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Munster is very nice but the smell could make you faint
Normal cheeses:
Snowdonia Black Bomber is a cracker
A tangy Lancashire is always great
A mature Comte is hard to beat though
Arenas de Cabrales and Bleu d'Auvergne are amazing
Baron Bigod is probably the nicest UK cheese I've had
If you really like cheese go to The Courtyard Dairy website and buy yourself a mixed selection or book on to a tasting evening - even better with the wine pairings
Our dog Harold, can hear (or perhaps smell)any cheese being taken from the fridge up to about 3.5 miles away in any weather.
Pro level cheesehound Bonnie can sense my synapses firing just thinking about cheese - she knows I'm about to go and have some before I do.
Arenas de Cabrales
Oh yes, stayed there this summer, local bread slathered with this was fantastic.
@DickyBoy - I did the GR20 in 2003 with some friends. We bought lots of random bits of cheese along the way but towards the end we got some from a bergerie that can only be described as looking like a rusty horse's hoof, once scraped the outer bit was like amber and the inner cheese was like parmesan. It was mind-bogglingly strong in a make you cry kind of way.
Before I went a friend took me to a Corsican restaurant in Paris and we finished a great meal with a cheese board. The first pieces were lovely but the last piece was so strong it was just bonkers. We went back to his flat and drank whisky until the wee hours after the meal but I could taste the bloody cheese 2 days later
Winston - you cruel man. want some want some gimmie now!
Cambozola is my current favourite.
We bought this from a random farmer selling local produce from his VW Caddy near Hopfgarten on holiday in September
It was certainly mature!
Roquefort is the best cheese ever.
Cheese is eaten with a nice bread
And red wine is drank with cheese.
@binners I'm the Factory Manager at Carron Lodge (Singletons Dairy), you should be able to get Granny Singletons at Cheese Plus as well as Redmans.
Sad news this morning, Butlers Farmhouse Cheese packing plant across the road burnt down.
I get to eat cheese everyday, which is sometimes nice, but have to eat it at end of shelf life too. Not much fun with the blends to be honest.
We sell in to most (if not all) the places mentioned so far.
Some cheese 10 minutes ago.
1. Goats Cheese
2. Granny singletons Tasty Lancashire santa Hats
3. Beacon Fell Creamy Lancashire PDO
4. Some blends (For @tjagain)
5. A bit of smoked cheddar
Goat's cheese is food of the devil - smells like afghan coats from the 1970s. Tastes even worse
Our local farm shop closed due to COVID but they used to sell an amazing, lightly smoked brie
I've no idea where it was made but we've tried others since then and they're not as good.
Woe is me
Talking of cheese (mis)adventures
When young and unwise to the ways of cheese, me and a group of friends were on a skiing holiday. We went to a local restaurant one evening and opted to share a Raclette among us. The halfwheel of cheese and associated heater was duly served before us and we set about demolishing a lot of meltycheese bread plus various other potatoes, pickles and so on. Every so often the waitress would come over and motion at the racleete and we'd sign back 'delicious' and more bread would arrive. Eventually we could do no more aqnd had to give in. We were absolutely stuffed and between four of us farted with such ferocity all night that I'm surprised the wallpaper didn't peel.
While telling some other older Brits about it the next day, it became apparent that the raclette is recycled and when you're done they take it away. You aren't expected to eat it all, and our attempts to show how delicious it was were entirely in response to a dumbfounded waitress wondering just how many portions we were planning to eat between us.
It was bloody lovely though.
@mrmoofo - I assure you it doesn't this is Mature hard goats cheddar. It's very tasty available under the St Helens Farm brand from some of the retailers.
@elshalimo - Which farm shop? We might ahve supplied them with our smoked brie. I can look up to see if there's anyone nearby.
Go to a proper ‘monger as TJ suggests
Been thjere, tried that.
One of the problems with a cheese monger, at least the one in Glasgow, is price. An example would be the £5.50 for the M&S cheese would be 3 times the cost. And also random customers coming in arent offered the best of choicest parts. Got something, forget what, but it was 50% waxy rind.
Somewhere like M&S will do as good if not better cheeses than a cheese monger as their customer base prefers better quality than what is available at tesco or asda.
@elshalimo - They used to buy our smoked brie. There's Craggies Farm Shop ( https://www.craggiesfarmshop.uk/) who we supply and would be sure to get some in if you asked. Deliveries on a Tuesday 😉
As tj says.
I love cheese but I have two simple rules.
1.never buy a cheese wrapped in wax.
2. Never buy a cheese with bits added like fruit, herbs or green stuff.
Wax wrapped truckles are really handy around about Christmas time, when turning up at other people's houses and wanting to contribute. I agree with you the rest of the time though.
But... no ready added condiments... they just make no sense at all... especially with cheese for sharing... KEEP YOUR CRANBERRIES AND APRICOTS SEPARATE, even, no, especially at Christmas. Only bought by people who are trying to stop other people enjoying their cheese, I reckon. And old people.
must have been a poor cheesemonger. there is no way M&S have the same quality cheese as someone like the cheesemonger I linked to.
While neither of us have any sort of reputation for being argumentative, I don't wish to start that now, but do feel I should point out that a cheesemonger is just a seller specializing in cheese. They are not some magical portal where only the finest cheese from the universe are gathered together. They are no different to a fishmongers or a butchers, which both specialize in their own market.
