth

And a very strange thing happens in my brain when I see the words "reduced fat" on a label. The words seem to morph into "rat poison"...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 06:40 AM

Reduced fat = reduced taste.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 07:43 AM

Nah, not fond of Blacksticks Blue myself. Although I think that may be Singletons. Their creamy Lancashire is great. They do make others but I have not tried them.

Just had a folded omelette with blue Wensleydale. Very nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 09:37 AM

Blacksticks is Butler's, Dave.

The Morrison's "the best" Wensleydale is much better than those cheapie two-for-three-quid hunks you see here and there.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 03:18 AM

Me getting confused then! The both make a very nice Lancashire. Mossers best label does throw up some fine foods. Can't remember if I have tried their Wensleydale. I did have some Kit Calvert's Wensleydale last week and that was good.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 02:31 PM

Just tried Mossers best Wensleydale and, aye, it is reet gradely.

Trouble is, I have also just tried JJ Sandham's tasty Lancashire, which is even better :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 02:45 PM

Having visited Tijuana , Mexico, in the 1990s, I just learnt the other day that Caesar salad (including Parmesan cheese) derives from the Caesar Hotel there.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 04:22 PM

The Lancs has beat the Wensleydale. Helped by Northern Monk pale ale.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 06:32 PM

Heads up, Dave. The Morrisons Negroamaro is a lovely drop...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 07:03 AM

Any red wine has started to aggregate my arthritis of late. Maybe it is just quantity. I keep saying I will stop at 2 glasses but worry the rest will go off :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 07:25 AM

Just been to my local Morrisons and can't find any of the cheeses mentioned above, probaly not the best of Morrisons stores.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 07:52 AM

had some Norfolk Dapple the other day. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, perhaps somewhere between a cheddar and a Cheshire? I don’t think I’d get another piece next time we visit the farm shop that was selling it but it was strangely more-ish all the same. I started with a small slice to see what it tasted like, then another slice and the whole (small) piece went that way in no time.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 09:37 AM

They should have "The Best" range, Dave. I think it is common to all Morrisons stores

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 10:40 AM

I looked at all the cheeses in the shop Dave, no best range either, well not on cheeses.
I'll have a look in the Keighley store next time i'm over that way.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 11:03 AM

Bude Morrison's this morning, no Negroamaro (on offer), no Nero d'Avola and only one carton of unsweetened oat milk (on offer). One day last week there was not a leaf of lettuce of any kind anywhere in the shop. You can bet your life that the day the Negroamaro goes back to full price the shelves will be heaving with the stuff. A noticeable and oft-repeated trend in Morrison's over a number of years, that last one.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 11:05 AM

Keighley and Skipton both have them, Dave. If I get chance I will get you some before I come to the Heifer again :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 02:42 PM

Hi Dave, unfortunately our session got chucked out of the Airedale Heiffer a few months ago, never got a reason for it, we now play at The Royal at Crossflats on Monday nights, but thanks for your kind offer, I think I'll have a drive to Skipton or Keighley tomorrow and search some out.

Cheers, Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 01:34 PM

Glad you told me! I'll try and get to The Royal but I don't think it will be this month.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 05:09 PM

I am currently in a backpacker hostel in Weimar, where I found the local Rewe supermarket sells Limburger - two varieties of it.

Haven't had it since I was in Pittsburgh in 1976.

I haven't even opened the sealed packaging and it's giving me faint reminders of its presence from the bottom of my bag.

There isn't a KEIN LIMBURGER notice on the communal fridge but it won't take them long to get round to it if I try.

I think this is going to mean lunch by myself in a public park.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Aug 19 - 06:27 AM

The JJ Sandhams tasty Lancashire was exquisite. Trying Joseph Heler's 1086 Cheshire later.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: SINSULL
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 12:22 PM

One of the things I miss about NYC is the restaurant Natives. Colombian where they made their own cheeses. Arepe con queso was heaven.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 01:14 PM

For some reason Mrs. G. put Blacksticks Blue on our online order this week. They did not have any so subtitled St Agur. As I am not a big fan of Blacksticks, will I be pleased or not?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 02:37 PM

Just tried it. Bit bland but, as it is a creamy cheese, I then tried it on a stick of celery. That worked!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 02:48 PM

Have obtained a lump of Buttertubs today. Will let you know...

