At the risk of sounding like Wallace, I love bit of cheese me.
Nice vintage cheddar with a lasting tang (pickled onion on the side optional).
Just planning the Christmas Cheese selection – an 18″ marble lazy susan with a glass dome is to be filled with plenty of the stuff.
Mostly usual suspects though – cheddar, double gloucester, cheshire, lancashire, brie, etc
Not a lover of blue cheese though – white stilton, yes please. blue stilton, nah
Rik Mayall’s clothes, hair and glasses are exactly the same as Palin’s in the original sketch. Probably took hours to get that right. All for a 10 second gag.
I like a cheese to have a life of it’s own: soft runny whites that try to escape the limitations of the plate, and rankly honking blues.
I always try new ones, but always return to a good old lait cru camembert, well past the sell by. My favourite blue is Lanark, not always easy to find, so I often resort to either a roquefort or a gorgonzola picante.
I don’t really get hard cheese other than when melted, in which case an aged cheddar or a gruyere.
I am supposed to avoid cheese, especially now as I have had to stop my statin, courtesy some nasty aching muscles. Never wanted to take ’em anyway but I have a low HDL which had taken my ratio, if only just, into the >20% QRISK.
We’ve lived in the Land of Cheese for over twenty years and what’s the cheese we eat most often? Why Cheddar, of course (even after Brexit available in all good fromageries).
Every time we come back from the UK half the village sides up to us and say ” ‘Ave you got any Cheddar?”
King of Cheeses, full stop.
I am agree. I was recently talking with an English friend about chocolate. The conversation went like this:
Me. I love Dairy Milk. Best chocolate there is.
Friend, slightly appalled: You really think Dairy Milk is the best chocolate???
Me: Of course. It’s like the Cheddar cheese of chocolate.
Friend, totally appalled: You really think Cheddar cheese is the best cheese???
I’m not very adventurous when it comes to cheese, but a runny Brie on crusty bread washed down with red wine goes down very well, or a mature cheddar with just about anything. I can’t be doing with blue cheese in any form, nor goat cheese.
The second of those was unfortunate during the first 10 or 15 years of this century when some kind of law was passed mandating that the veggie option on any restaurant menu had to be goat cheese. The law was never made public so far as I know, but nevertheless was strictly observed. Thankfully the recent interest in vegan food seems to have superseded it.
When Stilton was granted PDO status by the EU, for some reason the bureaucrats in Brussels ruled that to be called Stilton it had to be made with pasteurised milk.
The makers of what is now called Stichelton said: “Bugger that for a game of soldiers, we’d rather change the name of the cheese.”
Marvellous attitude.
Still made with raw milk, it’s creamy, tangy and salty. There’s nothing better with a glass of port.
I’m not greatly knowledgeable or experienced in the world of cheese.
Just the trusty favourites for me:
Vintage Cheddar
Lancashire
Cheshire
Wensleydale
Stilton (Blue)
Red Leicester
Brie
Camembert
All those are good.
A good slightly crumbly vintage cheddar is my top of the cheese pops.
Just had a couple of little bits of Stilton, on their own. I may have more later.
I don’t go much for eating other things with my cheese, but good cheddar with tomato is the king of sandwiches, I think. With cheddar and onion his prince of wales.
For the record, I do like a ploughmans lunch, especially when you can put the ingredients together yourself. Cheddar is the only choice there. Pickle is OK but I lurch towards the HP Sauce more often than not.
Otherwise, I do like Brie or Camembert with crusty bread. Not a fan of the crumbly blue stuff though.
As we move towards the retail end of available cheese products my daughter and I agree that Laughing Cow seems to have lost some of its magic.
My next one is a bit downmarket but every now and then a slice of processed cheese really does hit the spot in a white bread cheese and tomato sandwich. I had a Proustian moment a few years ago at a function in a church hall while eating one.
And if you think I can’t get any more plebby than that, well buckle up. When I am in England I seek out the TUC cracker cheese sandwiches. I have these with Dandelion & Burdock and feel ashamed of myself afterwards.
In 1996, I was one of the team of four that won both the fancy dress and the Men’s event at the Stilton Cheese Rolling World Championships (my Best Man is originally from Stilton).
The four of us each won a bottle of whisky (blended) and a quarter of a wheel of blue Stilton. One of the team didn’t actually like cheese, and I don’t like cheap grog, so we swapped, and so I came home with half a wheel of Stilton.
I had Stilton and {insert anything you can think of here} sandwiches for lunch for a year. It was fab.
I haven’t had any for a decade, as I’m no longer allowed blue cheese, more’s the pity. So today’s answer is Brie.
Have you ever sopped to think you might still be on those hallucinogenic
and that the Appenzeller Interludes (TMFTL) might well be the true escapes from/to reality?
The range of cheeses available in Bonn is quite extensive.
Top of the list would be extra mature (Uralt) Old Amsterdam gouda. Nothing like it – aged for at least a year, it’s so brittle, it breaks up like (and resembles in appearance and texture) fudge. So good with Black Forest ham.
Gruyère, Emmental and Bergkase are also nice as palette fresheners
Our local organic market stalls and shops sell some delicious alternatives to those more familiar cheeses:
North German cheeses – Nordsee, Nordmeer and Leuchturm – all very tasty mature hard cheeses.
‘Gute-Laune-Käse’ (good mood cheese) is slightly softer, cooked in a herb rind, and in small amounts can be quite pleasant.
And once a year, in the month before Christmas, there is a Johanni cheese, made with a special selection of milk, which makes my mouth tingle with delight.
When we lived in Switzerland, my parents took me and my sister to a remote village cheese shop, probably in Appenzel canton. We arrived and couldn’t see it. Looking around, we noticed steps going down below street level to a dark, wooden-shelved hole in the ground. Apparently, using a cellar helped maintain a damp atmosphere conducive to preserving the cheeses. As we walked down the steps, the stench of (over) ripe cheeses hit us full in the face. It really stank, and my sister and I had to quickly retreat to be able to breathe again. I like to think we only allowed our parents to eat the slimy mould they decided to purchase in the open air when we got home, but that may just be my imagination.
My favourite is probably White Stilton – although it can be tricky to get here (there’s always White Stilton with cranberries, apricots, etc etc, but not often just on its own).
Failing that, still can’t beat a good cheddar – whilst a good ‘artisan’ cheese can’t be bettered, we don’t have that much choice here and so if the supermarket brands, I find M&S Cornish Cove Mature Cheddar to be pretty good.
Aside from cheese on its own, then Brie with bacon has to be one of the best combinations ever – it never fails. Cooked wise, a whole Camembert with walnuts and rocket can’t be beat.
Many years ago I went where Boursin is made. It’s a soulless factory with not a hint of artisan cheese making. So, how come on a cracker with a pickled onion it tastes so bloody nice?
My day job – that thing I do when I’m not on the AW – involves bits of machinery used in factories.
*All* food and drink places are sterile, soulless factories, even the ones which suggest those fancy crisps you like are “made just like Mama used to make”. They’re actually made by a man called Graham, who wears a blue hairnet, in a large, grey, industrial unit on the outskirts of Kettering. He doesn’t even touch the spuds, he just presses a big green “start” button at the beginning of his shift, and a big red “stop” button when it’s time for him to go home.
Yes – my job has involved visiting such places too. I have never met the “two blokes who decided to give it a go” or any Italian grandmothers waving their arms about, tasting sauce from a large wooden spoon while anxious chefs clutch their toques waiting for her approval. Imagine having that as a process, every day.
A lovely mature cheddar is a thing of beauty. And Stilton of course.
Goats cheese can do one, it tastes a bit too goaty for me.
And a Brie warmed in the oven with rosemary sprigs stabbed in it, with crusty bread to eat.
