I’ll admit I have to control my cheesy urges very strictly. A chunk a day about an inch square is my ration but I do have the odd binge, especially if there is Stilton or Double Gloucester about.
About the only cheese I have ever disliked was the grated parmesan in pots that mater thought was the thing to sprinkle over spag bol when it was the new exotic foreign dish on the block. It did and probably still does, smell like cat pee whereas parmeggiano rough-grated fresh is very nice indeed.
Here beginneth my Cheese History. In the Beginning There Was Cheddar. And Cheddar was joined by Caerphilly and Double Gloucester and Stilton. Edam and Gouda made brief appearances but they were not just expensive; they were daylight rubbery.
And Lo, we were able to nibble local cheeses for local peoples – the kind of local peoples in Wensleydale and in addition cheeses from the Reds of Leicester and the Yargs of Cornwall.
And when we went to France there was suddenly a whole new country full of new cheeses that enticed you to them with their distinctive tangs and fragrances – Camemberts wrapped like special presents, melty Brie, wonderful Roquefort and Bleu d’Auvergne – not forgetting Reblochon which is hand turned by ancients in mountain cellars and transforms into the delicious tartiflette. Across the border in Italy there is soft, salty Dolcelatte.
But back to Britain.. Charles Martell, of Dymock is my favourite Glos cheesemaker. He really cares. Sources his milk from free range, rather beautiful Gloucester cattle. His Single Gloucester is subtle and creamy, his Double Gloucester more deeply flavoured and delish – and his Stinking Bishop…interesting perry-washed cheese but well, let’s just say don’t take it as a gift for friends who live two hours drive away or your car will never recover.
That Blur chappie Alex James is supposedly very good at cheese but there are unsung cheese heroes dotted about here and there like the North Cerney goats cheesemakers.
All very encouraging and the best possible reasons to shun the appalling cheese squares, cheesy strings and the recycled margarine pots which surely make up Babybels.
As it’s National Cheese Week, we should surely compare favourite cheeses.
Pears and biscuits anyone? OZ can undoubtedly recommend a good port.
Boadicea's Chariot 
I think parmesan is like coriander – you love it or you hate it. It’s all in the nose! 🙂
I like the sort of cheese that wraps itself around your taste buds and does not let go until they surrender. I cannot abide the vapid, limp wristed variety of cheese, the taste of which is described as ‘subtle’, it’s usually so subtle that any taste molecules evaporated as they landed on the squishy lump of pap that has the same DNA as it’s plastic wrapping. Mind you, as a nipper I was introduced to the then heady delights of Kraft cheese slices as my Uncle Jack worked in the factory that produced them, I though they were the bees knees and highly desirable but then again I used to think the same way about Gob Stoppers. and Agnalela Sneedpipe at Number 42.
Blue Stilton and Mature Cheddar for me every time, but I am also very partial to Parmesan and Norwegian Jarlsberg. Actually there are very few cheeses I do not like, although I am not too keen on the runny French ones. I prefer to eat cheese, not drink it.
I’m partial to a slice of Wensleydale wi’ me ploughman’s apple. Danish cheeses stink.
In the Beginning There Was Cheddar, yes but after that……Homer’s stories describe the making of cheese by the Cyclops ; archeological discoveries in Mesopotamia have revealed cheese-making equipment in the Pharaohs’ tombs, and the first traces of the food date back to ancient times (between 3500 and 2800 B.C.).
LThe first one to clearly distinguish between the different stages necessary to make cheese was the Roman, Calomel, in 60 A.D. with his Treaty of Agronomy.
Michale Caine, we love you!
Mornin’ Jan – I am fortunate to live in a country where cheese is taken very seriously. The provinces of Portugal are as different as chalk and, well, cheese and this is reflected in the various products. At one end of the scale is queijo fresco, a small, light cake of unpasteurised goat cheese with a texture something like cottage cheese, but firmer. It is served as an appetiser and is drizzled either with honey or olive oil and freshly ground pepper. Not having much of a sweet fang, I prefer the latter. At the other end lurk the hard, cured and matured sheep cheeses that most closely resemble aged Gouda. OMG would appreciate these as they positively head-butt the senses. In between there is a bewildering array of tastes and textures, much of it still home produced, all of it good.