St Agur may be a modern invention but it's a masterpiece!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Aug 19 - 03:02 PM

The St Agur is definitely growing on me. First impressions of being bland vanished after it had been out of the package for a day :-) Bit salty though. Says he while nibbling some Whitby kipper pate on toast.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Aug 19 - 05:55 PM

Salty my arse. You are clearly not drinking Morrisons Negroamaro with it. My first experience of St Agur was on the Val de Loire, the ferry twixt Plymouth and Santander, in April 1998. A force ten gale was blowing as we crossed Biscay. Mrs Steve holed up in the cabin, praying for deliverance. Sonny Jim and I knew better. We spent the evening in the bar. I obtained a 2/3 litre jug of Spanish red (having already consumed a pint or three) whilst Sonny Jim stayed on draught Guinness. Bravely we had to frequently lunge in order to prevent our chosen booze from sliding precipitously off the table, but we always made it. As you do. I went to the bar and purchased, for £1.25, a platter of crackers, pat of butter, a small wedge of St Agur and some other long-forgotten snacky bits. I could not BELIEVE how well the cheese went with the wine. I've been hooked on St Agur ever since. I've crossed Biscay on Brittany Ferries many times since, but never on a night like that. Mrs Steve got her deliverance...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 06:31 AM

...St Agur..?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 08:01 AM

Yes, St Agur!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 08:02 AM

And, Steve, I don't think we need to know about your salty nether regions :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 08:02 AM

Sold everywhere. A fairly soft blue cheese, no rind, rich and creamy (extra cream is added during manufacture). Invented in 1988 in the Auvergne. A masterpiece.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: DMcG
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 04:51 PM

Just trying some Ribblesdale. Pleasant enough, but not striking. Reminiscent of Port Salut.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 08:49 PM

Our French friend Georges deemed St Agur " too sweet" on his first tasting of it, but came round to it later!
Just back from 2 weeks away with no refrigeration available: Spar Extra Mature Cheddar has done very well at room temp these last 3 days!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 11 Aug 19 - 08:29 AM

Currently watching cycling's European Road Championships in Alkmaar, Netherlands, which the commentator said has a famous old cheese market - wiki

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 19 - 09:46 AM

The Buttertubs from the Wensleydale creamery was a disappointment. Nice, creamy texture, not as crumbly as a Wensleydale, but a one-dimensional flavour profile with too much lemony acidity. I'll be sticking to Morrison's finest Wensleydale from now on.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 Aug 19 - 11:17 AM

I got the JJ Sandhams Lancashire in Swinton mossers. Not sure if it travels down to Kernow but worth asking.

I finished the last of the St Agur on a couple of corn cakes. I am sold on it now. Definite regular order from now on.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 06:57 AM

I just bought some Wensleydale Creamery extra strong cheddar to try out as it was a great price, very nice but no better albeit cheaper than Cathedral City.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 08:15 AM

Cathedral City Extra Mature is very good. I don't like to say that because it's made down the road from us in a massive, ugly factory supplied by dozens of articulated milk tankers that block our roads...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 11:14 AM

Cathedral City extra mature, my favourite cheese.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 04:24 PM

I miss the cheese course. I also miss good bread, but that's another thread.

My current fave is St. André. On a nice baguette, with grassfed salted butter. I know, I'm a philistine.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 04:27 PM

I have a slight allergy to mature Cheddar. Nothing serious. Just get a bit of pricky skin and occasionally it triggers a mild bout of asthma. No other cheese does it so I tend to stick to the others. Still enjoy mature Cheddar occasionally though.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 06:11 PM

If you like Cathedral City Extra Mature, Dave H, do try Wookey Hole cave-aged. You can pick up a lump from M&S for £2.50.

If cheddar gives you prickly skin, Dave, try putting it in your mouth instead... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 02:47 AM

I'll try that Steve, trouble is at the moment my fridge is overflowing with cheese, everytime someone recommends something I've not had before I give it a try.

I grew up never tasting cheese because my parents never ate it, whilst on an exercise when I was in the army we ran out of food except for some tins [ yes tins ] of compo ration cheese and 2 day old army bread, our troop corporal scrounged up some onions from somewhere and it was cheese and onion sandwiches or nothing, I've been hooked on cheese ever since [ 1966 ]

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 02:48 AM

I used to say try putting it in your mouth to...