And I love Wensleydale, but am horrified that at Christmas you can only seem to get it stuffed with bloody cranberries.
[Name your cheese here] with cranberries, apricots etc. etc. are the work of the devil*, in my opinion. Just leave that cheese alone. Similar to my attitude to those ghastly fruit-infused beers.
*How to make a batch of inferior cheesy product seem better, to the undiscerning, easily-swayed punter.
Cheese is undoubtedly one of life’s greatest pleasures, and cheddar is the king of cheeses. For everyday use I like a nice creamy mild cheddar, although I’m partial to extra mature or cheddar infused with onions and chives. Mrs B and I buy copious amounts of specialty cheeses at Christmas, and every Christmas Eve we indulge in a cheese and mulled wine evening, usually accompanied by a sentimental Christmas film and a defibrillator on standby.
Some friends (with all of whom I am about to go on a bike ride), took me out for my fiftieth, to a Michelin starred restaurant in Birkenhead ( I know, I know). It was a lovely night, crowned by the cheese board. Each cheese came recommended with its perfect accompaniment, whether that be seeds or nuts or chutneys. I chose a Swiss cheese – Vacherin de Mont d’Or washed in brandy. There was an echo round this prestigious establishment of my involuntary exclamation: “That cheese is fucking extraordinary”. Inarguable. It was. Still is the best cheese I’ve tasted.
I shall come back with my top ten cheeses after the bike ride.
Indeed, the deli/cheese counter at Booths is excellent, though Mike on Knutsford market also keeps a good stall; strangely, he can’t stand the stuff himself.
In no particular order:
Cheshire – no bias required. Straight from the market. My brother and I will get through pounds of this at Christmas. Just the right mix of crumbly, yet creamy, with that just-there tang of Cheshire brine.
Brie de Meaux. Not just any brie; it has to be Brie de Meaux.
Vacherin Mont d’Or, as mentioned above. Only produced in season. I will be in Switzerland next month, just at the right time.
Roquefort. I have taken a tour of the caves at Roquefort sur Soulzon and understand a bit more of how this wonder comes to pass. I find Danish Blue too strong and bitter, but Roquefort is just right.
Gruyere
Stilton
St Agur
Delice de Bourgogne
Jarlsberg
The chevre off Laruns Market just as we were about to cycle over the Col d’Aubisque. As fresh as it comes, and gorgeous. Le Cabecou will do as an alternative in Booths.
In the early days of my relationship with my current beau (30 years) we bought some Roquefort at the airport and put in the over head luggage on our flight back from Paris to Birmingham.
After a 3 hour pre-flight and flight it had started to leak out of the Baggage and drip onto passengers as we landed.
We made sure we were the last people off the plane!
No. It was long enough ago to be Fraiche, which has since relocated to Shropshire.
I suspect OXA has reckoned that Fraiche proved there was a market in lovely Oxton.
Up until my late 30s I hated ‘blue’ cheese because the only one my parents ever had was Gorgonzola, and I disliked it with a passion, and so avoided anything resembling it. Then I was on a course at an RAF station and the catering was, naturally, military style and they served a blue Stilton and I was persuaded to try it – it was a revelation! We now buy it at our local Farm Shop and my sister declared a little while ago that it was the best cheese she has ever tasted – a creamy yet crumbly texture with a lovely lingering aftertaste, and much better than the supermarket version.
Cheddar comes in so many different guises that it’s almost impossible to predict what you get – the choice is so broad. I prefer a tangy vintage variety, but there is a place for the milder versions too. We usually have a reduced fat version and a ‘nice’ one around so they perform different functions.
I am actually really partial to a lovely, creamy Gouda, and a Leerdammer too. Fruit in cheese doesn’t work for me, but Double Gloucester with onions and chives….hmmm, nom nom.
Then there are cheese spreads, which always remind me of childhood. We have the potted version, and sometimes Laughing Cow – lovely when spread on crusty french bread. Mrs. T likes Babybells….I have been known to nick one out of the fridge.
Living in the West Country, some of the local cheeses are great, but I really can’t get on with Cornish Yarg.
Babybels. I arrived at the hotel where I was staying the night before my wedding, something shot past my foot I caught a glimpse of red. Looking under the car I found a babybel lodged under the front wheel. Most odd, I picked it up and went in stopped at reception to register after doing that I held up the wax coated comestible and asked “Do you serve these at breakfast ?” and held up the cheese. “No we don’t sorry”. I explained what had happened and we were both at a loss to explain it.
It later transpired that my soon to be Polish sister-in-law had lobbed it from their bedroom window at me, missing me but creating confusion. We’ve since decided that it is a Polish custom to throw cheese at the prospective bridegroom.
More cheddar that anything else but I do like Roquefort and Jarlsberg though not at the same time. We always have some Stilton at Christmas which is fab. Top tip, McVities digestives are fantastic with blue cheese.
Here you can buy a lot of cheese in tubes, plus other’food’. There’s bacon cheese, prawn cheese, blue cheese and many more. Many people squeeze out a dollop of blue cheese to have on gingerbread to eat with their glögg (glu wine) at Christmas. It’s actually a pretty good combo.
I’m lucky enough to be able to make my own quince jelly from the little quince tree in our garden. The magical turn from orangy mush to bright red jelly – never fails to delight me.
For a brief period of penury some decades ago, one of my favourite lunches was A Crisp Sandwich. Sourced with the cheapest of ingredients from the nearest Happy Shopper. Salt and Vinegar crisps, soft white bread, unbranded salad cream. And a slice of bright orange shiny processed cheese. Together they became ambrosia, I loved them. Which was a good job because I could afford little else.
Happily after not too long I discovered the joyous combination of a splodge of soft Brie on a plain HobNob with a grape on the top. Accompanied by a glass of vin rouge. Decadence personified.
Captivated by any cheese with a shine then, I do rather enjoy your Jarlsbergs, your Goudas and your Edams. Anything bendy, really.
Waitrose number 6 cheddar, Roquefort, Pont L’eveque, Camembert, Shropshire Blue. I like most cheese but not White Stilton with fruit or anything too messed around with: added herbs etc.
Gorgonzola or Dolcelatte on a cheese board or make a great pasta sauce. Some goat cheese but not the Chèvre roll, too “goaty” but sheep cheese and yoghurt is lovely.
Mmmmm, Shropshire Blue is a good ‘un.
And I do agree, cheese should stand on its own feet and should not be buggered about with by herbs or dried fruit; mould is the only acceptable adulteration.
Recently in Rome I ate Cacio e Pepe pasta. It’s pecorino cheese and pepper only but it tastes great so that must be some pretty damp fine cheese. As for cheese board-wise, I’d say manchego delivers.
A discussion on cheese moving towards hamper status.
Once you have your choice of cheese, what’s it being served with / on?
Crusty bread? It’s an option, but for me I go back to the humble cream cracker or water biscuit. Maybe a Ritz or Tuc cracker.
Not Ryvita, a definitely not the travesty of the Biscuit Selection box – the cornish wafer
I tend to prefer cheese neat, with a knife and fork, or with an outrageously crusty loaf, but enjoy an oatcake, unadorned, for the sheer puritanical streak it brings out in me.
Mrs Path always makes me buy a box of biscuits for cheese if we are entertaining. I tend to go for the selection with some of this cheese melts in the mix, and snarf ’em all up before the guests arrive.
A little chunk of cheese cut off the block/wedge/whatever and eaten straight off the knife is best.
Or delivered to the gob via your fingers, which you can lick after.
I asked ChatGPT for the worst cheeses this was it’s reply.