I happen to have a case of late-bottled vintage port about my person. 🙂
OZ
OZ, your person seems a touch over-burdened with goodies. Am I right or am I right?
I’m rather partial to Manchego. A Spanich cheese made from made from the milk of Manchego sheep. Teamed up with Serrano ham it’s yummy.
Janus – Er, right, he said, defensively. Us lupines don’t spend all our time eating Grandmas, blowing piggies’ houses down and chasing girls in red riding hoods you know.
Have to lope off now down to the market to buy some more cheese.
OZ
Just a small point about taste buds…
I have heard that men in particular can be short of zinc and zinc is very important for the smell and taste buds to enable them to pick up on subtle tastes as well as full rounded ones. Why men?
Well apparently zinc is lost in certain bodily emissions that women do not have. If yget my drift.
Maybe there are two ways one can addresss this problem
1. You can take a three month course of zinc supplements and see if it improves your taste buds.
2.
So, Pseu. Are you saying that to be cheese connoisseur, (2) a chap should avoid the J Arthurs?
How rude! 😮
What about good Feta? and the myriad of goats and sheep cheeses out there?
The choice is there….
🙂
Maybe there’s a special offer on at the Health Food Shop?
Pseu – So I have to make a choice between cheese and……..!
Sob!
OZ
I love cheese, especially Stilton if there is port about (and Xmas cake at Xmas? Not sure about that), but also wenslydale (with cranberries at Xmas), Camembert with red wine, a strong cheddar truckle…
But alas, a recent development of intolerance to cows milk has devastated my cheese eating habits and I am now discovering a whole new world of sheep & goat cheese… Not as readily available, a bit more expensive, less variety and not really the same, but better than no cheese at all… Perhaps I should visit Portugal….
Darrel – Perhaps you should….. 🙂
OZ
Just have a zinc supplement, Oz and you’ll be fine.
Give me mature Cheddar any time. I see no point in eating cheese if I have to go searching for the flavour!
Yeah, like you sed, OMG. Mater always called limp-wristed cheese “soapy.” She liked the kind of strength Cheddar that scoured your taste buds until they screamed for mercy. Australian Cheddar, I remember was particularly rampant.
Norwegian Jarlsberg sounds interesting, FEEG.
Ay-oop Janus. But what sort of Wensleydale? With cranberries, blueberries? Very creamy and delish. That’s my fantasy cheese. Ultra binge-worthy. Thanks for the historical notes, Janus! I thought Epicurus was the first foodie ancient, but maybe he just wrote down the first recipes.
Hi Oz, that goat’s cheese sounds good! We missed out on cheeses when we visited Portugal.
I’d go for the drizzle of honey and maybe a fresh fig on the side. I note that you are remarkably well-equipped with fine wines. The party promises to be a good one! 🙂
Another one to try, thanks Tocino. Manchego. Adore Serrano ham, except that I almost fainted at the price at Barcelona Airport. Thought it would be nice to bring a chunk home. “It’ll last for ages,” I said. “I’ll cut it very very thin…” but I wasn’t psychologically ready to part with £70 for it.
Laughing here, Pseu. Did you know you left a space after (2)?? So it doesn’t make you blind – just short of zinc and only able to taste hot curries? That explains a lot.
Hi Darrel. I must try this cake and cheese thing. Yes Wensleydale and cranberry at Christmas (M&S’s is yummy) but I must on no account be left alone with it.
So sorry to hear about your dairy intolerance!! Not too tragic though as there are many alternatives. Lovely Welsh goats cheese and the Cerney goats cheeses are good.
Good point Boa, which brings us neatly back to the robust qualities of strong Australian Cheddar. 😉