Oh, hang on. Not here.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 04:42 AM

When I were a lad there was cooking cheese (aka cheddar), crumbly Lancs, Danish Blue and occasional lumps of something rubbery dyed orange. That was it. Unless you count Dairylea as cheese, which I don't (I don't even count it as food).

What about rind? I eat all rind unless it's cloth or wax but in moderation. The cheese is the point of the thing...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 07:16 AM

Camambert wouldn't be the same without the rind.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 09:04 AM

I was thinking more of mouldy rinds on hard cheeses...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 09:40 AM

I think just about everyone would agree that the rind on Camembert is very much part of the cheese but things are more debatable with other cheese.

There is a difference with Stilton in our family for example. I will take a lengthwise slice from a wedge and eat the lot. My father is more of a “scooper” and that can leave the cheese with quite a thick outside part nobody wants to eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 10:04 AM

Its very good for cooking John. Try it grated on top of a cottage pie!

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 01:02 PM

Will remember that one, thanks Raggy.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 03:24 PM

Should add John take it easy with the salt when preparing the cottage pub. Stilton can be very salty in it's own right.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 02:04 PM

I have been seeing recipes that say put the rind of parmesan in your spaghetti sauce and take it (the rind) out before serving. Any of you do that?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 02:43 PM

Comté is the best-selling cheese in France. I'm fond of the stuff.

We have lots of good craft cheeses in Ireland since immigration became a thing here - also lots of fantastic restaurants around the south and west coasts especially; local kids went away to work and came back with Japanese or Somalian or French spouses and set up food stalls and cafes in buses and formal restaurants.

Isn't it true that they call the bries Maria?

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 04:00 PM

Absolutely. Every time. And in risottos. And the rind is the cook's treat at the end of cooking. No Parmesan rind has ever been discarded in our house.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Aug 19 - 01:19 PM

Thompson: No. Just... No.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jun 21 - 05:30 PM

We have discovered Black Bomber, a creamy cheddar-style cheese from Snowdonia. It comes wrapped in an easy-to-remove black wax coating. A superbly assertive cheese, starting tangy-salty but transforming in the mouth to a sweet, creamy, clean, exceptionally "cheesy" finish. We adore our cheeses and this is the best find in over a year.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: robomatic
Date: 24 Jun 21 - 11:36 PM

I remember being taken to a small, elegant restaurant in southern Germany called 'house of cheese' Bim Kase. Everything they served was,well, you know. And very good!

Which reminds me of a place also in southern Germany where everything was made to look like some kind of food, but actually consisted of ice cream.

The Germans don't like to do things by halves.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 12:31 AM

My favorite white wines come from Germany; some years ago I was tasting my way through a number of varieties and learning about the locations they came from. I like the fact that many European countries insist that wines that claim to be from specific places are from those places.

My favorite white cheddar cheese is one I've discussed on another food thread, it's a British brand called Coastal rugged mature cheddar, sold here at Costco. I think it comes from Steve Shaw's general neighborhood.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 01:15 AM

Out of curiosity, are Snowdonia Cheeses actually made in Snowdonia and if so, do you know where? Their “contact us” address is in Rhyl.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 05:56 AM

Coastal Rugged is made at Ford Farm in Dorset, the same place as my very favourite cheddar, Wookey Hole cave-aged. It's a healthy two-hour drive from us, Maggie.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 06:39 AM

I got a nice red cheese from Ford farm last week.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 11:43 AM

I just bought some Greek style cheese from Yorkshire called 'Fettle' :-D

Not tried it yet but I will let you know when I have

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 06:12 PM

Some names are fiercely protected by law this end, Maggie. Champagne must come only from a tightly-designated area of northern France. You can make your wine in exactly the same way and with exactly the same grapes, etc., but you can't call it champagne if it isn't from that region. I had a massive ding-dong with a chap on Chiff and Fipple many moons ago who thought it was hunkydory to call Californian fizz "Champagne." Well not in my book it isn't. Other restricted names that I can think of are Melton Mowbray pork pies, Stilton cheese and Westcountry Farmhouse cheddar. Anyone on earth can call their hard white cheese "cheddar," but, by the same token, we can call our cheeses "Brie" and "Camembert" even when we make them in England. In fact, my favourite Camembert is made in Cricket St Thomas in Somerset, and the best Brie I've ever had is from Sharpham's in Devon. But I won't buy any cheese calling itself cheddar unless it's "Westcountry farmhouse cheddar" on the label. I've tried 'em all and they are all good, none of that rubbery factory supermarket junk...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 02:36 AM