The “worst tasting” cheese is highly subjective and depends on personal taste, but there are a few cheeses that are often considered challenging or polarizing due to their strong flavors, pungency, or unusual textures. Some of these might be considered “worst tasting” by those who are not used to them:
1. **Casu Marzu (Italy)** – Often called the “rotten cheese,” this Sardinian specialty is made from sheep’s milk and contains live insect larvae (maggots) that contribute to its soft texture. The smell and appearance can be off-putting, and its intense, fermented flavor is not for everyone.
2. **Limburger (Belgium/Germany)** – Known for its pungent odor (which some compare to stinky feet), Limburger is a soft, cow’s milk cheese that has a strong, tangy flavor. The smell can be overwhelming, and it’s often off-putting to those who are not familiar with it.
3. **Époisses de Bourgogne (France)** – This soft, cow’s milk cheese is famous for its very strong, ammonia-like aroma due to the washing of the rind with brine and sometimes Marc de Bourgogne (a type of brandy). The flavor is complex and creamy, but the smell can be a dealbreaker for many.
4. **Stinking Bishop (England)** – This cheese gets its name from its pungent odor, which is a result of being washed in perry (a type of pear cider). While some love its creamy texture and strong, fruity flavor, others find the smell unbearable.
5. **Munster (France/Germany)** – Different from the American variety, the traditional French or German Munster is a soft cheese with a strong, sometimes overpowering aroma. Its flavor is savory, but the smell can be extremely off-putting to some.
6. **Surströmming (Sweden)** – Although technically not a cheese (but fermented fish), this Swedish delicacy is often paired with certain cheeses in specific dishes. The combination of fermented fish with pungent cheeses can create a flavor that some find unbearable.
While some people absolutely love these cheeses, their overpowering smells and intense flavors can make them off-putting to those not accustomed to such strong or fermented tastes. Whether you love them or not often comes down to personal preference, culture, and experience with bold flavors.
Mon dieu! There are times when I realise what a lily-livered, “vanilla” amateur I really am – and this is one of those times.
Having said that: right here and now, I would happily swap a bottle of Ardbeg for a round of Islay-made Dunlop cheddar, sadly no longer made on the island (sheds a quiet tear…)
I concur about the Stinking Bishop. I really don’t get why some rave about it. Yes, it’s very smelly, but it doesn’t translate into an interesting flavour.
Epoisses, I mentioned above as a worthy alternative to Vacherin Mont d’Or. In my experience, the strong smell of ammonia only happens if it’s kept too long – a rarity in my house.
When in Malmø, visit The Museum of Disgusting Food. I did and can recommend both the display and the tasting challenge at the end. Sadly, the Sardinian “special cheese” mentioned above, is now illegal, and so only available in the mountains, under pain of, well, pain of actually eating some.
Epoisses is far from the smelliest of cheeses, as a trip to Corsica in the summer revealed. Some of their artisanal goat favourites pack a pong, even in the supermarket chill cabinets. A day or two later, sweating in a hot kitchen (the cheese) they turn colour and texture in a mildly alarming fashion, but the taste is……….
distinctive.
If food eaten with cheese “counts” as cheese in this sort of list, I look forward to my next cheese and ferments party.
To those who know their cheeses, Roquefort is Le Roi des Fromages , a heavenly ferment, a unique gift from nature and proof that there is a god above who loves us and wants us to die young with our arteries clotted solid with curd. To the rest of us it’s just a film sequel with Sylvester Stallone in it.
Baragnaudes
The mildest of the Roquefort triplets, this is a bashful cheese with a great instinct for self-preservation. With its high parasite content, it’s more active than half the people who eat it. Look closely enough at its surface and you can see it is actually moving, and if you turn your back, it will make a bolt for it. Wheels of this cheese have been known to turn up back at home in the Roquefort caves in France months or even years after being sold for export. Come springtime, the meadows below the mountain are flattened by hordes of stampeding cheeses returning to their spawning ground. Ironically a cheese that’s made it back home is highly sought after on the specialist market, where it is cut into thin strips to stop it wandering off again, and sold as ‘Migrated cheese’.
1863
This is the most sentient of cheeses, having evolved to the point where it’s barely dairy and is half fungus, half mammal. This has given it great mobility, social as well as geographic. A charming dinner guest, it’s welcomed at the highest tables around the world and will even make its own travel arrangements. However, it’s something of a Trojan Horse, as the bacteria in its veins will eat you faster than you can eat it. Nevertheless, the French have sung its praises in music and poems, from Debussy to Verlaine, and Rimbaud too, which is another film sequel with Sylvester Stallone in it.
La Cave Des Templiers
This absolute bastard of a cheese will hunt you down and kill you. Its veins throb with demonic rage. It’s normally kept under guard back in the caves, but should you meet it in a dark alley round the back of a restaurant, there’s a tried and tested trick to evade its brutal assault; simply push the weakest member of your party into its path, and run away screaming like a girl.
I met my friends from Frankfurt at ballroom dancing classes in Cambridge, when one of them was doing a post-doc, back in the early 1990s. After a few years, they moved back to Frankfurt and rented an apartment. A few years later, the last grandparent died and left a farmhouse near Koln to the two brothers, as their parents were already both dead. One of the brothers was a monk and so my pal (the other brother) inherited the lot. The farmhouse was sold and, in late 2007, a house in the Frankfurt ‘burbs was bought with the proceeds.
Mrs F and I went over for a long weekend to help decorate. “Do you want us to bring anything?” I asked. “Goat’s cheese, please, we can’t get any over here.” I went to the local deli and purchased a large one, put it in a freezer bag with some ice blocks and headed off to Stansted airport.
Now, who remembers 2007? I bloody do. Foot and Mouth. There was quite a discussion at the check-in desk as to whether a goat had feet or hooves. There was about an hour until the flight left. The head of airport security was summoned, and he said “no”. This cheese cost me 20 quid, so I hopped on the shuttle bus, put the bag in the boot of my car, got back on the bus, back to the terminal, then had to run through security, sprint to the gate, and the airplane doors closed behind me.
We had a lovely weekend of decorating, took the Sunday evening flight back to Stansted, got back to the car park. I swear I could smell rancid cheese when we got off the shuttle bus. We couldn’t bear to be in the car with the cheese, so we dumped it in a bin. Driving up the M11 with the windows down was freezing cold, but at least we didn’t gag.
The car stank for months afterwards, even more so as the previous owner had smoked cheroots (which is why it was cheap). A couple of months later, ParcelForce skidded their delivery van on a patch of ice, crashed into my parked car, and wrote it off.
All of the cheeses made by the Snowdonia Cheese Company are excellent. My favourite is Green Thunder, a strong cheddar with garlic. Not one for the purists, but I love it. They are very good for online orders, but at least some of their stuff is available in regular cheese shops.
Disclaimer: cheese is my favourite thing, alongside tea.
I haven’t tried the stout, but Dark Side of the Moose is a superb beer. The Australia in Porthmadog is also an excellent pub, or was when stayed there to visit Port Meirion in 2017.
For me, Baron Bigod and Delice de Bourgogne are my favourites. I once had a cheese (either French or Italian) that had red wine running through it and it was delicious. Buggered if I can remember the name though.
As a slight tangent, I was reading today about pairing cheese with various whisky, eg Goats cheese or Stliton with Macallan Fine Oak 15 year old and Stilton with Ardbeg. Apparently, aficionados pair strongly peaty Islay whiskies with blue cheeses and Speyside whiskies (Balvenie and The Glendronach) with creamier cheeses like camembert. Must try this sometime.
I live about 200 yards away from Mrs Temples cheeses, and anyone, nay everyone in north Norfolk will tell you that Mrs Temples Binham Blue has won both national and international prizes because it’s the best cheese there is. Now you can say what you like about the French, no honestly you can, don’t hold back…
The only cheese I can’t quite get into is Cornish Yarg. I have a nagging suspicion that this is some kind of art installation prank. Tasteless cheese wrapped in leaves.