As to how you came to the conclusion that cheese, especially the artisan specialist cheeses sold in m&s cannot be compared to the artisan specialist cheese sold in a specialist cheese only shop doesnt really say one is better than the other.
My experience show ,to me at least that for example the cheesemonger needs to sell the entire thing, rind and all, whereas for m&s they dont want the rind for the most part so that will be removed before its packaged.
In effect you are getting more actual cheese, and not the other layers, wax and all. Which probably makes the m&s route more economical and of better overall quality.
Keep in mind those that we arent talking about mass produced cheese, but specialist varieties.
The place I visited. Cheese was a dutch cheese, smoked and matured, might have been an Edam type. But either way I was left disappointed.
https://www.georgemewescheese.co.uk/
I cheesemonger that doesn't offer anything beyond what the supermarkets offering (M&S or not) won't stay open long. You do get more plastic and less of other wrappings at the supermarket though... if that's what you like. 🤷🏻
never buy a cheese wrapped in wax.
Erm.... the Snowdonia Cheese Company Black Bomber and Red Storm are bloody lovely and wrapped in wax
https://www.snowdoniacheese.co.uk/product-category/cheese/
Black Bomber is what I buy at Christmas. And it's bloody delicious (the cheese experts will be along to tell us that it's a mass produced mix and not a real cheese).
never buy a cheese wrapped in wax.
Eh? What kind of ludicrously arbitrary criteria is that? You might as well say never buy cheese that has been packaged on a Wednesday or never buy a cheese with an 's' in its name 😂
The aforementioned Granny Singletons tasty and the Beacon Fell Creamy Lancs, that @BenjiM shared with us before, are wrapped in wax and they're absolutely bloody lovely!
While neither of us have any sort of reputation for being argumentative
I missed this.
👏🏼
While neither of us have any sort of reputation for being argumentative, I don’t wish to start that now,
LOLZ
Cheese of choice atm is Cashel's blue. Followed by Blacksticks Blue which is a bit cheaper and we always have a Butler's Secret Cheddar in the fridge.
Also like Boursin , herb and garlic very nice.
Years ago my brother lived in Wensleydale and we used to buy truckles from the farmer at the side of the road, t'was some of the best cheese I've ever tasted.
I love them all, but there is something special about Camembert on a warm day.
dyna ti – must have been a poor cheesemonger. there is no way M&S have the same quality cheese as someone like the cheesemonger I linked to. However it is hugely expensive
This is incorrect, we supply the same cheese, from the same suppliers (and the cheese we produce ourselves) into both supermarkets AND farm shops and cheesemongers alike, grade (age, maturity) may be different dependent on customer, but the quality will be the same. We supply a lot of the well known cheesemongers throughout the World.
I've not read the whole thread but are some of these artisan cheese un pasteurised ?
I was quite glad of Louis being around and discovering how to prevent botulism amongst other things
Lockerbie mature cheddar or McLelland from down the same area does me, toasted if I've got time
This thread is like a coffee thread with only Arabica beans from the Vietnam hills being good enough after coming out a monkeys bum
@redmex - Some yes, some no. UP cheese is fine but soft UP cheese such as Brie de Meaux is a bit riskier and has had the highest number of recalls I've ever carried out due to listeria presence. Hard aged cheddars are fine as the pathogens can't compete with low moisture, acidity and salt levels.
This thread is like a coffee thread with only Arabica beans from the Vietnam hills being good enough after coming out a monkeys bum
When it comes to cheese, it’s all good, including dubious cheese-related ‘products’. I can happily just squeeze this into my gob from the tube, which should please TJ as it does away with the need for crackers…
but are some of these artisan cheese un pasteurised ?
A proper Camembert is. Perfect after a couple of hours out of the fridge in summer 🙂
"And any good cheesemonger will also have cheeses that you don’t supply."
Some cheesemongers will of course supply different cheeses, there are thousands of brands, varieties etc., regarding the quality of a product (in a like for like scenario) supplied to supermarkets or cheesemongers, the quality will be the same. An example being Rosary Goats cheese supplied to Waitrose in own label and the same make (prodcution make) as Rosary Goats branded cheese. The Brie de Meaux we supply Booths is the same that we supply to the farm shops delis etc., around the UK. Yoredale unpasteurised Wensleydale from Curlew Dairy is another small producer we work with as well as the Crickmores at Fen Farm, not just the big brands like Arla and Lactalis McLelland.
What I'm saying is the supermarkets (whilst I'm not a massive fan) have done their homework when it comes to buying cheese and actively seek out award winners etc., and to say that they don't supply the same quality of product as an independent is incorrect. Different products that may be, but not necessarily different quality.
As an cheese maker, grader and auditor, I've visited a good chunk of the UK's small cheesemakers seen their production records, know their processes and how passionate they are about the products they produce. We help nearly 200 uk cheese makers get to market, both in the UK and around the globe. If a customer wants it we supply it.
Some products are set at certain price point mild cheddars for example are cheaper as the storage costs are less, mature kept up to 6 months cost more and so on. They're still the same product and not made any differently just left to age. It's not always the case of course you can change starters, add flavour cultures before rennetting, mature at a higher temp to move the cheese on if you want. but the images of the goats cheese I posted earlier is all the same make, but the mature will fetch roughly £1/kg higher at wholesale.
I could go on forever so I won't bore you all!
Don’t be coming round here with your specialist industry knowledge and extensive professional experience!
You’re just going to have to accept that it’s no substitute for sweeping statements made based on… erm… something or other