Oddly Steve, the biggest selling cheddar in the UK is the factory made Cathedral City.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 05:19 AM

Indeed. It's made at the Davidstow creamery near Camelford, about 20 minutes from us, in what is one of the ugliest set of buildings in Cornwall, unfortunately prominent on the skyline from all around. A few years ago Dairy Crest, which then owned the creamery, ran an ad that showed waves crashing on a beautiful stretch of coast at Bedruthan Steps near Newquay, implying that the wild Atlantic somehow influenced their cheeses. In fact, Bedruthan Steps is many miles from Davidstow, and the creamery is several miles inland, next to a long-disused and derelict airfield that is home to illegal raves and dads teaching their offspring to drive. A few years ago, Which? magazine recommended Cathedral City extra mature, and I must admit that it doesn't taste too bad, but these days I buy Barber's Westcountry Farmhouse cheddar for my cheese on toast, available at a very reasonable price from Sainsbury's and Morrison's, and Wookey Hole for our Wednesday cheesy night in. The Davidstow creamery obtains its milk from hundreds of farms in Devon and Cornwall (and elsewhere for all I know) and its articulated tankers are notorious for clogging our roads. All those M&S cheeses that say Davidstow on the label, and some that don't, including some calling themselves Cornish this, that or the other, come from there.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 06:54 AM

You're spoiled for choice there Steve, we only have the 3 supermarkets to buy from here in Halifax, we used to have a very good cheese shop in the Halifax Borough Market but it closed down a long time ago.
There is a really great cheese shop in Harrogate town centre but it's long drive or even longer bus ride from here.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 07:09 AM

Dave, There used to be a superb Delicatessen in Brighouse, I hope it's still there. They had a superb range of cheese from a round the world. It might be worth a run to find out if it is still there.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: DMcG
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 07:34 AM

There is a really great cheese shop in Harrogate town centre

It is a little way outside the centre, but Fodder's had a good cheese counter last time I went.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 08:42 AM

Ah but Brighouse is only a hop, skip and jump from Hafilax

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 09:30 AM

We just never get out anywhere these days but...

I'm not sure they still do but a farm shop about 1-2 miles from me (in N Norfolk) used to stock the Snowdonia Cheese range.

It's a long while (even when with our own transport) since we went there but Bakers and Larners in Holt (say 12 miles away) had a pretty decent cheese counter.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 10:12 AM

Many years ago there was a German market in Huddersfield, far better than the normal offering.

I bought some Weisslacker cheese there. The smell was appalling but the taste was divine.

It ended up tied to a drainpipe OUTSIDE the house because the smell was so strong and even my neighbours complained (with due cause) then.

I think it was possibly the finest tasting cheese I have ever had though.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 10:36 AM

I'll look into Brighouse tomorrow Raggy, thanks for that.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 11:35 AM

Morrison's always have a good selection.

But I would say that :-D

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 01:27 PM

Might not be open on a Sunday Dave :-(

I should also have said they had a grand selection of meats a superb selection of beers from around the world and a VERY nice wine cellar!!

I hope they are still in business they certainly deserve to be.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 02:23 PM

Good to see this thread resurrected, after maturing another nearly 2 years!
in this time, we have found some startlingly good soft blue cheeses, a bit like your much-approved St Agur, but produced in Scotland in Tain, i.e Strathdon Blue and Highland Blue: the geography isn't quite right as Strathdon would be Aberdeenshire, and Tain has an Inverness-shire postcode: nor is it really in "The Highlands" though it might be in the Highland Council area! Notwithstanding that, these are lovely cheeses, sold in Lidl and Aldi and well worth tasting!
And Lidl's "Extra mature Scottish cheddar" is one of the best tasting: made in Wigtownshire from "British milk" so may not be entirely Scottish!
Re Steve's "Black Bomber" - sounds a bit like one of the range of Arran cheeses that come in wax-covered small truckles: all very nice. I particularly like the mustard -flavoured variety which has whole grain mustard in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 06:33 PM

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...

Subject: RE: BS: Cheesey reminiscences!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 04:36 AM

The Fettle was very good. Not quite as crumbly as Feta and not as salty as some I have tried.