At the moment, I have 10 types of cheese in my fridge (not including cream cheese (for baking) and cheese spread. This is mainly due to visiting a local cheese stall at the weekend. Some of these are for freezing, but I still think I may have a problem…
Partly a piece of blatant promotion, but just in case there are folks that are lactose sensitive (although I guess they won’t be reading this thread !), my sister in Cornwall is doing Sheep’s Cheese….
Whilst it still has lactose, my understanding is this it’s less / easier to digest (although I claim no expertise, so don’t take this as medical advice)
In case anyone is tempted by trying the bijou packs of cheese crisps that are now available, let me save you the bother. They are little nuggets of air dried fat, that crunch into the mess left behind in a breville toasty maker. Not the crispy bits that attach to and enhance the sarnie, the soggy bits left in the grease.
My wish has been granted. Now, let’s see
Stilton Red Leicester Edam Cheddar Feta
Halloumi ? ? Cheshire Camembert
Cottage ooh, maybe that’s the Red Leicester Emmental Roquefort Danish Blue
? Jarlsberg ? ? Caerphilly
Chevre ? Parmesan Epoisses Dairylea
OK, I will, then. Leipäjuusto (literally “bread-cheese”) – it’s magic!
It’s this Finnish cheese that looks and tastes like a big unsalted halloumi.
It has a strange consistency. When you eat it, it goes squeak-squeak against your teeth.
You heat up a bit in the microwave and eat with cloudberry jam on top. YUM-YUM!
I’ve just seen an advert from The Cheshire Cheese company for chocolate and chilli cheese I won’t post a picture as it looks as hideous as it sounds. Paging @thecheshirecat for his view on this.
I’m now being inundated with cheese adverts, Limoncello cheese anyone?
I am firmly of the view that a good cheese stands on its own merits, without novelty additions. If I buy Cheshire cheese, which I do, quite a lot, I want it to taste of Cheshire cheese. The only extra I want in my cheese is mould.
Uncle Wheaty says
I was going to post a relevant link to a rock or pop tune linked to cheese but found this noise:
fitterstoke says
Je vous en prie…
Mike_H says
Rigid Digit says
At the risk of sounding like Wallace, I love bit of cheese me.
Nice vintage cheddar with a lasting tang (pickled onion on the side optional).
Just planning the Christmas Cheese selection – an 18″ marble lazy susan with a glass dome is to be filled with plenty of the stuff.
Mostly usual suspects though – cheddar, double gloucester, cheshire, lancashire, brie, etc
Not a lover of blue cheese though – white stilton, yes please. blue stilton, nah
SteveT says
No a fan of any Blue cheese either..
Current cheese of choice is Black Bomber which I believe is from Snowdonia.
Rigid Digit says
Black Bomber – one of the best.
See also Rock Star from the same company
Rigid Digit says
And before anyone else posts it …
Rigid Digit says
Black Celebration says
Rik Mayall’s clothes, hair and glasses are exactly the same as Palin’s in the original sketch. Probably took hours to get that right. All for a 10 second gag.
Uncle Wheaty says
No music but clearly a comedy theme.
hubert rawlinson says
Those really small ones, I love baby cheeses.
retropath2 says
How seasonal!
stevieblunder says
Especially at Christmas.
retropath2 says
I like a cheese to have a life of it’s own: soft runny whites that try to escape the limitations of the plate, and rankly honking blues.
I always try new ones, but always return to a good old lait cru camembert, well past the sell by. My favourite blue is Lanark, not always easy to find, so I often resort to either a roquefort or a gorgonzola picante.
I don’t really get hard cheese other than when melted, in which case an aged cheddar or a gruyere.
I am supposed to avoid cheese, especially now as I have had to stop my statin, courtesy some nasty aching muscles. Never wanted to take ’em anyway but I have a low HDL which had taken my ratio, if only just, into the >20% QRISK.
mikethep says
Look on the bright side, you can now eat as much grapefruit as you want.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
We’ve lived in the Land of Cheese for over twenty years and what’s the cheese we eat most often? Why Cheddar, of course (even after Brexit available in all good fromageries).
Every time we come back from the UK half the village sides up to us and say ” ‘Ave you got any Cheddar?”
King of Cheeses, full stop.
Gary says
I am agree. I was recently talking with an English friend about chocolate. The conversation went like this:
Me. I love Dairy Milk. Best chocolate there is.
Friend, slightly appalled: You really think Dairy Milk is the best chocolate???
Me: Of course. It’s like the Cheddar cheese of chocolate.
Friend, totally appalled: You really think Cheddar cheese is the best cheese???
Some people have defective taste buds.
MC Escher says
As Al Murray said in his Pub Landlord persona: “The French have a thousand cheeses. Keep going, lads, you’ll get to Cheddar eventually”.
Lunaman says
Nice
Gatz says
I’m not very adventurous when it comes to cheese, but a runny Brie on crusty bread washed down with red wine goes down very well, or a mature cheddar with just about anything. I can’t be doing with blue cheese in any form, nor goat cheese.
The second of those was unfortunate during the first 10 or 15 years of this century when some kind of law was passed mandating that the veggie option on any restaurant menu had to be goat cheese. The law was never made public so far as I know, but nevertheless was strictly observed. Thankfully the recent interest in vegan food seems to have superseded it.
mikethep says
Unless you go full artisan (and pay accordingly) the Aussies aren’t very good at hard cheese.
This is nectar of the gods however.
dwightstrut says
Stichelton.
When Stilton was granted PDO status by the EU, for some reason the bureaucrats in Brussels ruled that to be called Stilton it had to be made with pasteurised milk.
The makers of what is now called Stichelton said: “Bugger that for a game of soldiers, we’d rather change the name of the cheese.”
Marvellous attitude.
Still made with raw milk, it’s creamy, tangy and salty. There’s nothing better with a glass of port.
Leedsboy says
This. It is the finest tasting version of the finest tasting cheese. It’s magnificent.
Jim says
Right, I’m off to find some. Sounds fantastic.
Lunaman says
Me too!
Tiggerlion says
Mrs Kirkham’s. No contest.
Rigid Digit says
I heartily second this recommendation
Gatz says
By coincidence as I was browsing this thread my other half discovered this site, for a place a few miles from where we are.
https://www.fieldofcheese.com/
Mike_H says
I’m not greatly knowledgeable or experienced in the world of cheese.
Just the trusty favourites for me:
Vintage Cheddar
Lancashire
Cheshire
Wensleydale
Stilton (Blue)
Red Leicester
Brie
Camembert
All those are good.
A good slightly crumbly vintage cheddar is my top of the cheese pops.
Just had a couple of little bits of Stilton, on their own. I may have more later.
I don’t go much for eating other things with my cheese, but good cheddar with tomato is the king of sandwiches, I think. With cheddar and onion his prince of wales.
noisecandy says
Boursin garlic and herb soft cheese.
Black Type says
Black Celebration prefers to keep his selection under wraps.
They’re his own personal cheeses.
Rigid Digit says
Was trying to find a way of getting that gag in. Thank you, saved me the effort now.
Black Celebration says
Ha! (Yes, it occurred to me too).
For the record, I do like a ploughmans lunch, especially when you can put the ingredients together yourself. Cheddar is the only choice there. Pickle is OK but I lurch towards the HP Sauce more often than not.
Otherwise, I do like Brie or Camembert with crusty bread. Not a fan of the crumbly blue stuff though.
As we move towards the retail end of available cheese products my daughter and I agree that Laughing Cow seems to have lost some of its magic.
My next one is a bit downmarket but every now and then a slice of processed cheese really does hit the spot in a white bread cheese and tomato sandwich. I had a Proustian moment a few years ago at a function in a church hall while eating one.
And if you think I can’t get any more plebby than that, well buckle up. When I am in England I seek out the TUC cracker cheese sandwiches. I have these with Dandelion & Burdock and feel ashamed of myself afterwards.
Rigid Digit says
I ate a Ploughman’s Lunch last week. He got quite angry.
Uncle Wheaty says
Every time I hear that joke I think of this…
Freddy Steady says
And it’s still a great song @uncle-wheaty
I was back in the motherland this weekend. Cliff Hotel and New Entertainer in Gorleston
Uncle Wheaty says
The Cliff Hotel used to be a regular haunt for lunch with my parents, a nice friendly place with good value food and drink.
Freddy Steady says
It’s had a re-furb. Really nice balcony looking over the sea now.
fentonsteve says
In 1996, I was one of the team of four that won both the fancy dress and the Men’s event at the Stilton Cheese Rolling World Championships (my Best Man is originally from Stilton).
The four of us each won a bottle of whisky (blended) and a quarter of a wheel of blue Stilton. One of the team didn’t actually like cheese, and I don’t like cheap grog, so we swapped, and so I came home with half a wheel of Stilton.
I had Stilton and {insert anything you can think of here} sandwiches for lunch for a year. It was fab.
I haven’t had any for a decade, as I’m no longer allowed blue cheese, more’s the pity. So today’s answer is Brie.
Jaygee says
While no Nostradamus, I reliably predict a 25 cheese thread will be here soon.
hubert rawlinson says
Here’s a wide selection of ‘Cheeses on the Mainline’.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Magnificent!!
dai says
Appenzeller. Some of that late at night brings the most extraordinary dreams like being on hallucinogenics
Jaygee says
Have you ever sopped to think you might still be on those hallucinogenic
and that the Appenzeller Interludes (TMFTL) might well be the true escapes from/to reality?
salwarpe says
The range of cheeses available in Bonn is quite extensive.
Top of the list would be extra mature (Uralt) Old Amsterdam gouda. Nothing like it – aged for at least a year, it’s so brittle, it breaks up like (and resembles in appearance and texture) fudge. So good with Black Forest ham.
Gruyère, Emmental and Bergkase are also nice as palette fresheners
Our local organic market stalls and shops sell some delicious alternatives to those more familiar cheeses:
North German cheeses – Nordsee, Nordmeer and Leuchturm – all very tasty mature hard cheeses.
‘Gute-Laune-Käse’ (good mood cheese) is slightly softer, cooked in a herb rind, and in small amounts can be quite pleasant.
And once a year, in the month before Christmas, there is a Johanni cheese, made with a special selection of milk, which makes my mouth tingle with delight.
When we lived in Switzerland, my parents took me and my sister to a remote village cheese shop, probably in Appenzel canton. We arrived and couldn’t see it. Looking around, we noticed steps going down below street level to a dark, wooden-shelved hole in the ground. Apparently, using a cellar helped maintain a damp atmosphere conducive to preserving the cheeses. As we walked down the steps, the stench of (over) ripe cheeses hit us full in the face. It really stank, and my sister and I had to quickly retreat to be able to breathe again. I like to think we only allowed our parents to eat the slimy mould they decided to purchase in the open air when we got home, but that may just be my imagination.
Chrisf says
My favourite is probably White Stilton – although it can be tricky to get here (there’s always White Stilton with cranberries, apricots, etc etc, but not often just on its own).
Failing that, still can’t beat a good cheddar – whilst a good ‘artisan’ cheese can’t be bettered, we don’t have that much choice here and so if the supermarket brands, I find M&S Cornish Cove Mature Cheddar to be pretty good.
Aside from cheese on its own, then Brie with bacon has to be one of the best combinations ever – it never fails. Cooked wise, a whole Camembert with walnuts and rocket can’t be beat.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Many years ago I went where Boursin is made. It’s a soulless factory with not a hint of artisan cheese making. So, how come on a cracker with a pickled onion it tastes so bloody nice?
fentonsteve says
My day job – that thing I do when I’m not on the AW – involves bits of machinery used in factories.
*All* food and drink places are sterile, soulless factories, even the ones which suggest those fancy crisps you like are “made just like Mama used to make”. They’re actually made by a man called Graham, who wears a blue hairnet, in a large, grey, industrial unit on the outskirts of Kettering. He doesn’t even touch the spuds, he just presses a big green “start” button at the beginning of his shift, and a big red “stop” button when it’s time for him to go home.
Black Type says
So… Kettering Chips?
davebigpicture says
You are Greg Wallace and I claim my £5
fentonsteve says
I do have a bit of video with Greg Wallace shouting “CORR!!!” whilst standing in front of a bit of machinery I helped to design.
Black Celebration says
Yes – my job has involved visiting such places too. I have never met the “two blokes who decided to give it a go” or any Italian grandmothers waving their arms about, tasting sauce from a large wooden spoon while anxious chefs clutch their toques waiting for her approval. Imagine having that as a process, every day.
salwarpe says
Do van.
Do pan.
Do bore, son.
Jim says
A lovely mature cheddar is a thing of beauty. And Stilton of course.
Goats cheese can do one, it tastes a bit too goaty for me.
And a Brie warmed in the oven with rosemary sprigs stabbed in it, with crusty bread to eat.
And I love Wensleydale, but am horrified that at Christmas you can only seem to get it stuffed with bloody cranberries.
Mike_H says
[Name your cheese here] with cranberries, apricots etc. etc. are the work of the devil*, in my opinion. Just leave that cheese alone. Similar to my attitude to those ghastly fruit-infused beers.
*How to make a batch of inferior cheesy product seem better, to the undiscerning, easily-swayed punter.
Uncle Wheaty says
Have do disagree on goats cheese. Not eaten cold but when warmed with a nice fruit based addition and toast it becomes a marvellous thing.
hubert rawlinson says
Even worse than cranberries this was spotted last year.
Boneshaker says
Cheese is undoubtedly one of life’s greatest pleasures, and cheddar is the king of cheeses. For everyday use I like a nice creamy mild cheddar, although I’m partial to extra mature or cheddar infused with onions and chives. Mrs B and I buy copious amounts of specialty cheeses at Christmas, and every Christmas Eve we indulge in a cheese and mulled wine evening, usually accompanied by a sentimental Christmas film and a defibrillator on standby.
duco01 says
Has anyone mentioned tomme de montagne yet?
No?
OK, I will, then.
TOMME DE MONTAGNE!
It’s yummy.
Freddy Steady says
I’m a bit biased towards my homeland but this isn’t half bad. Well squishy and stinky.
https://www.fenfarmdairy.co.uk/baron-bigod/
Otherwise, as I age like a, erm, well aged cheddar, a, erm, decent well aged cheddar does the trick.
fitterstoke says
Any fans of gjetost out there? It’s interesting…but I couldn’t eat a whole one!!
Langdale68 says
Yes! But the thinner the slice, the better.
thecheshirecat says
Some friends (with all of whom I am about to go on a bike ride), took me out for my fiftieth, to a Michelin starred restaurant in Birkenhead ( I know, I know). It was a lovely night, crowned by the cheese board. Each cheese came recommended with its perfect accompaniment, whether that be seeds or nuts or chutneys. I chose a Swiss cheese – Vacherin de Mont d’Or washed in brandy. There was an echo round this prestigious establishment of my involuntary exclamation: “That cheese is fucking extraordinary”. Inarguable. It was. Still is the best cheese I’ve tasted.
I shall come back with my top ten cheeses after the bike ride.
Steve Walsh says
You’re going to buy your top ten cheeses during the bike ride?
Going via Booths?
thecheshirecat says
Indeed, the deli/cheese counter at Booths is excellent, though Mike on Knutsford market also keeps a good stall; strangely, he can’t stand the stuff himself.
In no particular order:
Cheshire – no bias required. Straight from the market. My brother and I will get through pounds of this at Christmas. Just the right mix of crumbly, yet creamy, with that just-there tang of Cheshire brine.
Brie de Meaux. Not just any brie; it has to be Brie de Meaux.
Vacherin Mont d’Or, as mentioned above. Only produced in season. I will be in Switzerland next month, just at the right time.
Roquefort. I have taken a tour of the caves at Roquefort sur Soulzon and understand a bit more of how this wonder comes to pass. I find Danish Blue too strong and bitter, but Roquefort is just right.
Gruyere
Stilton
St Agur
Delice de Bourgogne
Jarlsberg
The chevre off Laruns Market just as we were about to cycle over the Col d’Aubisque. As fresh as it comes, and gorgeous. Le Cabecou will do as an alternative in Booths.
Uncle Wheaty says
In the early days of my relationship with my current beau (30 years) we bought some Roquefort at the airport and put in the over head luggage on our flight back from Paris to Birmingham.
After a 3 hour pre-flight and flight it had started to leak out of the Baggage and drip onto passengers as we landed.
We made sure we were the last people off the plane!
Tiggerlion says
Was that OXA?
thecheshirecat says
No. It was long enough ago to be Fraiche, which has since relocated to Shropshire.
I suspect OXA has reckoned that Fraiche proved there was a market in lovely Oxton.
NigelT says
Up until my late 30s I hated ‘blue’ cheese because the only one my parents ever had was Gorgonzola, and I disliked it with a passion, and so avoided anything resembling it. Then I was on a course at an RAF station and the catering was, naturally, military style and they served a blue Stilton and I was persuaded to try it – it was a revelation! We now buy it at our local Farm Shop and my sister declared a little while ago that it was the best cheese she has ever tasted – a creamy yet crumbly texture with a lovely lingering aftertaste, and much better than the supermarket version.
Cheddar comes in so many different guises that it’s almost impossible to predict what you get – the choice is so broad. I prefer a tangy vintage variety, but there is a place for the milder versions too. We usually have a reduced fat version and a ‘nice’ one around so they perform different functions.
I am actually really partial to a lovely, creamy Gouda, and a Leerdammer too. Fruit in cheese doesn’t work for me, but Double Gloucester with onions and chives….hmmm, nom nom.
Then there are cheese spreads, which always remind me of childhood. We have the potted version, and sometimes Laughing Cow – lovely when spread on crusty french bread. Mrs. T likes Babybells….I have been known to nick one out of the fridge.
Living in the West Country, some of the local cheeses are great, but I really can’t get on with Cornish Yarg.
hubert rawlinson says
Babybels. I arrived at the hotel where I was staying the night before my wedding, something shot past my foot I caught a glimpse of red. Looking under the car I found a babybel lodged under the front wheel. Most odd, I picked it up and went in stopped at reception to register after doing that I held up the wax coated comestible and asked “Do you serve these at breakfast ?” and held up the cheese. “No we don’t sorry”. I explained what had happened and we were both at a loss to explain it.
It later transpired that my soon to be Polish sister-in-law had lobbed it from their bedroom window at me, missing me but creating confusion. We’ve since decided that it is a Polish custom to throw cheese at the prospective bridegroom.
Slug says
Time to sound the cheese alarm
Vulpes Vulpes says
At home, with a good white wine: a good wedge of Vacherin.
In a sarnie or a packed lunch: a top Yarslberg or Cheddar (pickled onions too, obv.)
thecheshirecat says
See above. Epoisse does a very similar job.
retropath2 says
I do love a stinky Epoisse! Wedge would be pushing it, though, as it is runny at room temperature, by the time I consider it fit for chasing.
Twang says
More cheddar that anything else but I do like Roquefort and Jarlsberg though not at the same time. We always have some Stilton at Christmas which is fab. Top tip, McVities digestives are fantastic with blue cheese.
Rigid Digit says
Digestives marvellous with Vintage Chaddar too.
Never got the love for oatcakes with cheese though.
Uncle Wheaty says
That was how I discovered my love of blue cheese the age of 14. Danish Blue on a Digestive biscuit.
Diddley Farquar says
Here you can buy a lot of cheese in tubes, plus other’food’. There’s bacon cheese, prawn cheese, blue cheese and many more. Many people squeeze out a dollop of blue cheese to have on gingerbread to eat with their glögg (glu wine) at Christmas. It’s actually a pretty good combo.
Rigid Digit says
Primula – the chive variety is particularly more-ish and would work on @beezer‘s sandwich below in place of the deep orange plastic slice
Beezer says
Oh! Oh, I say! Primula. Why didn’t I think of that?
I shall sneak a tube in this week and report back. Heston Blumenthal may be interested.
Twang says
You can eat it out of the tube. On a campsite. Late in the evening. Allegedly.
Beezer says
What a wonderful world we live in.
hubert rawlinson says
Despite a dislike of fruit in cheese (vile muck) I do enjoy a good crumbly cheese with a piece of Christmas cake or apple pie.
thecheshirecat says
Quince jelly?
duco01 says
Oh yes: dulce de membrillo – that’s the stuff!
Vulpes Vulpes says
mmmm yes.
I’m lucky enough to be able to make my own quince jelly from the little quince tree in our garden. The magical turn from orangy mush to bright red jelly – never fails to delight me.
retropath2 says
Is there a simple recipe? We had a glut of quinces this year, sadly all returned to the soil.
Beezer says
For a brief period of penury some decades ago, one of my favourite lunches was A Crisp Sandwich. Sourced with the cheapest of ingredients from the nearest Happy Shopper. Salt and Vinegar crisps, soft white bread, unbranded salad cream. And a slice of bright orange shiny processed cheese. Together they became ambrosia, I loved them. Which was a good job because I could afford little else.
Happily after not too long I discovered the joyous combination of a splodge of soft Brie on a plain HobNob with a grape on the top. Accompanied by a glass of vin rouge. Decadence personified.
Captivated by any cheese with a shine then, I do rather enjoy your Jarlsbergs, your Goudas and your Edams. Anything bendy, really.
davebigpicture says
Truly, you were The Limehouse Gourmet. You should write a celebrity cook book.
Beezer says
You’re very kind. It wouldn’t trouble the paper mills.
2 pages. Above mentioned crisp sandwich, or Croque Fromage Merde, and a recipe for baked potato and beans. Pommes de Terrible.
davebigpicture says
Waitrose number 6 cheddar, Roquefort, Pont L’eveque, Camembert, Shropshire Blue. I like most cheese but not White Stilton with fruit or anything too messed around with: added herbs etc.
Gorgonzola or Dolcelatte on a cheese board or make a great pasta sauce. Some goat cheese but not the Chèvre roll, too “goaty” but sheep cheese and yoghurt is lovely.
thecheshirecat says
Mmmmm, Shropshire Blue is a good ‘un.
And I do agree, cheese should stand on its own feet and should not be buggered about with by herbs or dried fruit; mould is the only acceptable adulteration.
pencilsqueezer says
Toe cheese fresh out of a stiletto.
fentonsteve says
In the absence of Moosey, see also: kn*b cheese. Blue for all the wrong reasons.
Sewer Robot says
Yes, I was going to remark that I find all cheeses tolerable except those that have come from a Smeg fridge..
Diddley Farquar says
Delia’s Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna is mostly cheese. A cheese bath to dive into. Gorgonzola, mozzarella, ricotta and parmesan. I recommend it.
https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/pasta-recipes/spinach-and-ricotta-lasagne-with-pine-nuts
Recently in Rome I ate Cacio e Pepe pasta. It’s pecorino cheese and pepper only but it tastes great so that must be some pretty damp fine cheese. As for cheese board-wise, I’d say manchego delivers.
Rigid Digit says
A discussion on cheese moving towards hamper status.
Once you have your choice of cheese, what’s it being served with / on?
Crusty bread? It’s an option, but for me I go back to the humble cream cracker or water biscuit. Maybe a Ritz or Tuc cracker.
Not Ryvita, a definitely not the travesty of the Biscuit Selection box – the cornish wafer
davebigpicture says
Hovis crackers but they’re bloody expensive.
retropath2 says
I tend to prefer cheese neat, with a knife and fork, or with an outrageously crusty loaf, but enjoy an oatcake, unadorned, for the sheer puritanical streak it brings out in me.
Mrs Path always makes me buy a box of biscuits for cheese if we are entertaining. I tend to go for the selection with some of this cheese melts in the mix, and snarf ’em all up before the guests arrive.
thecheshirecat says
We are alike in this. I’ll have crackers; I’ll have cheese, on the same plate. But they are eaten separately.
Slug says
Carr’s water biscuits.
Perfect with most hard cheeses, and satisfactory with most soft ones.
Strangely unpleasant with just a glass of water, mind. Brings to mind prison rations.
Uncle Wheaty says
Carrs water biscuits for me too…with a harder cheese.
Stilton can be eaten neat with no extra biscuit needed.
Mike_H says
A little chunk of cheese cut off the block/wedge/whatever and eaten straight off the knife is best.
Or delivered to the gob via your fingers, which you can lick after.
Leedsboy says
Peter’s Yard sourdough crackers.
Chrisf says
M&S Wheaten Crackers
Freddy Steady says
I have recently discovered Jacob’s Red Leicester biscuits. Oh Lordy!
Boneshaker says
Red Leicester mini cheddars? Bloody things are completely addictive.
Uncle Wheaty says
Agreed!
rotherhithe hack says
I prefer the stuff with a strong taste so you only want a little of it. Lidl do a very nice spicey gorgonzola.
thecheshirecat says
Where is the thread where we put our 25 favourite cheeses on Imgur?
hubert rawlinson says
I asked ChatGPT for the worst cheeses this was it’s reply.
The “worst tasting” cheese is highly subjective and depends on personal taste, but there are a few cheeses that are often considered challenging or polarizing due to their strong flavors, pungency, or unusual textures. Some of these might be considered “worst tasting” by those who are not used to them:
1. **Casu Marzu (Italy)** – Often called the “rotten cheese,” this Sardinian specialty is made from sheep’s milk and contains live insect larvae (maggots) that contribute to its soft texture. The smell and appearance can be off-putting, and its intense, fermented flavor is not for everyone.
2. **Limburger (Belgium/Germany)** – Known for its pungent odor (which some compare to stinky feet), Limburger is a soft, cow’s milk cheese that has a strong, tangy flavor. The smell can be overwhelming, and it’s often off-putting to those who are not familiar with it.
3. **Époisses de Bourgogne (France)** – This soft, cow’s milk cheese is famous for its very strong, ammonia-like aroma due to the washing of the rind with brine and sometimes Marc de Bourgogne (a type of brandy). The flavor is complex and creamy, but the smell can be a dealbreaker for many.
4. **Stinking Bishop (England)** – This cheese gets its name from its pungent odor, which is a result of being washed in perry (a type of pear cider). While some love its creamy texture and strong, fruity flavor, others find the smell unbearable.
5. **Munster (France/Germany)** – Different from the American variety, the traditional French or German Munster is a soft cheese with a strong, sometimes overpowering aroma. Its flavor is savory, but the smell can be extremely off-putting to some.
6. **Surströmming (Sweden)** – Although technically not a cheese (but fermented fish), this Swedish delicacy is often paired with certain cheeses in specific dishes. The combination of fermented fish with pungent cheeses can create a flavor that some find unbearable.
While some people absolutely love these cheeses, their overpowering smells and intense flavors can make them off-putting to those not accustomed to such strong or fermented tastes. Whether you love them or not often comes down to personal preference, culture, and experience with bold flavors.
fitterstoke says
Mon dieu! There are times when I realise what a lily-livered, “vanilla” amateur I really am – and this is one of those times.
Having said that: right here and now, I would happily swap a bottle of Ardbeg for a round of Islay-made Dunlop cheddar, sadly no longer made on the island (sheds a quiet tear…)
thecheshirecat says
I concur about the Stinking Bishop. I really don’t get why some rave about it. Yes, it’s very smelly, but it doesn’t translate into an interesting flavour.
Epoisses, I mentioned above as a worthy alternative to Vacherin Mont d’Or. In my experience, the strong smell of ammonia only happens if it’s kept too long – a rarity in my house.
retropath2 says
When in Malmø, visit The Museum of Disgusting Food. I did and can recommend both the display and the tasting challenge at the end. Sadly, the Sardinian “special cheese” mentioned above, is now illegal, and so only available in the mountains, under pain of, well, pain of actually eating some.
Epoisses is far from the smelliest of cheeses, as a trip to Corsica in the summer revealed. Some of their artisanal goat favourites pack a pong, even in the supermarket chill cabinets. A day or two later, sweating in a hot kitchen (the cheese) they turn colour and texture in a mildly alarming fashion, but the taste is……….
distinctive.
If food eaten with cheese “counts” as cheese in this sort of list, I look forward to my next cheese and ferments party.
Uncle Wheaty says
Munster is a marvellous cheese.
chiz says
My review of the three types of Roquefort:
The Roquefort Files
To those who know their cheeses, Roquefort is Le Roi des Fromages , a heavenly ferment, a unique gift from nature and proof that there is a god above who loves us and wants us to die young with our arteries clotted solid with curd. To the rest of us it’s just a film sequel with Sylvester Stallone in it.
Baragnaudes
The mildest of the Roquefort triplets, this is a bashful cheese with a great instinct for self-preservation. With its high parasite content, it’s more active than half the people who eat it. Look closely enough at its surface and you can see it is actually moving, and if you turn your back, it will make a bolt for it. Wheels of this cheese have been known to turn up back at home in the Roquefort caves in France months or even years after being sold for export. Come springtime, the meadows below the mountain are flattened by hordes of stampeding cheeses returning to their spawning ground. Ironically a cheese that’s made it back home is highly sought after on the specialist market, where it is cut into thin strips to stop it wandering off again, and sold as ‘Migrated cheese’.
1863
This is the most sentient of cheeses, having evolved to the point where it’s barely dairy and is half fungus, half mammal. This has given it great mobility, social as well as geographic. A charming dinner guest, it’s welcomed at the highest tables around the world and will even make its own travel arrangements. However, it’s something of a Trojan Horse, as the bacteria in its veins will eat you faster than you can eat it. Nevertheless, the French have sung its praises in music and poems, from Debussy to Verlaine, and Rimbaud too, which is another film sequel with Sylvester Stallone in it.
La Cave Des Templiers
This absolute bastard of a cheese will hunt you down and kill you. Its veins throb with demonic rage. It’s normally kept under guard back in the caves, but should you meet it in a dark alley round the back of a restaurant, there’s a tried and tested trick to evade its brutal assault; simply push the weakest member of your party into its path, and run away screaming like a girl.
thecheshirecat says
Excellent
fentonsteve says
I have
an hilariousstory about goat’s cheese.I met my friends from Frankfurt at ballroom dancing classes in Cambridge, when one of them was doing a post-doc, back in the early 1990s. After a few years, they moved back to Frankfurt and rented an apartment. A few years later, the last grandparent died and left a farmhouse near Koln to the two brothers, as their parents were already both dead. One of the brothers was a monk and so my pal (the other brother) inherited the lot. The farmhouse was sold and, in late 2007, a house in the Frankfurt ‘burbs was bought with the proceeds.
Mrs F and I went over for a long weekend to help decorate. “Do you want us to bring anything?” I asked. “Goat’s cheese, please, we can’t get any over here.” I went to the local deli and purchased a large one, put it in a freezer bag with some ice blocks and headed off to Stansted airport.
Now, who remembers 2007? I bloody do. Foot and Mouth. There was quite a discussion at the check-in desk as to whether a goat had feet or hooves. There was about an hour until the flight left. The head of airport security was summoned, and he said “no”. This cheese cost me 20 quid, so I hopped on the shuttle bus, put the bag in the boot of my car, got back on the bus, back to the terminal, then had to run through security, sprint to the gate, and the airplane doors closed behind me.
We had a lovely weekend of decorating, took the Sunday evening flight back to Stansted, got back to the car park. I swear I could smell rancid cheese when we got off the shuttle bus. We couldn’t bear to be in the car with the cheese, so we dumped it in a bin. Driving up the M11 with the windows down was freezing cold, but at least we didn’t gag.
The car stank for months afterwards, even more so as the previous owner had smoked cheroots (which is why it was cheap). A couple of months later, ParcelForce skidded their delivery van on a patch of ice, crashed into my parked car, and wrote it off.
hubert rawlinson says
Bertolt Brecht: “What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?”
Discuss.
fitterstoke says
Can I refer you to Just a Minute – what to do with the hole in the doughnut…Peter Jones at his finest.
fortuneight says
I always think of think of Robbie Savage’s answer on the podcast he used to do with Freddie Flintoff and Matthew Syed (The Ping Pong Guy)
“Christmas cheese”
He’s not wrong though.
Great podcast series as well.
Leffe Gin says
All of the cheeses made by the Snowdonia Cheese Company are excellent. My favourite is Green Thunder, a strong cheddar with garlic. Not one for the purists, but I love it. They are very good for online orders, but at least some of their stuff is available in regular cheese shops.
Disclaimer: cheese is my favourite thing, alongside tea.
davebigpicture says
We went to Port Meirion recently and the local brewery had a really good range of beers, the stout was especially good.
https://purplemoose.co.uk/
Gatz says
I haven’t tried the stout, but Dark Side of the Moose is a superb beer. The Australia in Porthmadog is also an excellent pub, or was when stayed there to visit Port Meirion in 2017.
davebigpicture says
We went to The Australia too. Food was quite good and there’s a brewery shop a few doors along from the pub.
retropath2 says
Still is. A regular visit whenever the Paths go to Eryri to swim in various Llyns. We will be there in January.
Uncle Wheaty says
They have a section in the Christmas pop up shop one my local ripoff farm shop.I will see of this is one they stock.
jazzjet says
For me, Baron Bigod and Delice de Bourgogne are my favourites. I once had a cheese (either French or Italian) that had red wine running through it and it was delicious. Buggered if I can remember the name though.
As a slight tangent, I was reading today about pairing cheese with various whisky, eg Goats cheese or Stliton with Macallan Fine Oak 15 year old and Stilton with Ardbeg. Apparently, aficionados pair strongly peaty Islay whiskies with blue cheeses and Speyside whiskies (Balvenie and The Glendronach) with creamier cheeses like camembert. Must try this sometime.
Harry Tufnell says
I live about 200 yards away from Mrs Temples cheeses, and anyone, nay everyone in north Norfolk will tell you that Mrs Temples Binham Blue has won both national and international prizes because it’s the best cheese there is. Now you can say what you like about the French, no honestly you can, don’t hold back…
Leffe Gin says
Binham Blue is one of the best.
Leffe Gin says
The only cheese I can’t quite get into is Cornish Yarg. I have a nagging suspicion that this is some kind of art installation prank. Tasteless cheese wrapped in leaves.
sarah says
At the moment, I have 10 types of cheese in my fridge (not including cream cheese (for baking) and cheese spread. This is mainly due to visiting a local cheese stall at the weekend. Some of these are for freezing, but I still think I may have a problem…
Chrisf says
Partly a piece of blatant promotion, but just in case there are folks that are lactose sensitive (although I guess they won’t be reading this thread !), my sister in Cornwall is doing Sheep’s Cheese….
https://www.dizzydairy.co.uk/
Whilst it still has lactose, my understanding is this it’s less / easier to digest (although I claim no expertise, so don’t take this as medical advice)
retropath2 says
In case anyone is tempted by trying the bijou packs of cheese crisps that are now available, let me save you the bother. They are little nuggets of air dried fat, that crunch into the mess left behind in a breville toasty maker. Not the crispy bits that attach to and enhance the sarnie, the soggy bits left in the grease.
yorkio says
fitterstoke says
Now that is a sight to see – I mean, a sight to see…
thecheshirecat says
My wish has been granted. Now, let’s see
Stilton Red Leicester Edam Cheddar Feta
Halloumi ? ? Cheshire Camembert
Cottage ooh, maybe that’s the Red Leicester Emmental Roquefort Danish Blue
? Jarlsberg ? ? Caerphilly
Chevre ? Parmesan Epoisses Dairylea
yorkio says
That was a fine attempt. I’ve got to pop out in a minute but I’ll rate your plate when I’m back in.
yorkio says
11/25
Not a bad effort.
duco01 says
Surely the first one on the fourth row is taleggio? … or possibly St. Paulin?
Rigid Digit says
Port Salut?
yorkio says
Wack wack oops.
Although it *does* look Taleggio, doesn’t it? But it’s home turf is about 500 miles north of there.
Uncle Wheaty says
No one loves Wensleydale.
I loved it as a kid but it is crumbly and boring.
yorkio says
Au contraire. I had a piece of Wensleydale and some crusty bread for my breakfast just this morning.
retropath2 says
A few drops of Tabasco always livens up the boring type of crumbly cheese. Works with Feta, taking away some the overriding saltiness.
hubert rawlinson says
I’ve just bought some Wensleydale to see if your judgement is correct.
fitterstoke says
(I quite like Wensleydale…)
Uncle Wheaty says
I have had a couple of hamper winning posts but never expected this to be one!
Uncle Wheaty says
The hamper has yet to be delivered…
thecheshirecat says
… and is gradually acquiring a fur coat unnoticed at the back of the fridge. Scrape the worst off and it’ll be good enough for macaroni cheese.
duco01 says
Has anyone mentioned leipäjuusto yet?
No?
OK, I will, then. Leipäjuusto (literally “bread-cheese”) – it’s magic!
It’s this Finnish cheese that looks and tastes like a big unsalted halloumi.
It has a strange consistency. When you eat it, it goes squeak-squeak against your teeth.
You heat up a bit in the microwave and eat with cloudberry jam on top. YUM-YUM!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_cheese
hubert rawlinson says
I’ve just seen an advert from The Cheshire Cheese company for chocolate and chilli cheese I won’t post a picture as it looks as hideous as it sounds. Paging @thecheshirecat for his view on this.
I’m now being inundated with cheese adverts, Limoncello cheese anyone?
thecheshirecat says
I am firmly of the view that a good cheese stands on its own merits, without novelty additions. If I buy Cheshire cheese, which I do, quite a lot, I want it to taste of Cheshire cheese. The only extra I want in my cheese is mould.
hubert rawlinson says
Is the right answer.
mikethep says
I hate that sweet brown cheese lip-smacking Norwegians insist on serving you.
Other than that, I’ll happily eat most things, including blue cheese and goat cheese, which seem to be a deal-breaker for quite a few.